Multi-Faith Organizations Have Unique Skills To Help Migrants Integrate

A Muslim woman waits to cross a street with her children. Creative Commons photo.

(OPINION) For many refugees and migrants, arrival in the host society is not the solution it is intended to be. In fact, it can give rise to a host of new problems, such as substandard accommodation, poor employment prospects and critically, the absence of a support network. To make matters worse, an insecure immigration status often places vital public services such as healthcare and education out of reach, reducing day-to-day life to a distressing and lonely experience.

With the U.K. government often failing to alleviate these issues and facilitate the integration process, civil society groups have stepped in to provide a vital bridge between new arrivals and the local communities. Many of these civil society groups are religious in nature and are naturally equipped to provide assistance due to the experience they possess in similarly charitable endeavors, such as caring for the vulnerable in their local communities and organizing food banks to support the poorest in society. In addition, a number of faith groups are dedicated to helping those who are suffering amid humanitarian crises and can therefore offer unique insights into how to assist with refugee integration.

Despite this good work, the role of faith-based approaches to migrant integration is sometimes seen through a negative lens, with many fearing that faith-based groups will inevitably approach the issue from a one-sided, mono-religious perspective, and may even see the integration process as an opportunity for religious conversion. There is also a fear that religious organizations lack the professionalism, relevant skills and experience that is needed to provide high-quality assistance and are therefore unable to contribute to the integration process in a valuable and beneficial way.

There are also concerns that a focus on religion perpetuates the “ghettoization” of migrants by placing them into their familiar faith and ethnic group, limiting their networks outside their own communities and contravening the end goal of integration.

Yet recent years have seen a rise in interfaith collaboration, an approach that sees different religious groups working together to provide a more thorough support service that avoids the above criticisms. It is an approach that fosters community cohesion, as migrants from countries where religion is a source of division are able to have positive contact with members of other faiths, learning not only the norms of the host society in the process, but also that religion can be a source of unity and togetherness.

For example, the German project “Weiss Du Wer Ich Bin”  (do you know who I am?) was initiated in 2016, stemming from a revival of an older project that spanned from 2004 to 2011. The religious bodies involved in the project include the Council of Christian Churches in Germany, the Turkish Islamic Union for Religious Affairs, the Islamic Council for Germany, the Council of Islamic Cultural Centres, the Central Council of Muslims and the Central Council for Jews in Germany. The initiative has seen those with little experience in the field of migrant integration partner with groups who possess a plenitude of skills in this area, thus lending to a higher and more comprehensive standard of support.

This idea is illustrated by the fact that many of the projects that started out by providing basic help to migrants, such as material support and the beginnings of a support network, have branched out to provide additional support such as language classes and visits to different places of worship. In addition, the growth of multi-religious cooperation in Germany has led to the formation of regional interreligious councils, with the approach’s positive role within migrant integration processes seen as a major step in the promotion of wider interreligious dialogue.

Similarly, a U.K.-based initiative has seen Christian and Muslim communities and organizations work collaboratively to help new arrivals settle, providing contacts and networks for housing, material assistance, employment opportunities and spiritual support. These contacts transcend religious borders and have helped to provide a diverse support network early in the integration process.

In light of the conflict and discrimination that continues to blight parts of the globe, the question of how best to facilitate the integration of migrants and other forcibly displaced persons is inevitably going to arise. With this in mind, it is important to have an open discussion about the benefits that a multi-religious approach can bring. Not only does it strengthen both the integration services and the religious communities that are involved, it fosters togetherness and social cohesion within the wider community. Amid these distressing times, such positivity is of immeasurable value.

Cameron Boyle and Julia Szczesna are content writers for the Immigration Advice Service, an organization of immigration solicitors that works with undocumented migrants.