From January 2022, the Croatian Law Centre has been implementing the transnational two-year project „Complementary Pathways for Southeast Europe – COMP4SEE”. The Project is financed by the AMIF Fund of the EU and co-financed by the Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. The partners on this project are Peace Institute (Slovenia), Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and Environment (Slovenia) and Foundation for Access to Rights (Bulgaria).
The Project aims to contribute to development of complementary pathways by creating new models of private sponsorships and offering recommendations for the improvement of national family reunification systems.
The Project envisages research and advocacy-based activities that will result in the number of new places for legal admission, reception and effective integration of persons granted international protection.
First, the project will identify good practices of private sponsorship schemes implemented so far in Europe, analyse national legal and practical context in regard to establishment of a private sponsorship, and research attitudes of stakeholders and potential sponsors.
Second, framework of the existing family reunification systems and experiences of national stakeholders will be analysed. In parallel, family reunification assistance will be provided to people in need of international protection to gain first-hand understanding of the issues. Part of the same set of activities will be exchange of knowledge with organizations In Germany with experience in conducting family reunification and sponsorship programs. These activities will result in Recommendations for establishment of new models of private sponsorships schemes tailored to Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia, and in Recommendations for improvements of national family reunification systems. These will serve as an advocacy tool for the third set of activities, which is promoting and strengthening support at the local and national level for the introduction of complementary pathways and expansion of current channels.
The results of the analyses, the results of the empirical research and the recommendations based on them will be disseminated and discussed at expert meetings, round table and at the final conference with international participation.
Short and mid-term beneficiaries are around 50 people in need of international protection that will participate in the family reunification assistance programme, but also stakeholders’ representatives that will be affected by advocacy activities and general public in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia. Long-term beneficiaries will be people in need of international protection that will benefit from the newly developed models and improved family reunification systems.