Navan group to sponsor and welcome Syrian refugee family
A group has been set up in Navan to sponsor and welcome a refugee family into the community under the Department of Justice & Equality Community Sponsorship Ireland scheme.
A family selected to settle in Navan under this scheme will have been granted full refugee status, bestowing most of the same rights and privileges as that of Irish citizens such as, the right to work, to education and healthcare and to participate in the society in which they settle.
Families selected will have experienced significant hardship, trauma and disruption and have been forced to flee from their home country as a result of oppression, conflict and war. Under this scheme, the Navan Community Sponsorship Group (NCSG) will welcome a Syrian family who may have come through several refugee camps in the Lebanon or Jordan.
Families who find themselves in these situations are often forced to move repeatedly within a short space of time. One family welcomed to County Meath was forced to move as many as 13 times in the space of one year prior to being selected by the Department for the scheme. The impact of these experiences on families and particularly on children can be devastating but it has been shown that given the opportunity to re-settle permanently in a safe and supportive environment, a family can thrive and overcome past adversity.
In Ireland, there are already town and city communities that have welcomed and helped families to make Ireland their home and enable them to integrate into and contribute to and benefit their new community, including Dunshaughlin.
The group says this is an opportunity for the Navan community to help make a real difference to the life of one refugee family who have fled conflict and war.
A number of fundraising projects are planned, including a sponsored walk. It is estimated that it is 5,213km from Syria to Navan. Walk 5,213 steps or more a day, a week or a month in November in solidarity with a family needing settlement and safety in Navan.
A golf day is scheduled to take place on Monday 2nd November at Royal Tara Golf Club, subject to Covid-19 restrictions. People can help and support these initiatives by getting involved or by sponsoring or donating to these fund-raising events. For more information, email navancommunitysponsorship@gmail.com; see www.facebook.com/Navancommunitysponsorshipgroup