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On September 17 Heather Roy, President of Social Platform delivered an opening speech at a meeting on Volunteering for Social Inclusion at the Red Cross EU Office. The meeting was based on the presentation and main findings of a study on volunteering as a pathway to social inclusion for young asylum seekers and refugees: Opportunities and barriers in a European context, conducted by the Red Cross in Denmark and Scotland. Highlights included:

Heather Roy, President of Social Platform – access the full speech (PDF)

• Migration is not only a legal issue but also a social issue – about access to services, equal treatment, education etc. It’s about belonging, when does 'them' become 'us'?
• It is not only about looking at the institutional bodies that need to be in place for migrants to participate but also to look at practical barriers that can be solved, such as language barriers
• We need to speak up against ‘Solidarity Crimes’ in Europe, where e.g. service providers are punished for providing services to migrants (e.g. shelters to undocumented migrants)
• The number of migrants living in poverty and social exclusion are substantially higher than among non-migrants. It is too huge for volunteering to be the sole action – complementary actions are needed. It is important to support migrants NGOs ‘help-to-self-help’ and to recognise volunteering as a soft skill – but it is also important that volunteering is not seen as a cheap alternative to replace labour force – and it should not discharge the responsibility of decision-makers
• Social Platform developed recommendations to the EU and member states in terms of mainstreaming and specific actions – see our position paper on migration

Leon Prop, Director of the Red Cross EU Office

• Mr Prop highlighted how the Red Cross has developed their work throught the years, going from focusing on migrants in need to looking at the value and contributions of migrants to focusing on the diversity of their own organisations (staff, volunteering etc.) and on how they can enable better access to vulnerable communities, e.g. irregular migrants

Maria ILIES, DG Employment, the Commission

• Ms Ilies explained how unemployment due to the crisis has heavily affected migrants; By 2060 30% of the general population will be over 65 years old – with migrants younger than the non-migrant population (with women  slightly more over-represented). We have high levels of unemployment but also high numbers of vacancies which means we don’t have the skills we need, predominantly for high skilled jobs. Migrants are less represented in high skilled jobs but at the same time over-qualified for their jobs – it is worst for the newly arrived (only 30% of women that have been in the EU for less than three years have work). The reasons for this discrepancy can be both about discrimination in access to (high skilled) jobs as well as that diplomas are not recognised.
• Integration and inclusion of migrants should be seen in the context of the the Europe 2020 Strategy, e.g. employment targets need to take into account migration. The Commission have tools, such as the free movement, European Social Fund projects, developing guidelines for family reunification and currently negotiations (in the Council) on the entry and residence Directive. The Commission has also put forward country specific recommendations within the frame of the European Semester to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg and Sweden.