The Refugee Council for the project NIEM was established in Warsaw.

20.10.2020 the  team form the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw  met  with  activists and community leaders with experience of the forced migration to discuss plans for further work. 

The purpose of establishing the Council is to strengthen the influence of people with refugee experience and people with one of the forms of protection in Poland on discussions about the shape of the integration policies in Poland, their outcomes and changes to the policies, as well as to strengthen the influence on researches on integration of people applying for international protection and people under protection. 

All participants have a long  professional and personal experience as  activists and community leaders and are involved various actions and initiatives  for intercultural dialogue and integration in  cities as Warsaw or Gdansk but also in projects all over the country,  within the national and international networks. 

During the first meeting participants highlighted the challenges that people with granted protection and  asylum seekers face in Poland due to gaps or insufficient  current solutions in such aspects as education and availability of polish language courses, housing and the risk of homelessness among beneficiaries of international protection, lack of appropriate psychological assistance especially for people who experienced detention in Poland, and linked to that, the lack of specialists in educational and medical facilities with  knowledge and experience of cross-cultural work. 

At the next meetings, we also plan to talk more closely about selected areas of integration and proposals for changes that would improve the situation of people with refugee background, as well as about actions that can be taken towards institutions deciding on integration policies.