News

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.

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 November, ICMPD organised a workshop for Moldovan stakeholders as part of the project “Capacity for a Rights-Based Reception System for Moldova” (CareFor) to exchange experience on communicating on migration, including in times of crisis. The workshop gathered communication specialists from the project beneficiaries and partners, ICMPD experts and the project team.

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.

Between the 7^th and 9^th of November 2022, under the scope of the KOMPLEKS project, ICMPD organized a study visit for representatives of Polish local authorities and project partners to Austria.

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 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.
 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.