Supporting the Work of Refugee Support Workers: The Training Needs of Professionals in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (TREE project findings)

A great deal of research is conducted on the integration of refugees, but less is focused on the role of those who offer services to refugees. These volunteers and paid professionals, however, are major players in integration. And this is the case whether or not their work is specifically focussed on supporting integration. Recognising this situation, the Interreg project, TREE (Training for integrating refugees in Euregio) is creating a training programme for those working with refugees. The content of this programme is based on qualitative research, including semi-structured interviews and observations, with more than 70 support workers in four sub-regions of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. This paper presents the key findings of this research and highlights the main obstacles, strengths, and needs reported by this group, as well as ideas for ways forward in terms of training support. Those who are considered instrumental in the integration of refugees include a diverse array of professions, such as medical professionals, language teachers, integration class instructors, mainstream classroom teachers, social workers, interpreters, and employees in regional and municipal governments. The paper highlights the importance of the definition/understanding of integration, both at the institutional and personal levels. How these professionals understand integration impacts how they work to support refugees and what training they feel would be useful in this endeavour, with some actors asking for targeted support in working with refugees and others feeling that this support is unnecessary. This dichotomy is illuminating in how integration functions at the regional and local levels and how support workers play their key role in welcoming refugees.