Origin: Aleppo; Destination: Castelo Branco - The Roadmap of a Refugee Integration Process in Portugal

Abstract

Against the background of the problem of the integration of refugees in Portuguese society, this article intends to be a contribution focused on a reflective description of a single case, evidencing the course of reception and integration of a refugee family in a city in the interior of Portugal. The unimpressive number of refugees in national territory has contributed to the absence of academic studies and reflections on the experiences and difficulties experienced in the process of integration in Portuguese territory. According to the objectives and context of the study, it was decided to operationalize an action research. This methodology allowed us to fulfill the double objective of allowing us to know and characterize the reality under analysis and to intervene in order to implement the process of social integration of a family of refugees, newly arrived in the city of Castelo Branco, during a time period of 1 year and 4 months. We have guided some of the procedures identified in the "Families" axis of responsibility, as well as the conceptual and operational support of intercultural mediation made explicit in the article. The analysis of the collected data allows us to affirm that it was possible to begin a process of construction of structuring dimensions for the empowerment of the actors and, in particular, for the process of school inclusion of the 7 children of the family under analysis.
In the description we have highlighted the most positive aspects of this family's journey in the national territory, but we have also identified constraints and difficulties. The design of the research was adequate to the circumstances and objectives of the study, allowing the organization of data, defining strategies and implementing dynamics that promote the integration process and, at the same time, the personal and / or professional development of the participants. Involving the family in the process, listening and considering their "voice", contributed to a learning in action and to the qualification of all the actors, reinforcing a network of fundamental articulation to answer the problem underlying the present study.