How two men and a WhatsApp group rescued scores of Afghan heroes

The Kino Border Initiative is a volunteer binational organization that provides food, aid, and shelter for migrants crossing the border between Mexico and Arizona. The rate of asylum-seekers is steadily rising, and this organization makes sure that they have a safe place to live while they wait for their day in court. Every day up to 60 volunteers conduct services that range from preparing meals to translating Indigenous languages.

Fueled by xenophobia, many countries around the world are refusing refugees at the border. But Canadian hockey moms, poker buddies, and neighbors are personally resettling Syrians, one family at a time.

Bavaria has integrated thousands of refugees into the public sphere by helping them learn German, find housing, and maintain employment through apprenticeship programs and other volunteer-run organizations in the community. Now, with Bavaria as an unlikely example, the Czech Republic looks to these program models in the wake of its own refugee crisis.

Anti-war Russians fleeing abroad are getting married in Tbilisi, Georgia, where the marriage process is quick and easy. The couples get married for a variety of reasons, from ensuring they aren’t split up when they get to another country to simply wanting to anchor themselves together during uncertain times. All that’s needed are translations of their passports, an appointment at the Tbilisi House of Justice, and two witnesses.

A German organization called Uber den Tellerrand brings together refugees and locals for a meal handmade by those who migrated from Syria and Iraq. The meal brings people together over a delicious meal, offers authentic food from those countries, and allows those cooking to feel like they are giving back to the community. Another initiative to aid the resettlement process is a program called Start with a Friend (SWAF) pairs locals and newcomers to develop friendships and help refugees better learn the language along the way.

World Relief Durham hosts a summer program for kids. Like other summer programs, it is meant to reduce summer learning loss—but this is specifically for children from forcibly displaced families. The kids face unique challenges in school and in society, often having been witness to traumatic experiences, so in this program they take lessons, play games, and work with community volunteers to let them just be kids. The program started with 25 participants in 2017 and grew to serve 150 children in 2019.

A school in Tel Aviv welcomes immigrant and refugee children with open arms, providing language classes, long school days, extracurricular activities, and more. Members of the community volunteer to tutor and lead after-school courses, allowing children to learn while their parents work late. Now, more schools are popping up in Tel Aviv with similar aspirations.

Immigrants are reviving the local economy in Sutera. Before 2014, the Sicilian town was shrinking fast. All but a few hundred people had moved to look for work in bigger cities. Welcoming asylum seekers from Nigeria, Syria, Sri Lanka and elsewhere has proved to be a popular and effective way to grow commercial opportunities and add new life to the town.

Refugee resettlement is arguably one of our country’s noblest examples of foreign policy. It gives forcibly displaced people from around the world a chance to escape danger and rebuild a life for themselves in a safe environment.

The United States-based nonprofit Miles4Migrants has flown over 43,000 migrants around the world to safety by pooling donated frequent flyer miles, credit card points, and cash.