The Ministry of Integration invites civil society to participate

The many refugees currently arriving in Denmark bring new challenges to the collaboration between public authorities and civil society. In light of this, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen invited a number of civil society players to a summit at Marienborg in September 2015. The Church was not invited to this summit, something the Council on International Relations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark felt necessary to make the Prime Minister’s Office aware of.

As a consequence, the Christian Refugee Network was represented at the follow up meeting at the Ministry of Integration and at an Integration Day held in December where representatives from different parts of civil society discussed experiences, models and new alliances from the work with integration. It became clear that the Church is ahead in many ways when it comes to integration and can contribute with important insights gained from experience. It was also confirmed that people who are active in a church are more likely to volunteer for other types of activities, something we know from various studies.

One of the conclusions from the Integration Day was that it is the direct contact between foreigners and Danes that makes the foundation for any successful integration effort. Last autumn, the Christian Refugee Network began an initiative trying to strengthen and spread existing experiences by establishing contact between Danes and refugees. Now we are seeing how this work is initiated in more places.

Another conclusion from the Integration Day was that we need to use already established fellowships as a starting point rather than attempting to create completely new communities and activities. There are existing fellowships in the Church that refugees can become a natural part of with little assistance. Examples of these are services, children’s clubs, second-hand shops, scout associations, etc. The Church is present in all parts of the country, which means it is possible to get in touch with someone from the Church no matter where the refugees are settled

A third point of conclusion was that the collaboration between the municipalities and local civil society players needs strengthening. The municipalities have not had much experience with involving civil society, but it will be paramount to the integration of new refugees into society that this happens in the future. If the Church wants to be part of this work, it is important to establish units, to coordinate the contact with the municipality, making it possible for the authorities and all church players within a municipality to collaborate at once

With basis in these conclusions, the Christian Refugee Network, the Intercultural Christian Centre and the Churches’ Integration Service have started an initiative focused on reinforcing coordination and collaboration between churches all over Denmark.

For further information, contact Christian Refugee Network (Council on International Relations of the ELC Denmark), Coordinator Søren Dalsgaard, sd@interchurch.dk

By Søren Dalsgaard and Pia Nielsen