IOM assists refugees to relocate to France

The group consisting of 71 adults and 22 children from Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Iraq and Liberia will be relocated in three northern French towns as part of the intra EU Relocation from Malta (EUREMA) pilot project, which aims to relocate refugees from Malta to other EU Member States. 

As part of the project, which is carried out in close coordination with the Maltese and French authorities, UNHCR and NGOs, IOM provided a 5-hour pre-departure orientation class to help the refugees develop realistic expectations of their new lives in France.  IOM will also assist the refugees during boarding procedures, at transit and upon arrival at their final destinations.

Upon their arrival in France, all beneficiaries will be sheltered in reception centres for a maximum of six months, where they will be given housing support, food and clothing, referral to medical care and treatment, employment services and other forms of assistance during their transition period to self-sufficiency.

The French Office of Immigration and Integration (OFII) will be responsible in assisting the refugees with a one-year-long integration programme, which will include language and cultural orientation training.

The refugees had arrived in Malta by boat and had spent up to five years in Malta living either in open centres or in private accommodations.

This pilot relocation project is in response to the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum agreed in October 2008 and constitutes the largest intra-European resettlement operation with IOM support so far.