The city of Ghent. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.The city of Ghent, like other cities, is facing a growing number of refugees. In Belgium, the number of asylum applications doubled within one year. Most of them (60%) are getting recognised as refugees. As a local government we believe in a pro-active approach. In fact, we believe in starting the integration process from day one. The moment asylum seekers arrive in Ghent, they are brought into contact with relevant organisations. In this way they can have a quick access to language courses, volunteer work, leisure activities… This is a two-sided approach, not only speeding up the integration process for the refugees themselves, but also allowing organizations and citizens also get to know newcomers. This is a way to address negative stereotypes and prejudices against refugees.
To coordinate all of this, the city of Ghent set up a Taskforce on Refugees. Within this structure we believe it is very important to involve everyone who can take a role in dealing with the growing number of new arrivals. This is a cooperation, not only in between administration (city services and the Public Service for Social Welfare) and policy; also citizens and NGO’s / civil society are involved in this structure from scratch on. Due through this structure you can set also clear roles and responsibilities. Within the taskforce, we set up three working groups: a working group on shelter, a working group on integration and one on volunteers and public awareness. This triple-pronged approach allows us to tackle the challenge of welcoming refugees holistically.
Shelter
Due to the growing number of refugees, the federal government decided to provide more accommodation for refugees. In Ghent, we started a cooperation in between three reception centers. As such, we can exchange information, experiences and good practices.
