European Web Site on Integration - June 2020

The 12th IOM Prague Summer School on Migration Studies will be held at Charles University in Prague from 24th to 29th August 2020. IOM Prague has organised the Summer School every year since 2009, and more than 600 students and professionals from almost 100 countries have attended these lectures. The programme is open for university students (both graduate and undergraduate) as well as young prof…

The Integration Forum in Sweden hosts a number of national conferences on different topics related to integration. This conference focuses on multicultural neighbourhoods. Among the lecturers are Susanne Urban, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research.  The conference will address, among other topics: Strategic collaboration be…

The 3rd conference of the German Network of Forced Migration Researchers is taking place on 17-19 September 2020. Due to the current situation, the conference will take place online rather than at the premises of the University of Cologne. It will open an international forum to discuss current research results on forced migration, refugees and asylum. The conference will also support interdiscipli…

New Women Connectors (NWC) is an open platform that strives to connect newcomers and migrants, link migration policies debates and amplify the voices of those who often feel voiceless in these debates. Envisioned, created, and led by migrant & refugee women, NWC focuses on ensuring all voices are heard and responded to so that migrants and refugees can have access to meaningful participation. …

On 17 June 2020, the European Parliament held a debate with a resolution titled “The anti-racism protests following the death of George Floyd”. On 19 June 2020, Members of the European Parliament voted in favour and adopted the resolution responding to structural racism in the USA and Europe, also saluted for condemning slavery as a crime against humanity. The Anti-Racism and Diversit…

The Malta Refugee Council, a network of Maltese non-governmental organisations working on human rights and refugee issues, was launched on World Refugee Day, 20 June. “Our mission is to advocate for legislation, policies and practices that are in accordance with Malta’s obligations and also best practices in this sector", their statement reads. "On World Refugee Day we …

As of Monday 15 June 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has partially restored the Qualified Worker Programme, which enables employers operating in the Czech Republic to employ qualified foreign workers from specific countries. The programme was stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic but is now re-launched for workers from Ukraine, which is the second biggest source of foreign workers in Czech…

LALI ArtApp is intended to support language teaching. The application includes tasks related to different themes that support the acquisition of vocabulary and grammatical structures through works of art. The app is part of an online free language training package for immigrants and is available in four different languages: English, French, German and Finnish. On the project website, a handbook f…

On 21 June 2020, the law introducing the solidarity allowance for people who lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic entered into force. It is targeted at people whose contract was terminated after 15 March 2020, or whose fixed-term work contract ended after 15 March 2020. The benefits will be paid for three months in the amount of PLN 1,400 (about EUR 316) per month from June to August 2020.…

The High Commission for Migration is now accepting funding applications for projects promoting the implementation of measures focused on education and training, including language training and preparatory actions that facilitate access to the labour market. Priority is given to actions that adopt measures specifically targeted at migrant women, including refugees and other beneficiaries of interna…

The Bulgarian Operator of the Active Citizens Fund announced a new call for project proposals to respond to the negative effects caused by COVID-19. This measure is part of the Small Initiative Scheme of the fund and it aims to support the activities and capacity of civil society organisations so that they can recover from the COVID-19 crisis. Eligible organisations can submit project proposals i…

The European Cultural Foundation announced the second window for applications to its Culture of Solidarity Fund, launched earlier this year in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund supports imaginative cultural initiatives - big or small - that, in the midst of the global health and economic crisis, reinforce European solidarity and the idea of Europe as a shared public space. The fund seeks…

As a response to the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulgarian Donors Forum, the National Network for Children and the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation have launched the new Programme Iris which aims to support vulnerable children and their families. The programme is particularly focused on covering their basic needs and reducing the risk of separation between children…

OIKOS provides shelter for unaccompanied minor girls in Athens and offers them psycho-social support, legal aid (for asylum applications and family reunification), access to education, medical treatment and creative activities. The project is implemented by ZEUXIS, a non-profit organisation based in Greece. Image by ZEUXIS

Cocina Conciencia is a project that promotes the social inclusion and labour market integration of unaccompanied minors. By promoting one-on-one relationships with chefs in the gastronomy sector, the project provides young migrants with a community where they receive training and mentoring by the best chefs in the market to help them gain social capital. Image by Fundación Raíces

The ST Project was the first project in the field of migration in the municipality of Odemira, Portugal, in 2013. It is funded by the Choices Program (5th Generation) / the High Commission for Migration (ACM) and promoted by TAIPA. The project emerged after a group of actors observed an increase in the number of migrants arriving in the region and a need for responses to welcome them, especially c…

The Covid-19 pandemic has had one clear consequence in the lives of racialised groups: it has exacerbated existing and historical systemic inequalities in society, and is having a particular impact on racialised groups. The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) published a position paper highlighting the impact of Covid-19 on racialised communities in a range of areas, including policing, a…

La Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme (CNCDH), rapporteur national indépendant sur la lutte contre le racisme sous toutes ses formes, a publié, le 18 juin 2020, son 29ème rapport annuel sur le racisme, l’antisémitisme et la xénophobie. Le rapport a comme objectifs de comprendre le phénomène raciste en France, d&rsquo…

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Integration held a two-part enquiry about social connection during the Covid-19 crisis. In late March 2020, the APPG put out a call for written evidence, supplemented by three online evidence sessions held in mid-April 2020. Questions that the first part of the inquiry looked at included: What issues has the COVID-19 crisis raised in relation to soc…