Minister David Stanton TD has announced the launch of a new pilot Community Sponsorship Ireland initiative for refugee families.
The Community Sponsorship Ireland (CSI) is an alternative resettlement stream to the traditional state-centred model of resettlement. The CSI initiative has been developed under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) in collaboration with key civil society organisations including UNHCR Ireland, Nasc, the Irish Refugee Council, the Irish Red Cross, the Irish Refugee and Migrant Coalition and Amnesty International.
Under the CSI programme, private citizens and community-based organisations are invited to welcome and integrate refugee families into their community. Refugees will arrive in Ireland following selection by UNHCR and a vetting process overseen by Irish Refugee Protection Programme.
Community Sponsorship (CS) was first piloted in December 2018 with the arrival of a Syrian family to Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath. It is expected that up to 50 refugees will arrive in Ireland during the pilot phase of Community Sponsorship which will last till October 2019.
For more information
More details of the Community Sponsorship Ireland initiative and application form
