News

On 26 March, the State Commission on Migration Issues of Georgia (SCMI) and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) held the international conference titled ‘New Models of Migration Management System: Impact of VLAP Implementation in Georgia’. Organised by the EU-funded Project “Sustaining Migration Management in Georgia” (ENIGMMA 2), together with the European Migration Network (EMN), the conference brought together representatives of the European Union and Eastern Partnership countries.

A survey carried out in 2020 saw the issue of return and reintegration emerging as the top policy priority of Prague Process states. Aiming to reflect this finding, the Prague Process Secretariat at ICMPD invited Frontex to take part in a webinar on return and reintegration that was organised on 4 March.

The webinar attracted nearly 200 participants from over 30 countries, various EU bodies and international organisations. It featured interventions of experts from the European Centre of Return at Frontex who provided an overview of the centre’s role and activities.

Frontex experts spoke about the agency’s pre-return support, including identification, deployments of European Return Liaison Officers (EURLO), as well as various digital tools used by Frontex for the management of return cases and statistical reporting at EU level.

On 17 March 2021, the ICMPD Director General Mr. Michael Spindelegger and the Chief of the State Migration Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Vusal Huseynov signed the Seat Agreement between ICMPD and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The long-lasting history of cooperation with the migration and border authorities of Azerbaijan was formalised by signing a Cooperation Agreement with the Government back in June 2006 and progress with cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral formats. Azerbaijan is an active participating state of the Budapest Process and the Prague Process, which allows for exchanging of priorities and best practices between state migration authorities.

Since 2014, the number of Ukrainian labour migrants moving to the European Union (EU) has increased significantly. In 2019 alone, Ukrainian nationals received 660,000 residence permits for remunerated activities across the member states – the largest external labour force in the EU. The reliance of member state economies on workers from Ukraine has thus reached significant levels, as exemplified by the labour shortage seen during the COVID-19 crisis that forced the EU to shut down its borders.

While Ukrainian labour migration to the EU produces economic benefits on both sides, the exchange is beset by multiple challenges. These include limited protection of Ukrainian labour migrants, circumvention of work permit rules, and attempts by unscrupulous actors to lure Ukrainians into accepting precarious or non-existent jobs. This report assesses these challenges and their implications, before providing a set of targeted solutions, ranked according to a Feasibility Score. The proposed solutions range from establishing a ‘one-stop-shop’ for information provision and a joint employment database for non-EU nationals, to launching negotiations on amending the legislation on work permits.

The Handbook on Reporting Migration has been developed within the framework of the MOMENTA 2 (Migration Media Training Academy) project, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by ICMPD in 2020.

The handbook was developed in order to improve media migration reporting in the Eastern Partnership countries by cooperating with local journalism associations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Moreover, there was a need to create a model for comprehensive and systematic capacity building on migration reporting for media representatives.

The handbook on migration reporting was produced to help journalists create impartial, fact-based reporting in an engaging way. The handbook was developed in recognition of the role which media plays in shaping public opinion as well as informing the public on various policies on migration; the handbook has been tailored wherever possible to the needs of the Eastern Partnership region in terms of terminology and the obtainment of sources. Each chapter of the handbook can be used as a stand-alone section depending on the needs and knowledge gaps that the journalists want to fill. The handbook encompasses relevant migration reporting topics such as ethical foundations, trends in migration reporting and migration stories, interviews and the use of experts, data use, tools and resources.

The Prague Process webinar ‘Social Capital and Transnational Human Smuggling: What is the impact of Counter-Smuggling Policies?’ with Mr. Andrew Fallone, Researcher at the European University Institute, taking place on 6 May 2021 at 10:30 CET.

All too often, the words “Human Smuggling” evoke images of handshakes in smoky rooms behind closed doors, overemphasizing the role of organized crime in facilitating irregular migration journeys. This webinar applies a critical perspective to the market for human smuggling, elucidating the role that personal relationships and community knowledge plays in shaping both migrants’ decisions and smuggling service providers’ operating practices. In doing so, this webinar aims to provide policymakers, scholars, and informed observers with a more nuanced understanding of the far-reaching ramifications of counter-smuggling policies. 

Please register for the event through the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_E6HCLMLqR6CD8TIz2upAvA. You will receive the link to the virtual room, as soon as your registration is approved.

The recent past has seen Uzbekistan’s great efforts toward regulating organised labour migration. The country concluded a number of far-reaching agreements with countries hosting large numbers of Uzbek migrant workers, thereby supporting the employment of own citizens abroad. It also prioritized efforts on creating jobs and promoting employment within the country, especially among the youth, with 2021 proclaimed “The Year of Youth Support and Health Promotion” by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Meanwhile, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the domestic workforce, including returning migrants, negatively and forced the Uzbek Government to take additional measures to provide legal and social protection to labour migrants in
order to mitigate these negative consequences.

The new Background Note authored by Zulfiya Sibagatulina summarises the latest developments in this field and actions taken by the Government, ranging from the introduction of a system of economic, financial, organisational and legal assistance for migrants to the provision of training for in-demand professions, skills and languages.

To preview and download the paper please use this link.

The Prague Process Migration Observatory and ICMPD's Regional Coordination Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) regularly monitor and collect the most recent news on a variety of migration-related topics from the EECA region. Herewith, we present you the latest edition of the MEDIA DIGEST covering news released in January 2021.

The Prague Process webinar ‘Implications of the Covid-19 Crisis for Mobile Care Workers in Europe’ with Ms. Mădălina Rogoz, Researcher at ICMPD, and Mr. Bernhard Perchinig, ICMPD’s Senior Researcher, will take place on 11 March 2021 at 10:30 CET.

The webinar will give a short introduction into the different types of long-term care regimes in Europe and discuss the relevance of migration and mobility for long-term care provision. It will then discuss the links between care funding systems and mobility regimes for care workers, highlighting the links between mobility regimes and care work. Focusing on the case of the long-term care regime in Austria, it will discuss the challenges posed by existing regulations and the effects of Covid-19 crisis on mobile care workers. While the pandemic highlighted the relevance of care workers for long-term care systems in many EU Member States, it also deepened the inequalities and dependencies already existing in transnational care arrangements. The case of Romanian and Slovak live-in carers in Austria underlines the need to better balance the interests of sending and receiving countries in the field of long-term care in Europe.

The Prague Process webinar ‘Which Perspectives for Labour Migration Partnerships in the Prague Process region? Lessons from EU funded Pilot Projects on Legal Migration’ with Mr. Marco Funk, International Relations Officer, International Strategy Unit of DG HOME, European Commission, Mr. Mario Lelovsky, Director of the Digital Coalition Slovakia, and Ms. Diana Stefanescu, Project Specialist – Labour Migration, ICMPD, will take place on 15 April 2021 at 10:30 CET.

The webinar will shed light on the EU’s past and future engagement and planning for labour migration initiatives with partner countries. Speakers will present key lessons learned from EU funded labour mobility initiatives, provide a general overview of the European Commission’s new Talent Partnerships concept announced in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, and outline next steps envisaged for their operationalization. The webinar will also highlight plans for the first EU-funded labour mobility pilot project to be implemented in the Eastern Partnership region (between Slovakia and Moldova) - a possible starting point for more and deeper cooperation on the topic in the region?