On 13 - 14 June 2023, the MOBILAZE 2 project in cooperation with the Ombudsman’s Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan organised training on Ensuring the Rights of Vulnerable Migrants, Migration and Asylum Management and Monitoring Mechanisms in Nakhchivan for the law-enforcement agencies involved in migration management.
The event commemorated the 100th anniversary of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev and celebrated Human Rights Day in Azerbaijan on 18 June. It was attended by various dignitaries including the Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Ombudsman of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, the Nakhchivan Regional Migration Directorate of the State Migration Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and several other law-enforcement agencies located in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan.
The training aimed to increase the capacities of the institutions on ensuring human rights approach to migration procedures and was facilitated by Mr Ioannis Boutselis, an international human rights expert from the Greek Ombudsman and national trainers from the Azerbaijani Ombudsman’s Office. At the training, international and local trainers delivered presentations on the role of the Ombudsman in protecting the rights of vulnerable migrants, handling and monitoring cases, promoting and protecting the rights of migrants and asylum seekers, and access to information in the protection of migrants’ rights, legal education and prevention strategy and the role of Ombudsman as the external control mechanism of forced return operations. In the framework of the event, the participants visited the Detention Center for Irregular Migrants in Nakhchivan City and get acquainted with the conditions created there.
The activity was organised by the ICMPD Azerbaijan in the framework of the EU-funded “Support to the Implementation of the Mobility Partnership with Azerbaijan (MOBILAZE 2)” project. The project is supporting relevant stakeholders in the Republic of Azerbaijan 1) to develop institutional capacities on migration policy development and implementation, 2) to institutionalise migration data collection, analysis and application, 3) to enhance and standardise institutional procedures for capacity building on migration and border management and integration or refugees, 4) develop institutional and public awareness on migration policy agenda and irregular migration threats.