Conference on Resettlement, Humanitarian Admission, and Complementary Pathways to Refugee Protection , Date: 2023.12.20, format: Report, area: Authority , Developments, challenges and prospects for active refugee admission in Germany and the EU

How can humanitarian admission succeed in times of increasing challenges? Over 150 experts from Germany and other EU Member States discussed this and other questions at the resettlement conference in Berlin on November 23 and 24, 2023. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, as the German National Contact Point of the European Migration Network (EMN), together with Diakonie Deutschland, UNHCR and Caritas, hosted the event.

In addition to numerous experts from Germany, representatives from EU Member States also took part in this year's annual resettlement conference, which the BAMF co-organized for the first time. The event offered participants from administration, civil society and research a platform to exchange approaches and experiences in the field of humanitarian refugee admission. Topics discussed included the integration of refugees, complementary pathways such as the community sponsorship program "NesT" and the experiences of EU Member States with resettlement.

Ulrich Weinbrenner, BMI Source: © BAMF

Katharina Lumpp (UNHCR Germany) and Ulrich Weinbrenner from the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI) opened the conference with remarks on the current challenges, the status quo and the future of resettlement and humanitarian admission in Germany. In addition to the effects of the war in Sudan on the neighbouring countries and the associated efforts to intensify resettlement in this region, the importance of resettlement and humanitarian admission for the German government's migration policy was also discussed.

In the subsequent panel discussion, Helge Lindh (Member of the German Bundestag), Mirjam Kruppa (Thuringian Ministry for Migration, Justice and Consumer Protection) and Marc Elxnat (German Association of Towns and Municipalities) addressed the tension between responsibility and capacity limits. In particular, challenges with regard to transparency and the speed of admissions from Afghanistan were discussed.

Broad range of topics: from Afghanistan to local integration

The panels on the first day of the conference focused in particular on the German resettlement context. The participants discussed topics such as the federal admission programme for Afghanistan, the resettlement programmes of the federal states, the importance of managing expectations as well as the conditions for a good arrival and integration.

Axel Kreienbrink, Head of the BAMF Research Centre, opened the second day of the conference and referred to the work that has already been done on the conference topic in the context of the EMN. Accordingly, the central theme of the second day was the European perspective on resettlement. In their keynote speeches, Magdalena Jagiello from the European Commission and Amaury Gillier from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) gave an overview of the latest developments and strategies of the EU's resettlement policy as well as initiatives to support Member States in their resettlement efforts.

Dr. Axel Kreienbrink Source: © BAMF

A panel in which participants from Sweden, Belgium and Spain presented their resettlement programmes showed just how differently they can be structured. While a "government only" system is implemented in Sweden, private and civil society organizations are also involved in the resettlement process in Belgium and Spain. In a panel on the topic of "collaborative integration", moderated by Stefanie Ricarda Roos (BAMF), the focus was on findings on the integration practices in the European host countries.

Axel Kreienbrink, Head of the BAMF Research Centre, concluded by emphasizing "how important a platform like the Resettlement Conference is for discussing developments and experiences in the field of resettlement with experts and bringing together findings from politics, practice and research. This year's participation of the European Migration Network EMN also offered the opportunity to expand this circle and bring German and European experts together for a productive exchange."