Recommendations to the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights Study on Forced Global Displacement Jennifer Bond Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Pathways International Chair, Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative 25 April 2024 Further to my appearance before the Committee on Monday, April 8th, 2024, I am pleased to submit additional evidence to supplement my oral remarks. Please also find below a series of recommendations for the Committee’s consideration: 1.

Consistent with the Global Compact on Refugees and building off the establishment of more than 30 refugee sponsorship programs around the world, the Government of Canada should continue its leadership in the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative. There remains considerable work to introduce new sponsorship programs in new countries, as well as to support the maturing and growth of existing programs. Canada’s ongoing leadership is critical. 2.

Canada should continue its commitment to migration diplomacy and leading by example by creating, testing, and growing new types of pathways at home, and sharing its experiences and lessons learned to support the growth of bigger, better pathways around the world. 3. Since forced displacement is a common challenge shared by the global community, Canada should demonstrate regional solidarity through cooperation countries focusing on the western hemisphere. Such cooperation should include sharing of infrastructure, resources, and increased commitments to protection pathways. 4.

Acknowledging the importance of high-level and diplomatic engagement and leadership around resettlement and other protection pathways, Canada should continue to actively participate in the Resettlement Diplomacy Network, a new and important state-led platform for cooperation and coordination. 5. Recognizing Canada has four decades of success delivering the world’s largest and longest-standing refugee sponsorship program, Canada should continue to grow and innovate its domestic sponsorship program.

Refugee sponsorship and the restoration of trust in immigration policy When people are asked what issues are their highest priorities, immigration policy ranks among the top-level concerns both in the United States and most European countries in 2024. Over the past decade, new candidates and parties have risen to prominence off the back of campaigning on immigration issues. Public confidence in immigration and refugee policies is weak, and in many countries, people have lodged in their minds images of out-of-control borders. Social media platforms amplify stories and images that reinforce these public fears.

Policymakers are struggling to find ways to dislodge these images, restore public trust and reduce the threat of ‘us-versus-them’ divisions. Against this challenging background, one of the most promising policy innovations with the potential to change these dynamics is community sponsorship of refugees. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the evacuation of Kabul have, during the early 2020s, catalyzed large-scale and successful schemes across the world, through which private groups have taken the lead in welcoming and integrating more than one million newcomers.

Research among sponsor populations point to high levels of satisfaction among both welcomers and newcomers, but perhaps even more significant is the strong evidence that sponsorship can both reduce public concerns and increase public confidence in immigration policies. Immigration issues are certain to continue to play a central role in the US and other western democracies in the future, driven by both the need for immigration to address labor shortages, and migration flows driven by conflict, economic dislocation and climate-related natural disasters.

A stronger role for local communities in welcoming, supporting and integrating newcomers can help to strengthen public confidence and counter the stories and images that often distort public perceptions and policymaking processes. It also points towards the potential for greater community engagement in integrating newcomers of all backgrounds. More in Common has been conducting public opinion research on immigration and refugee policies in the US and Europe since 2018, working with several of the world’s largest polling firms.

This research has repeatedly found that the intake of refugees through community sponsorship resonates strongly, including with population segments who are more skeptical about refugees and immigrants. For example, in the US nearly 7 in 10 express support, with majorities of both Democrats and Republicans. More in Common3539183527185133 3029363639402935 10799111449 6791091939 191828101491314 AsianHispanicBlackWhiteIndependentRe publicanDemocratUS AverageStrongly supportSomewhat supportSomewhat opposeStrongly opposeDon't knowNumbers in % 3 “There are different opinions on the U.S. policy for refugees.

One approach is allowing refugees to settle in the U.S. through "community sponsorship". This policy allows ordinary U.S. citizens together with their churches, community groups, and schools to volunteer to sponsor refugees by doing things like helping them find a job, learn English, and generally settle into their community. Under these conditions, would you support or oppose the United States accepting refugees?”6880586671546865 Total Support National Survey #1: This statistic is from an online survey interview with N=1,500 adult US citizens from August 26th to September 1, 2022.

The margin of error (adjusted for weighting) is +/- 2.5 for the US average and higher for subgroups.

2 Among Americans who are less supportive of America’s refugee intake, a system of community sponsorship increases their support significantly. For example, Republican support for accepting refugees increases by 19 percentage points when presented in the context of community sponsorship, from a margin of 6 points to 25 points. A similar effect is found in the United Kingdom. Among those in the population segment most opposed to accepting refugees, a 50-point margin of opposition to the intake of refugees changes to a 3-point margin of support with community sponsorship.

Like the US, the UK has welcomed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Afghans through community-based sponsorship, as well as introducing an ongoing community sponsorship program. What explains the appeal of sponsorship? Community sponsorship helps address many pressing concerns about refugee arrivals.

In research and focus groups conducted among thousands of people across the US, as well as in the UK, Germany and France, More in Common has found several recurring themes that help explain why sponsorship and community-based welcome efforts can change people’s perceptions of refugee policy: More in Common 58339SupportOpposeDon't know 484210SupportOpposeDon't know Numbers in % 4 Republican votersRefugee intake (without sponsorship)Refugee intake (with sponsorship)25-point gap6-point gap National Survey #1: This statistic is from an online survey interview with N=1,500 adult US citizens from August 26th to September 1, 2022.

The margin of error (adjusted for weighting) is +/- 2.5 for the US average and higher for subgroups.

3 • Sponsorship helps integrate newcomers into communities by connecting newcomers to local networks of support (often much larger than those available to traditional resettlement organizations). This helps newcomers to navigate the practical challenges of settling into life in a new community, such as language acquisition, school and work. • Sponsorship improves public confidence in newcomers’ integration. It helps to break down concerns about refugees not mixing with local communities, and increase confidence that newcomers will come to respect their new country’s culture and values.

This also makes it harder for ‘us-versus-them’ narratives against refugees to prevail. • Sponsorship is an orderly form of resettlement. More in Common’s research on the underlying drivers of attitudes towards immigration has found that prioritizing the moral foundation of ‘authority’ is the strongest predictor of individuals’ attitudes towards immigration. Sponsorship is a form of immigration that inspires greater confidence among individuals who prioritize authority values (around order, respect for laws and control of borders). It is widely assumed that the public’s concern is just to lower immigration.

In fact, the evidence shows otherwise: for example, when given the choice between control and either reducing or increasing immigration, both in the US and Europe, most of all people want the system to be under control. • Sponsorship addresses public concerns about costs borne by governments and the rest of the community by involving ordinary people rolling up their sleeves, helping to meet the costs for resettling refugees. • Sponsorship is unusual as a policy in that it has cross-partisan appeal to supporters of both left and right parties.

This is reflected in how sponsorship programs have been introduced by both conservative and progressive governments in many countries in recent years. The emphasis within these programs on the role of faith groups, the local community and cultural integration garners support among conservatives, while progressives embrace elements such as the capacity for refugee protection, mobilizing community action and overcoming divisions. • Sponsorship connects people in local communities around a shared project.

This increases people’s confidence in each other and in their community, connects people across lines of difference and can help reduce loneliness and isolation. More in Common What is more important: reducing immigration, increasing immigration, or getting it under control? Response toquestionofwhatisyourtop prioritywhenitcomestomigrationpolicy. More in Common (January/February2024) 596246 322735 91118 0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%GermanyUKUS Having control over who entersthe countryReducing immigration levelsIncreasing immigration levels

4 • Sponsorship can be a powerful experience because it can connect to people’s deepest values and sense of identity – such as their faith, cultural background, and affinity or peer group (e.g. university students, LGBT, fellow employees). • Sponsorship creates new points of connection between refugees and local populations. Through local community groups and networks of family and friends, millions of points of connection can be built over time, breaking down the ‘otherness’ of newcomers. • Sponsorship can draw in unlikely advocates.

For some individuals, practical participation in community welcome efforts can have an especially positive influence. For them, behavioral change can be especially powerful in shaping their beliefs and sense of identity (rather than first being persuaded of a particular belief and their behavior changing as a result).

Those individuals are unlikely to initiate participation in sponsorship or welcome efforts, but they can be drawn in through family, friends and neighbors, and become keen advocates of those efforts as a result of positive experiences. • Sponsorship generates powerful, personal stories from everyday life – stories of meaningful connection in a world of disconnection, and stories that people will tell over and over to family, friends and colleagues. These stories also come from local contexts, where information tends to be more trusted.

Sponsorship also elevates the messengers that people are most likely to trust: ordinary people who look just like them. Finally, the public appeal of sponsorship is reflected in More in Common’s finding that there are tens of millions of people interested in taking

part in sponsoring refugees. In the US, 26% of American adults (over 50 million people) express an interest in helping to sponsor a refugee – 8% definitely, and 18% probably. A further 25% are unsure. This potential has been reflected in the 344,000 applications to sponsor Ukrainians made by Americans under the Uniting for Ukraine program between the spring of 2022 and early 2024.

For further information go to www.moreincommon.com or email media@moreincommon.com More in Common 19109662148 112013191592718 1818252626311924 2723212727391425 2529322226192625 AsianHispanicBlackWhiteIndependentRepublicanDemocratUS AverageDefinitelyProbablyProbably notDefinitely notDon't knowNumbers in % 9 In the next couple of years, would you potentially be interested in joining a group to help sponsor a refugee or refugee family?2641112125223030 Total Interest National Survey #1: This statistic is from an online survey interview with N=1,500 adult US citizens from August 26th to September 1, 2022.

The margin of error (adjusted for weighting) is +/- 2.5 for the US average and higher for subgroups.

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