Location and general information
Context
Royal Europa ’90 Kraainem FC is an amateur football club that has established itself in Belgium as ‘the club of diversity’. In response to the sudden increase in the number of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe, in September 2015 the club decided to launch an integration project showing how to support young refugees and asylum seekers, most of them unaccompanied minors. Since spring 2022, the club has also been working with Ukrainian children.
Project goals
The primary objective is to support asylum seekers and refugees, helping them to get active again and feel at home in their community. In doing so, the club also wishes to share its experience and approach with other stakeholders and civil society organisations that can take inspiration from what’s being done and set up projects of their own.
Project content
The club hosts groups of young refugees and asylum seekers, boys and girls, every afternoon during the football season, from September to May. They take part in discussions and train with the club’s youth teams. This initiative is intended as part of a long-term process of integration – a process in which we believe football plays a vital part.