Community Sponsorship is a model for refugee resettlement which was developed in Canada in the late 1970’s, which invites local communities to come together to support the effective resettlement of refugees. It has been enormously successful in Canada, welcoming more than 300,000 refugees.
Al Sulaiman family and Wicklow Syria Appeal
In 2015, Nasc began working with Wicklow Syria Appeal a voluntary community organisation based in Wicklow town. The town had played host to Syrian athletes during the Special Olympics in 2003 and felt a strong connection to Wicklow. Having initially fundraised for charities providing direct support to people in Syria, the group decided that they wanted to do more. They wanted to bring a Syrian family to Ireland.
Meanwhile, Nasc had been working on ways for refugees and their families to find safe and legal pathways to Ireland. Like everyone else, we were devastated by the images of 3 year old Aylan Kurdi who had been drowned trying to make it to safety in Europe. Similar family tragedies were playing out for many of our Syrian clients.
When Wicklow Syria Appeal contacted Nasc in December 2015, Nasc had been looking at a way to persuade the government to expand their resettlement programme and include Community Sponsorship. The introduction of Community Sponsorship to Ireland was one of the central planks in our Safe Passage campaign which was launched in 2016.
Although there was no formal way for groups to sponsor refugee families in Ireland, Nasc and the Wicklow Syria Appeal were able to work with a Syrian refugee family in Lebanon, (who had family in Ireland). Wicklow Syria Appeal were able to lend their support to a family reunification application to bring the family from Lebanon to Ireland.
The Al Sulaiman family arrived in Wicklow in April 2018. The work done by Wicklow Syria Appeal contributed hugely to the formation of Community Sponsorship Ireland. You can read more about Nasc’s work with Wicklow Syria Appeal here and the Irish Times coverage of the family’s arrival here.
The official Pilot Programme – Dunshaughlin
In 2017, the Irish government committed to an official Irish pilot of the Community Sponsorship programme. Nasc together with other civil society organisations including UNHCR Ireland, the Red Cross and the Refugee Council began working with the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) in the Department of Justice on a national pilot programme.
Nasc were delighted to work with the Community Group in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath to help prepare them for the arrival of the first family to officially arrive through Ireland’s community sponsorship programme.
In December 2018, Dunshaughlin welcomed the Fakir family.
Community Sponsorship Ireland
The Community Sponsorship Pilot Programme was officially launched on 6th March 2019 by Minister of State, David Stanton. Nasc formally became a Regional Support Organisation. You can read our statement on the launch here.
Since 2019, community groups throughout Ireland have welcomed refugee families. You can read more about some of the community groups in Cork in this feature from the Echo from February 2020.
The Department of Justice launched Community Sponsorship Ireland as a full national programme on 15 November 2020 in Cork. You can read Nasc’s statement on that here.