The Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants in partnership with Amber Initiatives and NGOs from Greece, Turkey, Slovenia, Italy, and Portugal, organized a study visit  “Social integration of refugees” in Plymouth, UK. For eight days, experts from the BCRM member and partner organisation were acquainted with the UK’s local integration experience for local integration of refugees and presented the experience and best practices from Bulgaria. The program included presentations of the experience of the Plymouth City Council, the British Red Cross, the Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support Council, the Open Doors Center, the START Students and Refugees together, the Hope and many other organizations. Additionally, the experience of the police in community work, prevention of racism, xenophobia and radicalization were presented. The Bulgarian participants presented the Bulgarian experience and good practices, the mechanism for the strengthening of the capacity, and the establishment of coalitions for the creation of a supportive environment for the successful integration of refugees. The activity is part of the strategic efforts of the Bulgarian Council for Refugees and Migrants to build, develop and strengthen the capacity of organizations and workers in the field of protection and integration of refugees in Bulgaria. The project partners are NGOs from Turkey, Greece, Italy, Slovenia and Portugal, and the UK’s leading organization Amber Initiatives.

The study visits with some elements of training address the needs of the European organizations to increase their role in extremism and violence prevention and equip them with skills and knowledge to do so. As a result of the project, the organizations involved are able to address the needs of refugees better, facilitate their integration into the local community and, therefore, reduce the risk of radicalization. The project is in line with the EU strategy to enhance the integration of non-EU nationals.

The project is funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Commission.

On 4 December Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants, Мулти култи // Multi Kulti and UNHCR Bulgaria organized a final event for the project (Y)our Europe: Empowerment of young migrants, refugees, and Bulgarians. During the event the organisation shared the good practices for development of project by young refugees, migrants and Bulgarians with a focus on topics such as environmental protection, reducing the food waste and the life that people coming from different countries have now in Bulgaria as well as the connection between their home counties and Europe. Special guests of the event were the group Afric Tam-Tam from Benin. They represented the newly established Association of Africans and Their Supporters in Bulgaria. Their chairwoman Polin Koumi was also there. The event was funded by Robert Bosch Foundation.

On 26 November 2019, the 16th meeting of the Working Group on Integration of refugees was held, co-chaired by the Bulgarian Council of Refugees and Migrants.

workinggroup.refugee-integration.bg

The Briefing is intended for members of the municipal councils with the aim to put refugee integration on the agenda of local authorities for addressing.

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In the edition you will find information about:

∙ Number of persons granted international protection for the period January – October 2019. How many refugees live in Bulgaria?

∙ Management of the integration. National Council on Migration, Borders, Asylum and Integration

∙ NIEM – All in for Integration. National Integration Evaluation Mechanism

∙ Academic community in support of refugee integration: initiatives in the new academic year

– Coalition meeting on Bulgarian language and literacy training  of adult refugees in Bulgaria

∙ Training of teachers working with refugee children

∙ Tolerant society for the integration of asylum seekers and beneficiaries  of international protection

∙ 3 October – European Day of Memory and Welcome

∙ Activities of the Bulgarian Red Cross for the integration of resettled and relocated persons

∙ Provision of comprehensive  integration support by Caritas-Sofia and the Council of Refugee Women in Bulgaria

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We bring to your attention the new issue of the Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants “Good Practices for Integration of Refugees from Municipalities in Europe”. The collection of good practices presents various initiatives implemented by municipalities in Europe for the integration of refugees based on principles and policies for long-term social and economic development at local level.

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On October 31, the Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants, in partnership with the MultiKulti Collective, and with the support of the UNHCR Bulgaria held a Coalition meeting on “Media and Integration of Refugees”.
The meeting provided a discussion forum for valuable experience sharing and concrete steps for interaction between the media representatives and the organizations whose mission is to support the beneficiaries of international protection on the path of their successful integration into Bulgarian society.
The meeting was organised within the implementation of the National Integration Evaluation Mechanism Project (NIEM – All In For Integration), funded by the European Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).
www.niem.refugee-integration.bg

On October 24th, the Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants, in partnership with the Multi Kulti Collective and the UNHCR Bulgaria, organized a Coalition meeting on Bulgarian language training and literacy od adult refugees in Bulgaria.
During the meeting, activities and partnerships with a focus on improvement of the quality and effectiveness of Bulgarian language training and refugee literacy were discussed. The event provided an opportunity to outline concrete steps for collaboration between institutions and organizations, whose mission is to support those who have received international protection on the path of their successful integration into Bulgarian society.
The program of the event included information on the provision of language courses as part of the integration package in Central and Eastern Europe.

The programme of the event included presentation of the legislative framework and related challenges and opportunities for providing Bulgarian language courses for refugees in Bulgaria, including under the “New Chance for Success” program of the Ministry of Education and Science and as part of the employment promotion measures and programs of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the Employment Agency.

Тhe Bulgarian Red Cross and Caritas Sofia presented their experience in organizing Bulgarian language courses for adult refugees.
The Coalition meeting was organized within the implementation of the NIEM – All In For Integration project – National Integration Evaluation Mechanism. Monitoring and improving refugee integration

More information: www.niem.refugee-integration.bg

On October 23, the BCRM Chairperson held a Strategic Planning Meeting with delegates from the UNHCR Regional Office for Central Europe, Mr. Jon Hoisaeter, Deputy Regional Representative, and Ms. Walaa Abu Garbier, Regional Operations Manager. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Mathijs Le Rutte – Representative and Ms. Emiliya Bratanova van Harten – Integration Associate at the UNHCR Bulgaria.

During the meeting, the strategic partnership between UNHCR and BCRM was discussed, as a part of the UNHCR Overall Operation in Bulgaria with a focus on advocacy for refugee integration and stakeholder capacity building in the context of development opportunities and durable solutions.

On October 3rd, the Bulgarian Refugee and Migrant Council organized a Literary Evening dedicated to Khaled Husseini’s book “Sea Prayer”.The book is inspired by the story of Aylan Kurdy, a three-year-old Syrian boy who drowned in the Mediterranean in September 2015 while trying to reach the shores of Europe.

The book was read by Azhar Alomar who is from Syria. Khairi Hamdan, who is from Palestine, reads poetry from his book, “I am the Bedouin.” Traditional Syrian music was performed by Amjad Jud, who is from Syria.

The Literary Evening was organized as part of the initiative “Make October 3 the European Day of Memory and Welcome”.October 3rd is a symbolic date reminiscent of the day in which 368 people, including children, women and men, lost their lives off the coast of Lampedusa in 2013.

“Make October 3 the European Day of Memory and Welcome”