Involve community leaders to boost civic participation among migrants, experts say

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Co-decision on the city budget expenditure by displaced people can help local authorities better understand their needs. However, these communities often face language and financial obstacles that hinder their participation, according to experts.

“If the purpose of citizen involvement is to ensure that budgets and policies match the needs of the local population, every voice should be presented in co-decision processes,” said Jasmijn Slootjes, policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI Europe).

This also applies to participatory budgeting, the democratic tool allowing citizens to decide where to invest a part of the municipal resources.

In Slootjes’ view, meaningful engagement in budgetary decisions would strengthen the feeling of being part of a country, while also improving political participation, which remains low among migrant communities.

“Displaced people may not understand the political system or political dynamics, but they want, you know, events at the community centre or recreation, sports leagues, things they can relate to,” said Josh Lerner, executive director of People Powered.

The engagement of people with a migratory background can also help shed a light on the needs these communities have, which might not always be seen by the municipality.

“That’s where you’re getting new ideas,” Lerner said, adding that participatory budgeting “is a way to hear from people that you don’t normally hear from.”

Language barriers

When it comes to the participation of displaced people, however, city leaders need to take language differences into account.

According to Lerner, interpretation or translation services should be included in participatory budgeting processes.

“If you want to get the most from the programme, you need to consider it an essential expense. Otherwise, you’re spending all this money running a programme that isn’t reaching some of the people who most need their voice heard.”

At the same time, experts warn that the classic channels of government communication might not reach these groups.

Involving local leaders

“Involving community members is a very promising best practice,” Slootjes said, adding that engaging influencers with migrant backgrounds or local religious leaders can be “incredibly effective” to mobilise the wider community.

Lerner agrees that bringing local leaders and informal organisations, such as football groups, “on the inside” are key to making sure more individuals participate.

“If you get them on board, then people will see this as something they can trust,” he said, adding that “if you skip that step, often people won’t participate because the people that they trust in their community aren’t participating and may even see it as a threat.”

Another key area for civic participation is school, both for children and parents.

“Parents may not connect with the government, but they will care more about the school environment,” Lerner said.

With school participatory budgeting becoming increasingly popular across Europe, schools can become “entry points” to start engaging all people across the community.

Avoiding ‘tokenistic’ participation

However, to ensure migrant and refugee involvement is not reduced to “just checking the box,” political buy-in is crucial throughout the process.

“I think there’s often a very tokenistic involvement of migrants and refugees in these types of processes,” Slootjes said, adding that people with migratory backgrounds often “feel like they’re being used for knowledge.”

Moreover, in her view, they are often seen as “the migrant voice,” with their gender, age, and socioeconomic class being ignored, and they rarely get something in return for their participation.

“You need to also acknowledge and compensate for the time and effort that people invest,” Slootjes said.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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