The main challenges to migrants' integration are language barriers (61%) and cultural and religious differences (53%), according to a recent survey conducted by IOM Lithuania. The number of foreigners living in Lithuania exceeded 220,000 this year. As this number grows, integration issues are becoming more relevant for both the local society and state institutions. 

"Integration is not always easy: foreigners often find it difficult to rent a house, find a job, they have to overcome a language barrier. There is no shortage of stereotypes foreigners face, although it is very important to note that most people form their opinions about migrants from personal experience. When it comes to the integration of foreigners in Lithuania, it is not only the role of the state or organizations that is important, but also the role of the communities and the way in which foreigners are received by the residents themselves," says Eitvydas Bingelis, Head of IOM Lithuania. 

Two years after the first major influx of war refugees from Ukraine, IOM Lithuania initiated a study to assess existing community-based initiatives to support migrants in order to make the future integration process as smooth as possible for both the refugees and the society itself. 

Ignas Zokas, a sociologist at Spinter Research, says that the model of community sponsorship is rather new to the participants of the study, consisting of representatives of state institutions, NGOs, migrants themselves, and the residents who have hosted them.  The participants of the research see most of the manifestations of this model in classical support organizations, such as IOM, Caritas, Red Cross, Save the Children, which have systemic attributes of an organization - a long history of activity, clear organizational structure, established sources of funding and strong managerial skills. 

Vytautas Ežerskis, head of the RISE project at IOM Lithuania, explains that "community sponsorship" is the involvement of the local community to help migrants to find suitable housing and to provide them with social, emotional, financial or other support. Because when the local population is involved in integration, the migrant receives a kind of "accompaniment" in various areas, and the personal relationships established encourage the migrant to integrate further. 

The participants of the study unanimously agree that housing is the first and most pressing issue that migrants encounter. Lithuanian society, which is highly oriented to homeownership, understands the importance of individual housing for the successful settlement and further integration of newcomers, but the problem is the negative attitude towards migrants themselves. Residents are reluctant to rent their homes to foreigners, even when financial incentives are offered (through contracts with organizations). 

The issue of place of residence is also important. Smaller cities and regions have lower housing prices and a greater supply of available housing, and the number of residents in those areas is declining (especially among the working age population), so both in terms of access to housing and in Lithuania's national interest, it would make more sense to try to integrate migrants more consistently across the whole territory of the country. This poses an additional challenge: in the regions, migrants face greater social exclusion and negative attitudes among the local population - there is housing available, but residents are unwilling to rent it. There are also more language problems and, most importantly, fewer opportunities to find the jobs they want. The problem of a lack of active community leaders in the regions is also recognized. 

One of the most famous examples of community-based initiatives is "Strong Together", where Lithuanian society united in providing support to war refugees from Ukraine. The future community sponsorship models could therefore adopt proven best practices from said initiative - the principle of a platform where the needs of the newcomers are matched with the capabilities of the potential sponsors, with the provision of a rental agreement template also highlighted as a good example. It was acknowledged that in this particular case, the public initiative has been able to address the basic housing needs of migrants rather quickly. 

Analysis of the reception and integration of refugees from Ukraine shows that while many local and international organizations have stepped in to help, the most significant support has come from the Strong Together initiative. Its role was particularly important in the first stages of reception, providing temporary shelter and sometimes longer-term housing and, in many cases, other organizational, technical and even emotional support to refugees. 

Best practice in democracies with long-standing migration challenges shows that integration processes are most successful when the host country brings together the forces of government, non-governmental organizations and residents themselves for a single purpose. One such model is community sponsorship. 

The RISE project manager notes that this model of integration involving the community is highly effective. In other words, the community itself has to get actively involved and build relationships with the newcomers. At the same time, this model helps to address certain social problems of the host society, for example loneliness of the elderly population. Community sponsorship can help the local community feel more involved, contributing to positive change. "Experiences in other countries, such as Canada and Denmark, show that by engaging in meaningful community activities, people in the host country meet their needs for communication and self-fulfillment, and beneficiaries are able to acquire language skills more quickly, enter the labor market more quickly, and move from being beneficiaries in need of support to becoming fully-fledged and integrated members of society," says Vytautas Ežerskis. 

V. Ežerskis notes that the problems highlighted in the study provide a more systematic picture of where we are and where we want to go. Migration as a social issue in Lithuania is becoming a more relevant topic and now is a particularly good time to start strategizing, talking, sharing best practices and join forces in tackling legal, social, financial and practical issues. 

Read the full report here