REFINTEG · The Canadian model of the public-private sponsorship for the integration of refugees: the case of Syrians and possible application in EU countries

Since the Syrian civil war began in March 2011, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 13 million people are in need and an estimated 5.6 million Syrians have fled the country. From this group of Syrian refugees, around one million have requested asylum in different countries of the European Union. While in the EU there is a strong debate concerning the recent refugee crisis and the need to completely reform the current asylum system, in Canada the resettlement and integration of refugees has been a considerable success through the implementation of the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program which has received much attention from policy-makers in other countries over the past decades. The Overall Objective of this project proposal is a comprehensive analyze of the Canadian private sponsorship model to integrate refugees, of its impact in providing to Syrian refugees a safe and legal way to resettlement and socio-economic integration, and an exploration of its possible modalities of application in some countries of the European Union. The researcher will firstly analyze and present, based on a comprehensive review of government documents, existing academic literature and available data, the overall program, and it will describe its benefits, general results and challenges. Subsequently, the researcher will analyze the private sponsorship program impact in the case of Syrian refugees and will compare the outcomes of this model with the outcomes of other programs such as federal government support and Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) program. Then, the researcher will explore the possible application of the Canadian model in some specific EU countries such as Italy and Germany, identifying and discussing possible benefits and challenges, and comparing the results obtained by policies already implemented by these countries with the results of the Canadian model.