|Published on: 30th April 2025|Categories: News|
More than 100 civil society organisations working on asylum and migration have signed a open letter calling on institutional and private donors to increase their support to civil society in order to prevent a crisis of asylum, reception and inclusion in Europe.
Concerned about the impacts of recent US funding cuts on displaced people all over the world and the organisations that support them, they have made the following recommendations:
To the European Commission:
- Use the mid-term review of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the European Social Fund+ (ESF+) to ensure that funding channelled via EU member states adequately supports civil society organisations working on asylum and migration
- Consider how to fund civil society organisations directly (e.g. through resources from the AMIF thematic facility), in order to respond to the emerging needs for legal aid, counselling and other activities, all of which have a high added value for the EU by supporting the implementation of the Pact
- Review whether, given the changed context, EU member states should be obliged to spend a certain percentage of their national programmes in support of civil society, a good practice established for EU funding for displacement from Ukraine
- Adapt national programmes under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance to respond to the emerging needs in relation to asylum and migration
To EU member states:
- Ensure that national programmes under the AMIF and the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI) provide adequate resources for civil society organisations, that civil society organisations are considered eligible under all relevant call for proposals, that activities include legal counselling and representation, and that calls for proposals are issued promptly
- Convene consultations with affected civil society organisations to understand what the needs are and how they can be addressed in the short-, medium- and long-term
To private funders:
- Re-assess funding needs for asylum in Europe, increase resources for this purpose and prioritise countries where neither national allocation of EU funds nor institutional funding reaches civil society.
