Community sponsorship schemes under the new pact on migration and asylum: A common EU approach?
The number of people in the world who have been forcibly displaced inside or outside their home country has risen significantly in recent years, as reflected in the unprecedented numbers of refugees and irregular migrants arriving in the EU since 2015. This highlights an urgent need to ensure organised, legal and safe pathways to protect migrants who embark on dangerous journeys and attempt to enter countries of destination irregularly, or find themselves in protracted refugee situations. A potential solution is the community sponsorship scheme, understood as encompassing several different approaches for refugee admission to third countries other than countries of origin or transit. The concept includes a shared responsibility between civil society and the state when engaging in refugee admission efforts, by providing financial, emotional, social and/or settlement support to help newly arrived refugees integrate in a third country. Community sponsorship for integration is particularly important in the EU, where local and national governments, alongside civil society, have been pondering how best to support newcomers and ease integration and social cohesion. Since 2015, the concept has been piloted and launched in several EU countries, including through the active input of regions and cities. The pact on migration and asylum, which entered into force in June 2024, affirmed the EU's commitment to supporting national sponsorship schemes and expressed its desire to do more to promote an EU approach to community sponsorship, building on the experience of Member States.
Briefing