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April 26 2018 · Participant Experiences

Fostering a More Welcoming Nashville

Detroit. Nashville. Los Angeles. Salt Lake City. Over the course of a whirlwind 10-day U.S. tour last spring, 25 German community leaders from Düsseldorf, Freiburg, Kreis Düren, Leipzig, and Münster learned firsthand about how American cities welcome and integrate immigrants and refugees as part of the Welcoming Communities Transatlantic Exchange (WCTE). The visit was reciprocated later in the year, as 16 Americans from the aforementioned communities headed to Germany to learn firsthand about local approaches and challenges to reception and community integration. For Stephanie Teatro, Co-Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition and part of a four-member…

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October 24 2016 · Features

Successful Refugee Integration Begins at the Local Level

The civil war in Syria and the continued turmoil in the Middle East has resulted in millions of people – families, men, women and children – fleeing their homes. With communities torn apart by war and violence, refugees hope to find a better future in places where they can lead their lives in peace, security and stability. At the recent Leaders’ Summit on Refugees, hosted by President Obama in partnership with six countries, including Germany, there was a shared understanding that the refugee response must be as global in nature as the crisis itself is. This will support policies, resources and funding…

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April 18 2016 · Features

Germany’s Immigration Crisis is Increasingly Becoming an Integration Crisis

The surge of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Africa, and southeast Europe has posed significant challenges to the European Union’s and Germany’s identity, and sense of obligation to people fleeing war and persecution around the world. In 2015 alone, Germany became a new home for nearly 1.2 million displaced individuals. While the fair and manageable accommodation of these people in need throughout the EU will require a political solution that can be agreed to in the coming months, the integration of these individuals into new communities not currently equipped to handle the task looms as the longer-term challenge of this crisis.