Building inclusive societies starts with a good welcome in a local Dutch community

Finding your feet in a new town or city can be difficult for anyone. When you consider that refugees often arrive with very little grasp of the language, not to mention the culture, labour market or education system of their newly adopted home, it’s understandable that the challenges they face might seem a little daunting. What they really need is a local community. Giving them a helping hand at this most sensitive moment can have a big effect on how well they integrate into society. Get it right and the benefits for everybody involved can be enormous.

Building on successful citizens’ initiatives to build solidarity with refugees, our partner, Hague-based human rights NGO Justice and Peace, introduced Samen Hier (Together Here) in 2019 to help refugees settle into their new communities in the Netherlands. Samen Hier is both a movement and a social network. It’s the first Dutch model of community-based sponsorship of refugees, bringing together citizens, civil society and state authorities to contribute to a better refugee protection system, mobilising their solidarity and strengthening their capacity to welcome more refugees into their local communities.

Inspired by successful international community sponsorship models from Canada and Italy, Samen Hier matches a refugee or family of refugees with a Welcome Group of at least five Dutch citizens. Through a public-private partnership between local governments, citizens and organisations, community members offer their skills, resources and time to welcome refugees to their communities. By sharing their knowledge, networks and time, citizens are able to make a concrete contribution to their new neighbours. For refugees, such a welcome gives them improved access to society, jobs and education. Having regular contact with the locals is also a great way to pick up the Dutch language. Reducing cultural, linguistic and bureaucratic barriers helps promote a more diverse and inclusive society.

The Samen Hier movement continues to gather pace with communities across the Netherlands adapting the model to suit their local context.