Private Sponsorship of Refugees: Europe's response to the Global Compact

This is first talk in the OU Migration Research Seminar Series 2022. The series showcases the work of migration scholars at The Open University.

Dr Chiara Berneri, the first speaker of series will share examples of private sponsorship of refugees and reflect on best practices.

Title: Private Sponsorship of Refugees: a European perspective

Abstract: This talk focuses on private and community sponsorship of refugees. Prompted by the Syrian refugee crisis, in 2018 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Global Compact for Refugees, after two years of consultations. The Compact addresses the issue of resettlement of refugees in third-party states and calls for complementary pathways for admission to third-party countries, in addition to the traditional resettlement options. The Compact calls for provisions “… to establish private or community sponsorship programmes that are additional to regular resettlement, including community-based programmes …”. This seminar focuses on how Europe has, and could, answer this call.