Legal Pathways to protection
Safe pathways to Europe for refugees
Legal Pathways to protection, also known as ‘third country solutions’, include resettlement and a range of complementary pathways of admission of refugees. They offer refugees the possibility to move from a country in which they have sought protection to a third country. 
Stakeholders
Since 2007, ICMC Europe has developed a coalition of international, European, national, regional and local partners to work towards better resettlement in Europe. This work has taken place in the framework of the European Resettlement Network (ERN) and across the Share Network, and has gradually expanded to include complementary pathways such as community sponsorship under humanitarian visas, family reunification, education and labour mobility pathways for refugees.
Via our research, outreach, multistakeholder conferences, training and capacity building, we jointly advocate to expand legal pathways so that persons in need of protection can safely reach countries in Europe.
What we do
Support the development of innovative complementary pathway programmes for refugees to access higher education and labour mobility opportunities
Advocate for extended family reunification programmes
Advocate for governments to expand national resettlement commitments, and for complementary pathways to be additional to these commitments
Build alliances to advocate for expanded legal pathways so that persons in need of protection can safely travel to and settle in European countries
Learn more about:
Our research & training modules ⟶ Upcoming
EU policy & our advocacy ⟶ Upcoming
We advocate for complementary pathways to be additional to resettlement. Complementary pathways offer additional opportunities for refugees to be admitted under national law, within a wider framework of ‘humanitarian admissions’.
Both resettlement and complementary pathways require careful planning, in both countries of first asylum and in the local communities where refugees are received. All actors have their role to play, and we facilitate discussions and exchanges among them. We work across all programmes and pathways, mapping the development and legal implications of European efforts in this area, and collaborating with civil society and other partners to explore and transfer models and best practices across European countries.
Safe Pathways in Europe
Resettlement
Resettlement involves the selection and transfer of refugees from a state in which they have sought protection to a third country that has agreed to admit them as refugees, with a permanent residence status.
Resettlement is one of the three durable solutions for refugees that UNHCR is mandated to implement in cooperation with states, and provides a means to protect refugees who cannot locally integrate in their host country or voluntarily repatriate to their country of origin.
At Share we mobilise support for resettlement at European, national and local levels. We work together with partners, international organisations, national, regional and local governments and provide technical inputs to a varied range of actors. We work to broaden engagement in resettlement-based community-based sponsorship, which in Europe is still largely faith-based, to encompass a wider and more diverse range of actors. We also advocate for resettlement-based community sponsorship to be additional to existing national resettlement commitments.
Complementary pathways
Complementary pathways are safe and regulated avenues for refugees that complement resettlement by providing legal stay in a third country where international protection needs are met.
Complementary pathways are diverse by nature and should be implemented in addition to existing resettlement commitments.
While resettlement is implemented by states in cooperation with UNHCR, complementary pathways such as humanitarian corridors are managed and financed entirely by civil society organisations. Humanitarian corridors admit refugees via humanitarian visas offering refugee protection and status, similarly to resettlement. Other pathways, such as those for study, work or family reunification, often take place in the context of general visa-issuing frameworks with limited legal status and durations of stay.
Community sponsorship
Community or private sponsorships can broadly be defined as public-private partnerships: between governments that facilitate legal admission for refugees, and private or community-based actors who provide financial, social and/or emotional support to receive and settle refugees in communities.
Community sponsorship offers citizens opportunities to be actively engaged in integration by hosting and supporting refugees. This type of citizen engagement can have a transformative impact on communities, promoting social cohesion and creating more welcoming societies. Although not a legal pathway as such, community sponsorship supports resettlement and complementary pathways. It adds more protection places for refugees, and integrates their welcome and support into local community structures, institutions and frameworks.
Explore our Legal Pathways work
Past projects
European Resettlement Network +
In September 2016, the coordinating partners of the European Resettlement Network – IOM, ICMC and UNHCR - launched a new phase of the ERN. ERN+ (Developing Innovative European Models for the Protection of Refugees and Providing Support to New Resettlement Countries) explored complementary forms of admission for those in need of international protection and highlighted the need for safe and legal ways to reach the EU. ERN+ was co-financed by the European Union under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).
Three main forms of admission were explored: community sponsorship, student scholarship schemes and humanitarian admission programmes.
Using the established structure of the ERN, the project brought together national, regional and local governments, international organisations, civil society organisations, think tanks, academia and the refugee diaspora. Through a series of webinars, targeted roundtables and publications, the project sought to identify lessons learned and highlight opportunities to incorporate complementary pathways as a more permanent feature of protection in Europe.
EU-FRANK
European Union Action Facilitating Resettlement and Refugee Admission through New Knowledge (EU-FRANK) was led by the Swedish Migration Agency in partnership with four other European countries (Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, and Switzerland), international organisations and NGOs. It provided operational support to EU Member States to build their resettlement capacity and facilitate the implementation of their resettlement programmes. It was co-funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). It began in January 2016, launched its activities in October 2016, and ended in June 2020.