Community Sponsorship in the Basque Country : empowering Autonomy and Integration Through a Constructive Private and Public Partnership
Pinyol-Jiménez, Gemma (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Reyes-Soto, Marisol (University of Birmingham)
D'Avino, Gabriella (University of Birmingham)
Nicholls, Natasha (University of Birmingham)

Data:	2025
Resum:	The Auzolana II agreement is an innovative multi-level governance initiative in which the Spanish national government and authorities of the Basque Country agreed to set up a pilot community sponsorship programme (CSBC) in 2019. The CSBC is a new sponsorship model which operates through a strong partnership between regional and local authorities, civil society organisations and volunteers within local communities. This paper offers insight into the design and functioning of the CSBC and how its approach facilitates or hinders sponsored refugees' autonomy in their settlement processes, ultimately aiming to facilitate their integration into their new communities. Based on qualitative data collected from two evaluations conducted in 2021 and 2022, the analysis involved combining two theoretical frameworks. The first, refugee-integration-opportunity structures, examines autonomy and integration through locality, relations, structure, support initiatives, and discourse. The second framework comprises 15 assessment points used to measure the effectiveness of private sponsorship. Findings show that the CSBC enhanced refugees' access to services, training, education and social networks, strengthening their autonomy. To maximise future impact, regional disparities must be addressed, volunteer profiles diversified, cultural training expanded and the CSBC should complement rather than replace Spain's refugee quota.
Nota:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article de revisió ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Community sponsorship ; Regional authorities ; Basque country ; Opportunity structures ; Assessment community sponsorship
Publicat a:	Journal of international migration and integration, 2025 , ISSN 1874-6365

DOI: 10.1007/s12134-025-01275-9

23 p, 979.0 KB

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