Minister Nerea Melgosa proposes at the European Ministerial Conference on “Integration and inclusive societies” the Basque Model of Welcoming Migrant Persons as an example of best practices

• In the Flemish city of Mechelen, near Brussels, the “Ministerial Conference on the Integration of Newcomers”
• Ms Melgosa proposes a more “diverse, fairer and united society with the same opportunities, rights and obligations”
• Discussion with Ugochi Daniels, from the International Organisation for Migration, Kaare Dybvad Bek, Danish minister; Ana Catarina Mendes, from Portugal; Catherine Scott, from Canada and Tina Heferle, from Slovenia

Mechelen, Flanders, 2024 02 09

The Basque Government Minister of Equality, Justice and Social Policies, Ms Nerea Melgosa, has proposed at the European Ministerial Conference on “Integration and inclusive societies” the Basque Model of Welcoming Migrant Persons as an example of best practices that can be adapted in other parts of the European Union.

The “High-Level Policy Forum on the Integration of Newcomers” and the “Ministerial Conference on the Integration of Newcomers” started yesterday, Thursday, in the Flemish city of Mechelen, near Brussels, at the Lamot Congress Centre. The Flemish Government is organising both events in the framework of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union to highlight the importance of the integration of newcomers in European society, as well as the policies already in place and the improved practices of the EU Member States.   At the meeting today, Friday, stress was placed on the progress made in the medium term in regard to the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027 with the participation of the Director-General of the International Organisation for Migration and ministerial heads from Denmark, Portugal, Canada, the Council of Europe, Netherlands and the autonomous communities and regions of Europe, among them the Basque Country.

Best practices

Minister Nerea Melgosa presented the “Contributions to the future of integration policies for newcomers” and discussed “Integration and inclusive societies: how to build inclusive societies” with Ugochi Daniels, IOM Deputy Director General for Operations, Kaare Dybvad Bek, Danish Minister for Immigration and Integration; Ana Catarina Mendes, Portugal’s Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Catherine Scott, Assistant Deputy Minister, Settlement and Integration at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Tina Heferle, State Secretary of the Slovenia Ministry of the Interior.

“The Basque Country is not starting from zero in the setting in motion of migration policies. We have been working to build the Basque Welcome Model for more than twenty years”, together with the other Basque administrations, third sector bodies and the self-same associations of persons of foreign origin”, emphasized Melgosa.

As Minister Nerea Melgosa proceeded to explain, the “Basque Welcome Model” welcomes, integrates and protects persons on the basis of three core principles: equality rather than discrimination, translating into the equal rights of both the immigrant and the native population; citizenship, implying recognition of the full civic, social, economic and political participation of immigrant citizens; and interculturality, as a mechanism of interaction between persons of different origins and cultures, in a framework of respect for cultural diversity”.

The current “Basque Welcome Model” includes a series of resources that we have created to complement and complete a national welcome system which is under stress, also offering spaces for participation, public services, specific programmes and lines of action focused on the population of foreign origin, not only to ensure individualised attention, but above all to ensure the integration processes of persons of foreign origin arriving in the Basque Country”, explained Melgosa.  

Principles

The principles set forth by Nerea Melgosa for construction of the “Basque Welcome Model” provide the essential structure of the public integration policy according to the principles of conceiving integration as a two-way process of mutual adaptation; starting from the understanding that responsibility for the integration process and its management must be shared by all local governments, social actors, including migrant persons and society as a whole; the need for an integral or global approach, both in regard to immigration and integration policies; for the integration policies to be addressed to all citizens, immigrant and native, with a series of public actions focused on promoting and guaranteeing normalised access of the immigrant population to public and private services in general. 

“We want to see the cross-sector incorporation of the issues related to integration of the migrant population to all relevant public policies” highlighted Melgosa. “Our aim is to consolidate the “Basque Welcome Model” in order to continue fashioning a Basque society that is more diverse, fairer, more unified and where all of those who live side by side can enjoy the same opportunities, the same rights and the same obligations”, said Nerea Melgosa ending her address to the representatives of the European administrations. Joining Minister Melgosa at the meetings were Xabier Legarreta, Director of Migrations and Asylum, Ana Reka, Director of the Cabinet Office and Marta Marin.