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Irish Refugee Protection Programme
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
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• On 10 September 2015, as part of Ireland’s response to the migration crisis in central and southern Europe, the Government established the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP). Under this programme, the IRPP has seen the arrival of over 4,000 refugees under various resettlement strands, the largest of which is the UNHCR led programme.
• In December 2019, the second phase of the IRPP (IRPP II) was put in place to welcome up to 2,900 refugees through the UNHCR programme between 2020 and 2023 through a combination of resettlement and new community sponsorship initiatives. The new phase planned for 650 UNHCR resettlements in 2020, 700 in 2021, 750 in 2022 and 800 in 2023. This commitment was to be made up of a majority of Syrian refugees resident in Jordan and Lebanon.
• Significant challenges in meeting these targets over the course of 2020, 2021, 2022 with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on resettlement pathways, the IRPPs support for the arrival of almost 560 refugees from Afghanistan following the crisis in September 2021 and the challenges responding to the Ukraine crisis. Normal resettlement processes for the IRPP have now resumed.
• Ireland’s pledge for resettlement and humanitarian admission under Article 19 AMIF for 2023, along with forecasted resettlement numbers for 2024-2025 was submitted to the European Commission on 7 October. Ireland pledged to support the arrival of 800 refugees under the UNHCR resettlement process from Lebanon and Jordan, with a further 100 humanitarian admissions from Afghanistan.
• The Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) has worked with Local Authorities engaged in resettling refugees. Local authorities have housed approximately 3,000 programme refugees across Ireland.
• On May 20th 2021, the County and City Management Association’s (CCMA), submitted the new proposed model for distribution for IRPP II, CCMA HBLU IRPP II Model for Distribution”. It is anticipated that the ongoing requirement for local authority accommodation to resettle refugees will require some 150 to 200 homes each year.
• Local Authorities, having been allocated a quota of refugees, consider how best families can be housed and integrated in their area and for the provision of a resettlement Support Worker with social care and integration experience, and an Arabic-speaking Intercultural Support Worker. A Grant Agreement is signed with the local authority for the dispersal of EU AMIF and Exchequer funds allocated for this purpose. An Interagency Working Group (IAWG) is established by the Local Authority to oversee preparation for refugee arrivals in the county.
• The IAWG comprises key service delivery personnel, representatives from IRPP and those with a role in providing support for resettlement.
- In response to the crisis in Afghanistan in August 2021, Ireland, through the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, made approximately 650 refugee places available for humanitarian cases from Afghanistan. The Department has co-operated with a wide range of organisations, including Amnesty International, the Irish Refugee Council, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the UNHCR, to identify individuals and families whom we could welcome to Ireland under the IRPP. Priority was given to human rights defenders, people supporting women’s organisations, LGBTI+ activists, journalists, judges and those most at risk from the Taliban takeover.
- Conscious of the dangers experienced by these groups within Afghanistan, the Department has sought to respond innovatively to this crisis, including seeking support from potential refugee sponsors and civil society organisations to enable it to maximise the number of places available on its programme for Afghan nationals. IRPP resources are currently at capacity in terms of accommodation and pressures from ongoing commitments from other strands of our resettlement programme. The agreed quota for this programme for 2024 has been reached and the IRPP is not in a position to accept any more applications for this programme until 2025.
• Community Sponsorship Ireland (CSI) was established in 2018 as a complementary integration and resettlement stream to the traditional state-centred model. The unique feature of the programme is that it enables a willing population to engage locally by directly supporting a refugee family.
• Grant agreements are in place up to the end of 2023 for Regional Support Organisations (RSOs) which have been set up by the Department to assist with the implementation of a Community Sponsorship Initiative, supporting community groups in the provision of integration supports to programme refugees resettled directly into the community.
• A national support organisation has been established for the Community Sponsorship Programme called The Open Community. Access to a wide range of supports and resources, as well as a national peer support network for Community Sponsorship Groups (CSGs), is available on The Open Community website . For any queries, contact info@theopencommunity.ie
• More information on the Community Sponsorship Programme as well as copies of the forms to be used by Community Sponsorship Groups (CSGs) are to be found below:
Community Sponsorship Ireland - Community Sponsorship Application Form - PDF
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The aim of the CAPS EU Project is working to build European, national and local government, and nongovernmental stakeholders’ capacity to design, implement, sustain, and scale up community sponsorship programmes for refugees. Led by Ireland, with support from our Belgian partners Fedasil and the Migration Policy Institute Europe (MPIE) the CAPS-EU Project is co-financed by the European Commission under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.
It aims to capitalise on existing political and social momentum to provide communities with a means to assist with the integration of refugees in Ireland, Belgium and participating countries
Further details on the project can be found at: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/caps-eu-project