Abstract

Following the migration waves of 2015–2016, the institutions of the European Union have promoted the introduction of complementary and safe channels for the admission of refugees into Member States, including private and community sponsorship schemes. These programmes are regarded as one of the possible means of enabling legal and safe access to the EU.

First trialled in Canada from 1978 onwards, these programmes enable groups of citizens and organisations to provide financial and emotional support for the resettlement of refugees for a fixed period, generally up to one year. Private sponsorship of refugees is considered more suitable and effective than traditional humanitarian protection programmes because it facilitates smoother, faster and better long-term integration. Given the success of the Canadian model, the programme is widely promoted as a best practice to be adopted elsewhere in the world. Indeed, private sponsorship has now become a model adopted in numerous other countries, including Italy, France and Germany, which have launched pilot programmes of this kind, each with its own specific features and eligibility criteria.

The INSPIRE project, which employs a mixed-methods research design – such as a literature review, analysis of available quantitative data, direct observation, semi-structured qualitative interviews and life stories – investigates, from a comparative perspective, the suitability and effectiveness of private sponsorship programmes for refugee integration implemented in Italy, France and Germany. The project analyses how these programmes operate, comparing their similarities and differences, and assesses their performance using a series of integration indicators, including education and language skills, access to the labour market and access to housing.