1. 1 Jan Braat Niene Oepkes Local Migration Policy in the Municipality of Utrecht, The Netherlands Berlin March 22, 2013

2. 2 Situation Utrecht in the winter Sleeping rough in the Utrecht forest area

3. 3 Basic Principles Local Policy Human Rights Treaties European Convention on Human Rights International Convention on the Rights of the Child European Committee of Social Rights Obligation to offer the necessary care and shelter to vulnerable people in the municipality Public Order competence Mayor

4. 4 Policy Objectives Utrecht Migrant Policy Objective: To prevent and reduce illegal stay in the Netherlands The result is: either a residence permit with coaching to schooling and work or “reconnection” to the country of origin Homelessness and rough sleeping on the street is not the solution, but part of the problem

5. 5 Utrecht Policy Undocumented Migrants Solution Oriented and pragmatic: 1.Support Centre Perspective former Unaccompanied Minors 2.Emergency shelter rejected asylum seekers 3.Medical shelter Undocumented Migrants 4.EU migrants successful approach Polish organization Barka

6. 6 Support Centre Perspective: Award most successful social project in Utrecht 2004 Public Order Award, City of Utrecht 2005 Nomination Eurocities Award, Gdansk Poland 2007 Results better then national policy Experiment 20 municipalities 2009 - 2011 Successfactors of one-stop-shop support centre: 1.Respectful coaching based on trust in a homelike environment 2.Estimating chances on residence permit through excellent legal counselling 3.Increasing perspective of a future in countries of origin

7. 7 Total results Utrecht Perspective Approach (outflow)

8. 8 Results outflow national

9. 9 Barka-Team Approach: Successfactors local approach: “leaders” who experienced and overcame homelessness and addiction Assistant is social worker / psychologist who is the connection to Dutch society Shelter and/or communities in country of origin Results 2012 in 4 Dutch cities (Utrecht, Amsterdam, The Hague, Arnhem) 199 reconnections Utrecht 75% less criminal offences concerning Eastern EU migrants Barka also working in London (2300 reconnections), Edinburgh, Dublin, Hamburg, Kopenhagen

10. 10 Barka “Communities“ in Poland

11. 11 New Developments Barka Africa Diaspora Human Rights: Complaint by European Conference of Churches against the Dutch State (European Comittee of Social Rights to Shelter undocumented migrants) Shelter for families with children, based on a ruling of the High Court of the Netherlands. First case was won in Utrecht. Dutch municipalities are obliged to give shelter to vulnerable undocumented migrants by court decisions if national policy is sufficient

12. 12 Concluding Remarks No rough sleeping in the forests around Utrecht anymore More cooperation best practices Dutch and German municipalities on successful local migration policies Questions?