Naming Refugees: Governing Sponsor‐Led Selection in Europe

Community sponsorship in Europe has largely been designed as a post‐arrival reception model: states and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) select refugees, whereas citizens and civil society organisations support them after admission. This Policy Analysis examines whether and under what conditions sponsors should also participate in identifying who is admitted, commonly described as ‘naming’. By reframing naming as sponsor‐led selection, this analysis draws on legal and scholarly literature, European policy and programme evidence, and situated practitioner reflection. It advances three arguments. First, sponsor involvement forms a continuum, from matching within a pre‐cleared pool to direct nomination subject to public eligibility and admissibility review. Second, fairness requires neither unrestricted sponsor choice nor the exclusion of civil society. A defensible model separates identification, prioritisation, matching, eligibility and final admission, while allowing relational knowledge to inform decisions within transparent and reviewable rules. Third, Europe already operates a de facto mixed system, as humanitarian corridors, family‐linked admission programmes and Homes for Ukraine redistribute elements of selection authority to civil society. The analysis proposes a modular European architecture combining protected state‐ or UNHCR‐referred routes with regulated nomination streams and safeguards for additionality, transparency, plural access, oversight, refugee consent and protection.