Abstract>
In the last decade seventeen Western countries have adopted “sponsorship schemes” as a response to the so called “refugee crisis”. The review and systematization of forty-three publications on such initiatives allow us to identify important differences in their design and scope in each of the World regions in which they have been implemented (North America, Oceania, Europe and Latin America). Additionally, we observe that there are more authors in favour of this type of strategies that those who question it, regardless of it being a privatized route of resettlement, a family reunification mechanism, a humanitarian admission stream or, simply, an amateur support project. The analysis enables us to recognize two principles different from the principle of additionality that characterizes the original model of refugee sponsorship. This suggests that economistic and humanitarian readings are eclipsing political and human rights-centered interpretations.
refugrship; private sponsorship; community sponsorship; humanitarian corridors