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SIXTH
INTERNATIONAL METROPOLIS CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
50: Reception centers for refugees and their impact on the local community Thursday, November 29, 2001
14:00 - 17:30
ORGANIZERS
Koen De Mesmaeker
Director
OCIV (Flemish Refugee Council)
00 32 274 00 29
koen@ociv.org
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION In the last years the number
of asylum seekers/refugees has increased enormously. In Western Europe,
for example, the number of asylum applicants grew from c.a. 170,000 in
1985 to more than 690,000 in 1992. In Northern America this number grew
from 28,000 in 1985 to 173,000 in 1995. This growth has caused significant
problems to the various countries, sometimes not prepared to face such
an influx or simply too orientated towards a restriction of their migration
policies due to periods of economic recessions. But, because of international
obligations, these countries can not refuse the entry of asylum seekers;
therefore while they try and close the doors to traditional migrants,
the number of more or less genuine asylum seekers increases more and more.
One of the main problems governments have to face when dealing with asylum
seekers/refugees is the problem of reception facilities: sometimes the
number of existent reception facilities is not sufficient if compared
to the number of asylum seekers/refugees or sometimes reception centres
are opened in some regions of the country (often in the poorest, more
densely populated areas), causing a hostile reaction among the population
and the local authorities who do not know what to expect and fear crime
and devaluation of their properties.
The aims of this workshop are:
i) bringing together different actors involved in the reception of asylum
seekers/refugees in order to evaluate the impact of those centres on the
local community and to exchange information on obstacles/problems and
ideas on possible actions to manage such a situation;
ii) investigating how those asylum seekers/refugees integrate in the local
community. Therefore the workgroup would
include two sessions:
Session one: reception of asylum
seekers a) Korina Antoniadou [CV], Greek
Council for Refugees (GR): presentation of the results of the Greek Council
for Refugees, having carried out a survey in 2001 among local authorities
in the European Union on the impact of reception centers in their community
b) Deborah Platts [CV], UK Home Office: Dispersal: learning
from past experiences
Session two: integration of
refugees within local communitys a) Elisabeth Mestheneos [CV], Sextant
(GR): Refugee perceptions on integration in the local community
b) Anne-Marie Miörner-Wagner [CV], OMEGA (A): How to integrate refugee
children in the local community and the role of local authorities"
c) Rachael Reynolds, UK Home Office: Local Integration
Policies
d) Maja Korac [CV], Oxford University (UK): Integration strategies of refugees
in two different EU countries (Italy and Netherlands) and policy contexts
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