The PEARL project is an Erasmus+ project which aims to promote the participation of young migrants and refugees in the democratic life of EU societies and in decision-making processes. Indeed, young migrants and refugees face obstacles that exclude them. In order to strengthen their civic engagement and confidence, the publication of online courses (PR1), the development of a toolkit (PR2) and the establishment of a digital participatory space as well as the development of a online magazine (PR3) were designed by the various project partners.
As part of the Erasmus+ PEARL project and the achievement of project result 2, we devoted the month of April to group consultations in France with youth workers, NGOs, refugee reception organizations and public authorities, on the democratic participation of migrants. The objective was to collect their points of view, opinions and opinions on different issues: the needs and existing obstacles that hinder the involvement of young migrants and refugees in civic and political participation, the non-formal education resources that can engaging young migrant and refugee workers to take part in policy processes, their expectations from the development of a toolkit designed to support professionals working in the field of migrant reception.
At the end of this discussion group, the ANI International team summarized the most important points on the various questions to which these professionals answered. Firstly, with regard to the needs and existing obstacles that hinder the involvement of young migrants and refugees in civic and political participation, we highlighted the lack of resources to meet their basic needs, whether in terms of housing, food, clothing. We also talked about the intellectual differences in society, especially during class and group work. Similarly, we have alluded to language barriers. Indeed, most of the time the language may be different from that of the host country.
Then, concerning the resources of non-formal education that can encourage young migrant and refugee workers to participate in political decision-making, we collected the learning of the language through radio programs dedicated to the culture of foreigners in France and the organization of physical and sensory training workshops. All this with the aim of simplifying the learning of young migrants and avoiding infantilization.
Finally, we noted the different expectations of these youth workers, NGOs and public authorities on the democratic participation of migrants in relation to the development of the toolbox. According to them, a toolkit should be formulated that would meet the training needs of these young refugees. A guide should also be developed that would enable them to learn about the rights and the socio-political and professional advantages they enjoy.
It emerged from this exchange that in order to be able to promote the participation of young migrants in political and social life, they would first need to have a good balance in their lives: access to work, housing, learning the language, medical care, food. If you want to know more about the PEARL project, we invite you to visit the website by clicking on the following link: – Pearl Project
