Thinking Beyond Resettlement: Are Complementary Pathways for Refugees the Answer?
When: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 12:00 P.M. ET (D.C.)
Where: ISIM Webinar https://georgetown.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kbrbx_0sTBmCXrE3GJbbxA
Welcoming Remarks:
Dr. Elizabeth Ferris, ISIM Research Professor, Georgetown University
Speakers:
Katherine Rehberg, Deputy Vice President, Immigration and Refugee Program, Church World Service
Dr. Manuel Orozco, Senior Fellow and the Director of the Migration, Remittances and Development Program at the Inter-American Dialogue and Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University
Sasha Chanoff, Founder and Executive Director, RefugePoint
Moderator:
Erol Kekic, Senior Vice President, Immigration and Refugee Program, Church World Service
As one of three durable solutions traditionally available for refugees, third-country resettlement is an important part of the international commitment to refugee protection and support. Yet the vast majority of refugees in need of resettlement as a durable solution in 2021 are unlikely to be resettled. In 2020, amid a global pandemic, resettlement numbers reached a record low: only 22,770 (1.6 percent) of the 1.4 million refugees in need of resettlement were resettled. In a recent paper, The Future of Refugee Resettlement & Complementary Pathways: Strengthening sustainable and strategic humanitarian solutions for refugees, Church World Service (CWS) argues that resettlement can and should be a humanitarian program to find protection for individuals and strategically contribute to the resolution of situations of forced displacement. At the same time, CWS makes the case that complementary pathways represent untapped opportunities for refugees to improve their lives through other migration channels and proposes several key recommendations to advance complementary pathways and resettlement in the future.
This joint event organized by ISIM and CWS, one of nine U.S. refugee resettlement agencies, will bring together experts in the field to discuss the possibility of using other migration channels – beyond refugee resettlement — to help refugees find solutions. Katherine Rehberg, the paper’s primary author and Deputy Vice President of the Immigration and Refugee Program at CWS, will present the key findings and recommendations. Manual Orozco will then comment on the paper’s findings from a Central American perspective, particularly the recent integration efforts in Columbia for Venezuelan migrants as an example of non-traditional ways refugees can find protection. Following this, Sasha Chanoff will share insights into Refuge Point’s work identifying complementary pathways for refugees and the organization’s experience with increasing refugees’ access to employment-based protection.