Re:Match project: First relocation & admission via matching successful!

With the help of an algorithm-supported process, we successfully matched and relocated a group of 20 Ukrainian asylum seekers from Poland with the German municipalities this week. The an Re:Match participating municipalities are Braunschweig, Düsseldorf, Kiel, Rottenburg am Neckar, Salzgitter and Troisdorf.

Over the past 7 months, we have realised a Innovative relocation model for individualised and needs-based reception and redistribution of refugees developed. Together with our Re:Match partners, we have carried out a series of concept design activities to develop and test a concept for a matching-based, direct redistribution from Poland to German municipalities ready to receive refugees. In a first step, we have In-depth workshops with Ukrainian asylum seekers and interested municipalities in Germany. The aim was to identify the most urgent needs and compare them with what the cities have to offer in terms of reception and integration infrastructure and available data. Based on these results, the Matching criteria and the matching algorithmwhich is organised by our Canadian partner organisation Pairity a team of renowned experts with international experience in the development of algorithms with social impact.

At the same time, we created preference ranking surveys and conducted personal interviews with the interested people seeking protection. This was done in close cooperation with Salam Laban aid organisation that supports and even employs refugees in Krakow, Poland.

Finally, the project ensured that the Ukrainians had a say throughout the processby providing them with relevant information about the municipality with which they were matched and making the logic of the algorithm and the reasons for each match transparent.

What happens next?

After a short preliminary evaluation we will be working in the coming months with the Matching of 2 further groups will continue. In total, we plan to relocate around 100-120 Ukrainians from Poland directly to German cities by the end of September 2023.

Subsequently, our team will prepare a comprehensive evaluation report analysing the project results and addressing the question of scalability for a potential EU-wide distribution mechanism and other groups.

To receive updates like this directly, you can visit our Newsletter to stay informed. You can also find out more about the project here.