Preparing for the Unknown: Designing Effective Predeparture Orientation for Resettling Refugees

Navigating a new city, learning a new language, and making sense of complex public-service bureaucracy can be challenging for anyone who moves to a new country. For resettled refugees, these challenges may be even greater; those who have lived in remote regions or refugee camps, or who have limited...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2019
Main Authors: Fratzke, Susan, Kainz, Lena
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Migration Policy Institute
Refugees
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Navigating a new city, learning a new language, and making sense of complex public-service bureaucracy can be challenging for anyone who moves to a new country. For resettled refugees, these challenges may be even greater; those who have lived in remote regions or refugee camps, or who have limited formal education, may need to adjust to common features of life in a high-income resettlement country, such as learning how to use a bankcard or a metro system. To help smooth this transition, many resettlement countries offer predeparture orientation, also called cultural orientation, for refugees selected for resettlement. This MPI Europe report explores the varied forms these programs take, with their content, timing, and delivery shaped by the refugees' situation and the resettlement country's resources and priorities. The study draws on interviews with resettlement policymakers, program implementers, and reception and integration service providers, and its seven case-study countries, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Romaniaboth longstanding and relatively new national resettlement programs.