The 2nd Meeting of the National Contact Points on asylum and international protection took place in the capital of Poland, Warsaw, on 25 June 2014
The 2nd Meeting of the National Contact Points on asylum and international protection that took place in Poland on 25 June 2014 was organised in order to discuss the burning issues in the sphere of asylum, bring the practitioners together and facilitate the networking, as well as to exchange the gathered experience.
The meeting was opened by Mr Piotr Mierecki, Director of the Prague Process Targeted Initiative, Ministry of Interior, Poland. The representatives of EASO and UNHCR made their opening statements as well.
The first session was dedicated to the Prague Process standards in quality and training. Ms Anna Bengtsson, Swedish Migration Board, presented the Pilot Project 4, its main goals and implementation. She also introduced the Guidelines on Training in the Asylum Process – Approaches to Achieve Quality.
Mr Radim Zak, Project Coordinator, ICMPD, emphasises in his presentation the structure of the Country-specific Road Maps. Mr Anna Downing, United Kingdom Home Office, was the next one to take the floor. Ms Downing shared the UK experience in training and its planning. The two presentations were followed by the statements of the countries that took part in the Pilot project 4 on the project results and the benefit for the migration authorities (Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine).
The representatives of Sweden and Germany acquainted the participants with an overview of the next steps foreseen within the Prague Process Targeted Initiative: introduction of the Pilot Project 7 and the planned training in Turkey. The morning session was concluded by the session of questions and answers, as well the discussion.
The issue of adjusting asylum and protection systems to effectively respond to emerging migration challenges was in the limelight of the second session. Ms Martina Fialova, EASO, made an introduction to the Common European Asylum System.
Mr Benjamin Beckmann, BAMF, took the floor to present the organisational changes in the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. He emphasised a response to the increasing challenges in the field of migration. Mr Beckmann’s presentation was followed by the input of Ms Gulbahar El Nasharty, DGMM Turkey, who presented the institutionalisation process in her country, highlighting the history of the establishment of the Directorate General of Migration Management, its responsibilities and structure in the context of the migration flows to and through Turkey.
The challenges that national asylum systems face were discussed within the framework of the third session. Mr Martin Wagner, Head of Asylum and international protection competence centre at ICMPD, made a presentation on the responses to ad-hoc increase of asylum inflow: protected entry mechanism, contingency plans, and responses to ad-hoc reception. The presentation was followed by a tour-de-table based on the Discussion paper addressing protected entry mechanisms, contingency planning in case of ad-hoc increase of asylum inflow and transit and mixed migration – challenges for national asylum systems.
The meeting was closed with the summary of the discussion and the concluding remarks. On the same day the participants gathered at a dinner, where the results of the meeting were discussed in the informal atmosphere.
The agenda of the meeting is available in English and Russian.
Some of the presentations made in Warsaw are available below:
Ms Anna Bengtsson, Swedish Migration Board, Guidelines on Training in the Asylum Process – Approaches to Achieve Quality
Ms Anna Downing, Home Office, The UK experience in training and its planning
Ms Anna Bengtsson, Swedish Migration Board, Introduction to PP7
Ms Martina Fialova, EASO, Introduction of the Common European Asylum System
Mr Benjamin Beckmann, BAMF, The organisational challenges in the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees: a response to the increasing challenges in the field of migration
Ms Gulbahar El Nasharty, DGMM, Institutionalisation process in Turkey: History of establishment of the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM), its responsibilities and structure in the context of migration flows to and through Turkey
Mr Martin Wagner, ICMPD, Responses to ad-hoc increase of asylum inflow: protected entry mechanism, contingency plans, responses to ad-hoc reception
