Global change through local action
Community sponsorship ensures refugees are met with a warm welcome and have the support they need to find their feet in a new country. Australia joined this growing global movement with the launch of the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP) in 2022.
Why community sponsorship works
For refugees
Newcomers benefit from a strong personal network of people to help them find their feet in a new community. This holistic, wrap-around support can address a broader set of needs of different family members and potentially lessen the acculturation stress and isolation that refugees may experience in their early stages of settlement.
For community supporters
Those who form local supporter groups develop new networks and relationships by coming together to pursue a powerful shared purpose. Many of those involved say that sponsoring a refugee is one of the most meaningful things they have ever done.
For communities
Community sponsorship can enrich civic life, foster social cohesion and economic independence of humanitarian migrants. It can also help regional communities attract and retain migrants, boosting their populations and expanding their workforces.
Beyond this, community sponsorship provides a model for expanding our country’s refugee resettlement program by drawing on the time and resources of compassionate Australians to supplement the long-standing government-assisted resettlement program. Right now, the CRISP draws on places from within the recently enlarged humanitarian program, but we hope in future it will become structurally additional. For more on this, visit our Advocacy page.
Community refugee sponsorship around the world
Community refugee sponsorship has been working successfully in Canada for more than 40 years. Ordinary community members in Canada have sponsored and welcomed more than 325,000 refugees since the late 1970s. This number is in addition to those entering under the government-funded resettlement program.
The practice is now spreading around the world with countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, New Zealand, Spain and Argentina all having programs. Australia joined this growing movement with the launch of the federal ‘CRISP’ program in 2022.
Our map was last updated in May 2023. For more information and links for each country’s program, visit the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative’s interactive map.
Which countries have sponsorship programs?
The map below highlights the countries which currently have community sponsorship schemes in place.
Key: No scheme in place.
Blue countries on the map have a Scheme in place.
You can help make a difference.
Join the movement to welcome refugees into your Australian community.