News

In Ankara on 10-11 November, the NAVRR Project held an operational workshop and senior officials meeting on reintegration and post-arrival assistance delivery for the national stakeholders of Türkiye’s National Assisted Voluntary Return & Reintegration (NAVRR) Mechanism. Contributions to the workshop were made by ICMPD’s Senior AVRR Expert and Return, Readmission & Reintegration Specialist, together with the Pakistani Red Crescent Society as well as BRAC from Bangladesh and Shaqodoon from Somalia.

On 17-18 November 2022, ICMPD and SOLIDAR co-organised a SPRING workshop taking place in Brussels, Belgium, focusing on good practices in the integration of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers and improved integration outcomes through mutual learning.

Unique collaboration bringing together migration expertise, a local university and the private sector, opens up prospects for the local population, business location and companies

On 25 November 2022, a vocational training facility, the Centre of Practical Skills, as well as the Godfrey Okoye University European Business Park, were opened in Enugu, Nigeria. This unique combination of private entrepreneur involvement and skilled worker training will enable 100 people per year to undertake dual education and training to learn skilled trades and become plumbers, electricians and construction supervisors.

On 5-6 September 2022, in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, the EU-funded Border Management Programme in Central Asia – Phase 10 (BOMCA 10) started its first of a series of National Project Steering Group Meetings (NSGMs) in Central Asia. During September – October 2022, the leadership of the project, representatives of the European Union and implementing partners will meet with the key partners, such as state agencies and international organisations in all countries across the region to review the Programme’s progress in the current year and to define upcoming plans.

Amidst the humanitarian crisis caused by the protracted war in neighbouring Ukraine, the displaced people fleeing to Moldova are in continuous need of assistance. In cooperation with the National Congress of Ukrainians in Moldova, the CareFor project supports the work of one of the Temporary Reception Centres in Chisinau.

The Strengthening Border Security in Ghana (SBS Ghana) project, funded by European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), in collaboration with the Ghana Integrity Initiative, held a two-day roundtable discussion and workshop on “The Role of CSOs in Ghana’s Border Security Management.”

In September 2022, the EU-funded MOBILAZE 2 and Prague Process projects organised the International Summer School on Migration. Participants of the event were young graduates and professionals from Azerbaijan and Ukraine who attended lectures and workshops by professors of renowned EU universities.

The seventh annual Vienna Migration Conference (VMC) on 11-12 October will provide a chance to assess the most crucial drivers of migration, with a host of high-level speakers and experts in attendance: regional instabilities and ongoing conflicts, the instrumentalisation of migration, climate change, and post-pandemic labour market shortages.

On 21-22 September 2002, ICMPD and the African Union Commission (AUC) jointly organised a workshop to validate the report «Mapping Issues for Formulating a Strategic Plan for the African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration» in Bamako, Mali in Addis Ababa.

MOBILAZE 2 project organized participation of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and State Migration Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the “Effective migration management: putting policy into action” executive training course organized by the School of Transnational Governance and Migration Policy Center by the European University Institute in 5-7 October, in Florence, Italy.

On 11 and 12 October 2022, ICMPD hosted the seventh edition of the Vienna Migration Conference, (VMC2022) Europe’s leading forum on migration. The conference gathered key European and global actors in Vienna’s historic Palais Niederösterreich to discuss the old and new forces shaping international migration – and how governments, international organisations and civil society should respond. These included the impact of ongoing conflicts and instability, instrumentalisation of migration, climate change and post-COVID-19 pandemic labour shortages on the movement of people.

As a Secretariat of the Network of Anti-Trafficking Coordinators in South-East Europe (NATC SEE), ICMPD supports the Slovenian chairmanship of the Network to mark the EU Anti-trafficking day. The Network issued a Joint Statement addressing the vulnerability of the millions affected by the war in Ukraine to exploitation, abuse and human trafficking.

The Training Institute on Migration Capacity Partnership for the Mediterranean (MCP Med TI) held its second Governing Board meeting during a 2-day hybrid event on 18 and 19 October with the presence of representatives from ICMPD, donor and partner countries, observers, and EU agencies.

Between July and September 2022, under the scope of the KOMPLEKS project, ICMPD organised a first series of training on gender-based violence and risk of human trafficking of unaccompanied minors. 

During 20-21 October, the Ombudsman Office, in coordination with the Moldovan Bureau for Migration and Asylum, carried out the first forced return monitoring mission in country’s history. Forced-return monitoring aims to ensure human rights compliance during the removal operations with a view to increase transparency and accountability.

On 18 October 2022, ICMPD, as part of the SPRING project, held a webinar on fast tracking the labour market integration of people from Ukraine. The panel featured six experts and practitioners who shared their views on labour market inclusion from different angles.

On 14 September 2022, ICMPD held a workshop on the role of communities of practice and cooperation networks in contributing to more inclusive and evidence-informed integration policy and practice. The event featured a diverse range of experts and practitioners working in the field of integration.

With this delivery of surveillance equipment, the EU assistance to IBM agencies under the EU4IBM project has reached a total value of more than EUR 1.5 million, and includes a wide range of critically needed supplies. These supplies help enable the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine to better fulfil border security tasks and respond to newly emerging risks.

During a visit to Uzbekistan, ICMPD Director General signed a Memorandum of Understanding between ICMPD and the Agency for External Labor Migration under the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

On 19-23 September 2022, the MOBILAZE 2 project organised a study visit to Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia for Azerbaijani Border Control Officials. They exchanged on good practices in education, methodology and tools, used in trainings to border service agencies on document security, border management/integrated border management and risk analyses between EU and Azerbaijani colleagues.

The Strengthening Border Security in Ghana (SBS Ghana) project, funded by European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), sponsored a ten-member delegation from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo to participate in the first edition of the “Abidjan Border Forum” (ABF) under the theme “Borders and Collective Security” held from 18 to 20 October 2022 in Abidjan.

On 24 - 25 October 2022, at the Fourth Prague Process Ministerial Conference, Ministers and high-level officials from the Prague Process countries endorsed a Joint Declaration and Action Plan 2023-2027, which shall sustain and expand the Prague Process cooperation in the coming years. Organised by the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union in Prague, the conference allowed the Parties to discuss the most pressing migration issues and agree on a joint way forward in addressing them.

On 25-26.10.2022, the Anti-Trafficking Programme facilitated two meetings of the anti-trafficking stakeholders in Cabo Verde aiming at the validation of the National Strategy and Action Plan against Trafficking and at setting the next actions of the National Observatory against Human Trafficking.
 

On 4 October 2022, the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), chaired by ICMPD, met with the European Union Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, Diane Schmitt, to exchange on policy matters and strengthen cooperation to counter conflict-related human trafficking.

On 10 November 2022, the ICMPD Director General, Michael Spindelegger, and the Ambassador Director General of the Kingdom of Morocco Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, H.E. Fouad Yazourh, signed the Seat Agreement between ICMPD and the Kingdom of Morocco.