Reset: The future of community-led welcome: the case for a single UK refugee sponsorship scheme

The Reset discussion paper brings to light some important conversations surrounding the use of community sponsorships. The main benefits of this scheme is that it is sustainable, scalable and benefits both the refugees and the communities.

 

What is a community sponsorship scheme?

It is when local communities groups such as, civil society organisations, charities and faith groups, directly support refugees resettle into their community. A clear example of this is the Home for Ukraine scheme that launched in March 2022 by which 110,000 Ukrainians arrived to the UK, as of 2 January 2022 (1).

 

The future sponsorship scheme for the UK

Reset rightly posit a single community sponsorship scheme. They suggest having mandatory training to ensure a more effective scheme where the appropriate support can be given to the hosts and therefore also refugees. Another important aspect is the ability to name, as was done in the Home for Ukraine scheme. One benefit of this is that it can address the skills shortages. This should be alongside welcoming UNHCR-identified refugees with high protection needs.

 

Click here to read the full discussion paper by Reset.

 


(1) https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9709/