Lunch & Learn: Reception and integration of migrants and refugees in cities across the Americas

Join CERC Migration for a lunch-time talk from CERC Migration Researcher Berti Olinto on the challenges of reception and integration of migrants and refugees across the Americas. This research has supported the project  (PDF file) Strengthening the Capacities of Local Authorities in the Reception and Integration of Migrants and Refugees (external link) .

In 2020, the migratory corridor from Latin America and the Caribbean to North America, and the intra-regional corridors within Latin America and the Caribbean were among the top 10 migrant corridors in the world. The Americas are the epicenter of some of the most complex mixed migratory movements in recent decades. Local actors are key to responding to these migration trends. Like members of their host communities, migrants and refugees also seek to access services and programs offered by municipalities where they live. As a result, mass migration dynamics across the Americas has created challenges for many local governments as municipalities have had to assume new responsibilities to address increasingly complex migration dynamics. Therefore, more and more localities are facing new challenges in the reception and integration of migrant and refugee populations, especially in promoting intercultural integration in communities where diversity has been increasing. Given this situation, there is not only an enormous variety in the responses of local actors to the reception and integration of migrants and refugees, but there is also an opportunity to learn about specific challenges and good practices seen at the local level. This report explores the diversity of challenges and local responses to this complex, varied, and dynamic regional phenomena.