Caritas Europa: Caritas’ integration practices spotted by EP
Caritas Europa’s promising integration practices have drawn the attention of European Parliament (EP) Members participating in the Intergroup Fighting against Poverty. The Chair of the Intergroup, Sylvie Goulard (ALDE), is hosting a panel with Caritas Europa and Cittalia Foundation to discuss these successful practices.
For today’s multicultural Europe, it is essential that migrants have the opportunity for successful integration within their receiving societies and for contributing to these societies’ social, cultural and economic score.
“For seven years, I lived here without official papers. Until the day I contacted the social assistance – Caritas. Thanks to them, I started with a training in the hotel business as a waiter. Then I started working at the Princess Hotel. And after that, they contacted me to settle my situation,” said Mousab Eloudi living in Barcelona, Spain. This is only one of the many examples of Caritas projects that empower migrants and benefit our societies.
The panel discussion will take place on 25 January in the EP and it will focus on concrete examples of promising integration practices coming from Caritas Europa and Cittalia. These examples seek to show the importance and usefulness of integration measures such as community sponsorship, aid in finding housing, intercultural exchange and development of labour market opportunities for migrants. And as Jorge Nuño-Mayer, Caritas Europa’s Secretary General, explained: “These concrete practices could easily be up-scaled on the national level or even expanded across Europe”.
The latest Caritas Europa publication “Welcome – Migrants make Europe stronger”, which will be presented at the EP panel discussion, provides a more thorough collection of examples and promising integration practices from across Europe. It discusses the cultural, structural and socio-economic barriers that hamper or that can even prevent migrants’ integration. To propose solutions for policy-makers, the publication presents ways of creating environments that foster inclusive participation and empower migrants and receiving societies to work together towards a more cohesive Europe.
