Integrating Refugees - Regional training Seminar

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, nearly 6 million refugees have crossed the border from Ukraine into neighboring countries. As the Jewish communities work to support the needs of those in accommodation centers, some Ukrainian refugees are looking to move onwards to host communities in Western Europe. To help facilitate this movement, and to ensure safe and effective integration into the receiving communities HIAS, B’nai B’rith Europe, and ECJC will organize a 1 and a half day seminar on how to welcome and integrate refugees into new communities.  

Many Jewish communities have expressed interest in hosting Ukrainian refugees but do not have the knowledge or foundations to do so effectively. In response to this gap, this seminar will expose European Jewish communities and organizations, interested in hosting Ukrainian refugees, to integration approaches and methods, including HIAS Europe’s Welcome Circle programme, which is modeled after HIAS’ experience working with Jewish Family Services and congregations around the US in welcoming refugees. This training will act as a follow up to the larger Paris training that HIAS Europe, with support from HIAS US colleagues, ran in March. It will offer a more focused discussion around the applicability of Welcome Circles and other integration approaches in the European context.

The training will address:

• Introduction to community integration: how to effectively support the integration of refugees into the receiving community
• An overview of HIAS Europe’s Welcome Circle programme for Ukrainians
• Best practices in Welcome Circle formation, developing and populating welcome plans and budgets, researching and accessing government benefits, securing housing, and addressing employment, education, health care, and more
• Psychosocial support and trauma-informed approaches to welcoming refugees
• Legal considerations for refugees in EU countries
• Cultural challenges in working with Ukrainian refugees
• Matching processes for connecting welcoming groups with newcomer families and individuals

Criteria for attending:

• Attendees must read the pre training information; including the Welcome Circle one pager and guidebook
• Attendees should highlight interest in forming a welcome circle or engaging in similar refugee sponsorship programmes.