“Cities are instrumental policy actors, practitioners and spaces for refugee and immigrant reception and inclusion in local communities”, said Bernd Vöhringer, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities and Rapporteur on women and children refugees, at the meeting of the Network of Focal Points on Migration on 2 December 2022 in Strasbourg, France.

“While refugee and asylum policies are developed at national level, it is on the ground, in our cities and regions, that these policies have to be implemented,” Mr Vöhringer reminded, underlining that the development of effective policies on migration require the input of cities and regions.

“Our mayors, city councillors, local civil servants and police are the first points of contact for arriving refugees. As such, we are frontline actors, who need to be given a seat at the table when developing migration and asylum policies”, he stressed.

Presenting the recent Congress report on the reception of women and children refugees, Mr Vöhringer concluded by outlining four concrete actions that Congress asks of national authorities : involve cities and regions in the development of their reception policies, provide them with funding and capacities to take care of reception and integration, co-operate in terms of data sharing and further develop rural areas.

„Congress works both to make national governments aware of their duty to involve cities and regions in reception and integration policies, but also to raise awareness amongst Congress members about their role as receivers of migrants and protectors of their human rights,” Mr Vöhringer concluded.