Emergency Transit Refugee Centre Opens in Romania

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Emergency Transit Refugee

Centre Opens in Romania 1

New Homes for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in

Serbia

1-2

Not Just Numbers – Toolkit on Migration and Asylum in the EU

Launched in Hungary

2

Migrants as Agents in Civil Soci-

ety 3

Workshop on Labour Migration

Policies in the Western Balkans 3

Raising Public Awareness on

Trafficking in Bulgaria 4

The Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia adopts the Resolution on Migra-tion Policy and the Country Mi-

gration Profile

4

Temporary Return of Qualified

Nationals from the Netherlands to

Bosnia & Herzegovina

5

International Conference on Anti-

Discriminatory Legislation and

Practice in Croatia

5-6

New Homes for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Serbia

A group of approximately 250 refugees, inter-nally displaced persons (IDPs) and socially vulnerable people, currently living in collec-tive centres or inadequate private accommo-dation, will be provided homes by IOM as part of ongoing efforts to resolve a housing

problem among Serbia’s refugee and dis-placed population.

The construction of 36 homes and the purchase and installation of a further 12 pre-fabricated houses will help to facilitate a group of refugees,

On 12 March 2009, the Romanian Govern-ment, IOM and UNHCR opened a new emer-gency refugee transit centre (ETC) in Timi-soara, Romania. The ETC is the first of its kind in the world, hosting refugees in urgent need of evacuation pending final resettlement in a third country. The ETC was established based on the tripartite agreement between Romania, UNHCR and IOM, signed in May 2008 and is a new solu-tion in the global response to humanitarian emergencies. The Centre was already used last year for a group of 38 Eritreans stranded in Libya and ear-lier this year for a group of 139 Darfurian refu-gees who fled Sudan in 1994 to Iraq and were subsequently stranded there. The group of Su-danese was relocated to Romania in December 2008 and January 2009 and is now awaiting feedback on their application for resettlement in the United States. More recently, the Centre has been a home to Palestinian refugees from the Iraqi Al-Waleed camp, also on the way to be resettled in the United States. According to IOM, more than one thousand Palestinians are expected to pass through the Centre. "With the increasing number of EU Member States joining the family of resettlement coun-tries and, in as such, responding to the UNHCR call for additional resettlement capacity, the ETC will be an example of the European Union soli-darity, as well as a unique template to provide

coordinated efforts under emergency circum-stances", said Mr Pasquale Lupoli, Director, Operations Support Department, International Organization for Migration (IOM). According to Ms Erika Feller, Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees Protection, “the importance of this Center far exceeds the num-bers of persons who will pass though it, as it is rapidly becoming not only a key protection tool for UNHCR, but also a very good precedent encouraging other countries in other parts of the world to make a similar humanitarian gesture.” IOM provides medical support and cultural orien-tation classes to prepare the refugees to meet challenges of daily life in the resettlement coun-tries. ■

The Link IOM in Central and South-Eastern Europe

Continued on page 2

Opening of the ETC in Timisoara.

Photo taken by Luca Belciov, Romanian Immigration Office.

Newsletter Issue No 8

July 2009

International Organization For Migration Regional Office in Budapest

New Homes for Refugees… continued from p.1

IDPs and particularly vulner-able people living in the mu-nicipality of Sremska Mitrovica to re-start their lives after more than 10 years of displacement from the Kosovo conflict and the Balkans war. With renewed funding of nearly 1.1 million Euros from the European Commission, and in cooperation with gov-ernment and local partners, the programme will also pro-vide financial and technical support to 60 of the IDPs and vulnerable local inhabitants to set up small and medium en-terprises, vocational or finan-cial training or help in getting jobs.

A total of 933 IDPs and refu-gees have been provided new homes since IOM programme began. An approximate 6,000 displaced people are, never-theless, still living in collective centres in Serbia. Most of them are poor, elderly, single parents and other vulnerable individuals. For the most part unemployed or under-employed, they rely on social assistance and seasonal em-ployment to get by. A far greater but undetermined number is living in private ac-commodation with very poor living conditions. Years after the end of the con-flicts in the region, Serbia still has 97,000 registered refu-gees and 200,000 internally displaced people. ■

to engage young people in informed discussion on this subject. It is suitable for teach-ing young people between the ages of 12 and 18 and is avail-able in 24 EU Member States in 20 languages. The social and political impor-tance of migration and asylum issues has grown steadily over the past two decades, during which the world has witnessed increased worldwide move-ment of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees. At the same time, problems of dis-crimination, xenophobia and racism have continued to sur-face, often causing tensions within communities. As European societies be-come more multi-cultural, there is a need to raise aware-ness of the many reasons for which people choose or are forced to leave their own coun-tries. This understanding can help to promote respect for

diversity and encourage social cohesion. In particular, more information needs to be dis-seminated to young people, who are the decision makers of tomorrow, but whose opin-ions on migration and asylum are not always based on fac-tual and balanced information. The “Not Just Numbers” toolkit provides young people with the opportunity to understand that behind each anonymous statistic related to migration and asylum there is a human face and a personal story. In doing so it also addresses issues related to discrimination and xenophobia. The toolkit was created within the framework of a joint project of IOM and UNHCR and was financed by the European Commission. ■ To download the toolkit, go to: http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/njn/lang/en

Not Just Numbers – Toolkit on Migration and Asylum in the EU Launched in Hungary

On 27-28 April, IOM and UNHCR in Hungary held two launching events in Buda-pest and Debrecen to intro-duce the educational toolkit titled “Not Just Numbers” to a wider audience. The toolkit

deals with issues of migration and asylum in the European Union and is designed to help teachers and other educators

Page 2 The Link IOM in Central and South-Eastern Europe

New house for refugees and internally displaced persons in the municipality of

Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia.

Kids at “Not Just Numbers” launching event in Hungary.

A first in the series of semi-nars on civil society in Po-land aimed at migrant asso-ciations took place in War-saw on 28 April 2009. The

seminar was a part of a project “Active and Competent, Mi-grants in Civil Society”,

which aims to facilitate integra-tion of migrants in Poland through promoting their active participation in the civil society and capacity building. The pro-ject will seek to enhance multi-cultural dialogue and establish a platform of cooperation be-tween migrant associations and different Polish institutions. A total of six seminars for rep-resentatives of migrant com-

munities will be organized to address the following issues:

• civil society in Poland;

• mechanism of social consultations as part of the process of

formulating state policy and legislation;

• parliament – its role and ways of acting;

• role of different governmental bodies in formulating and im-

plementing the state policy;

• cooperation with local authorities (tools of communication,

funding opportunities for NGOs, etc);

• role of different non-governmental institutions such as media,

staff associations, employers associations, political parties, etc.

In addition, two interactive workshops will be organized address-ing the role of migrant associations in formulating and influencing the state integration policy and advocacy methods and building a positive image of migrants. The project is funded by the European Integration Fund. ■

Migrants as Agents in Civil Society

cused on practical means of fostering inter-state collabora-tion on issues relating to labour migration within the Western Balkans. Presentations from experts in the field were held, concrete policy illustrations were discussed and good prac-tices exchanged. The geographical focus of the Workshop was South-Eastern Europe, namely Albania, Bos-nia & Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo under UNSCR No 1244, Montenegro a n d S e r b i a . P a r t i c i -pants included representatives of the ministries of labour and the interior from the region and the destination countries, trade unions, independent experts, donor organisations, IOM, ILO, OSCE and the European Com-mission. The Workshop was held within the framework of a project Ca-pacity Building, Information and Awareness Raising towards Promoting Orderly Migration in

the Western Balkans, funded by the European Commission AENEAS 2006 programme and the governments of Swit-zerland, Germany, Italy and Liechtenstein and imple-mented in partnership with the International Labour Organiza-tion (ILO). ■

Workshop on Labour Migration Policies in the Western Balkans

The Workshop on Establish-ing Labour Migration Poli-cies in Countries of Origin and Destination and Interna-tional Collaboration in the Western Balkans was held in Tirana on 9-10 February 2009.

The Workshop followed the structure of the OSCE-IOM-ILO Handbook on Establishing Effective Labour Migration Poli-cies in Countries of Origin and Destination. The principal ob-jective of the Handbook is to assist States in their efforts to develop policy solutions and approaches for better manage-ment of labour migration and labour migration flows in coun-tries of both origin and destina-tion. The first part of the workshop addressed migration related policies in countries of origin of migrants and the second part was devoted to discussions on policies of particular interest to destination countries. The final section of the workshop fo-

Page 3 The Link IOM in Central and South-Eastern Europe

Warsaw, the location of the “Active

and competent. Migrants in civil soci-

ety” seminar.

Presenters at the 2009 Workshop on Establishing Labour Migration Policies,

Tirana, Albania.

Presentations from ex-

perts in the field were

held, concrete policy

illustrations were dis-

cussed and good prac-

tices exchanged

National counter trafficking public awareness campaign “Human beings are not for sale/Human beings are price-less”, was launched by IOM in

Bulgaria in the framework of the project “Combating Traf-ficking in Human Beings for Labour Exploitation” funded by the Bulgaria Fund. The campaign is directed at Bulgarian nationals willing to work abroad and foreign na-tionals working or willing to work in Bulgaria. The overall concept and the artistic design of the campaign, focusing on shop windows and commercial areas, has attracted the pub-lic’s attention and raised much interest in the media and the public discourse. The cam-paign visuals have also been disseminated to employment offices, job agencies, social work centers, universities and

socially disadvantaged areas. The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Agency for Social Assistance, the National Employment Agency, the Na-tional Labour Inspectorate,

Border Police, Police Director-ates, the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, travel and em-ployment agencies are among IOM Sofia partners in this cam-paign. ■

nical capacities for the imple-mentation of the Migration Pol-icy. The 2008 Country Migration Profile was endorsed by the Government in February 2009. The document gives an over-view of the migration data re-lated to the scope and dynamic of immigration and emigration; quantitative and qualitative aspects of remittances; migra-tion associations and diaspora organizations; irregular migra-tion flows and readmission; assessment and analysis of the migration related problems. IOM, together with other or-ganisations has actively sup-ported the inter-ministerial working group by providing

Within the policy and legisla-tive harmonization process to the European acquis in the area of migration, the Macedonian Parliament has enacted the Resolution on Migration Policy in January 2009. The Resolution elabo-

rates state policies on issues related to migration and its management for the years 2009-2014. The Resolution contains direc-tions as well as specific actions that need to be undertaken, relating to the improvement of the current data collection and management system, further alignment of the migration leg-islation and procedures with the EU acquis, reinforcement of the administrative and tech-

expert consultations and tech-nical assistance throughout the overall process. ■

Raising Public Awareness on Trafficking in Bulgaria

The Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia adopts the Resolution on Migration Policy and

the Country Migration Profile

The Link IOM in Central and South-Eastern Europe

Page 4

The campaign in a store in Sofia.

“Human beings are not for sale / Human beings are priceless” campaign poster

in the window-display in Sofia.

The covers of Macedonia 2008 Migra-

tion Profile (on the left) and the newly

adopted Resolution on Migration

Policy (above).

The campaign is di-

rected at Bulgarian na-

tionals willing to work

abroad and foreign na-

tionals working or will-

ing to work in Bulgaria.

Temporary Return of Quali-fied Nationals (TRQN) pro-ject was launched in the Netherlands in April 2006. Its objective is to contribute to the reconstruction and devel-opment of a number of coun-tries and areas affected by war and conflict, namely Afghani-stan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Sierra Leone and Sudan. The purpose of the project is to temporarily place highly skilled professionals residing in the Netherlands, who origi-nate from the target countries, in institutions and companies in their countries of origin and to transfer their knowledge, skills and expertise to local companies and authorities, making a contribution to the reconstruction and develop-ment. TRQN is demand-driven, based on the identified and expressed priorities in the country of origin. The number of Bosnians in the Netherlands is approximately 35,000, many of them second generation and highly educated. The IOM office in Sarajevo links Bosnian employers and interested candidates from Bosnian diaspora residing in the Netherlands, who are iden-tified by the IOM office in the Hague. Bosnian authorities at the state, entity and local level have been providing full sup-port to the project. During the first phase of this project, from April 2006 to

March 2008, IOM Sarajevo assisted in placing 30 partici-pants in companies and insti-tutions in Bosnia & Herzego-vina. With an average duration of the assignments of six months, the migrants were able to ensure a certain level of sustainability through their skills transfer and by introduc-ing new working practices. Almost all project participants stayed in touch with their host institutions after their return to the Netherlands. The second phase started in August 2008 and will run until July 2011. Bosnian government authori-ties have identified private sector development as priority sector for the second phase of the project. In the first six months of the second phase, IOM Sarajevo has placed eight professionals in private companies in Sara-jevo, Sanski Most, Bijeljina, Brcko and Modrica to provide professional expertise and transfer skills. Participating experts include engineers, IT experts, media experts and business consultants as well as an immigration officer. In early May, IOM organized a meeting for some of the par-ticipants currently in Bosnia & Herzegovina at the Embassy of the Netherlands to share their experience and their views on the programme. The meeting was hosted by Ms. Riny Buss, Deputy Head of Mission and Mr. Joost van Ettro, Second Secretary, while

Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals from the Netherlands to Bosnia & Herzegovina

ence “Anti-Discrimination

Legislation and Practice” which took place on 27 April 2009 in Zagreb. The Confer-ence was organized in the

International Conference on Anti- Discriminatory Legislation and Practice in Croatia

The International Organiza-tion for Migration, Croatian Judicial Academy, and the Croatian Law Center organ-ized the international confer-

Page 5 The Link IOM in Central and South-Eastern Europe

IOM was represented by TRQN Project Coordinator, Mr. Stevan Jugovic. ■

framework of an overall project called “Capacity Building and Awareness Raising of Judges and State Prosecutors on Anti-Discrimination Legislation”

Training for staff of the reception centre for irregular migrants.

Practical training on welding technology.

Continued on page 6

The International Organization for Migration is the principal intergovern-

mental organization in the field of migration. Committed to the principle

that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society, IOM acts

with its partners in the international community to assist in meeting the

growing operational challenges of migration management, advance under-

standing on migration issues, encourage social and economic development

through migration and uphold the human dignity and well-being of mi-

grants.

IOM Regional Office for Central and South-Eastern Europe provides sup-

port to IOM missions and offices in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bul-

garia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the former Yugoslav Republic

of Macedonia, the Republic of Montenegro, Poland, Romania, the Republic

of Serbia, Kosovo under UNSCR no 1244, Slovakia and Slovenia.

For more information about IOM activities in the region or to subscribe to

this newsletter go to www.iom.hu.

To provide comments to this edition, please contact

mrfbudapest@iom.int.

IOM Budapest

Regional Mission for

Central and

South Eastern Europe

Révay u. 12

Budapest 1065

Hungary

Tel.: +36.1.4722500

Fax: +36.1.3740532

mrfbudapest@iom.int

funded by UK Government. The Conference was opened by Vice Prime Min-ister of the Republic of Croatia, Minister of Jus-tice, UK Ambassador and Head of IOM Croatia. The event gathered 130 representatives of rele-vant Croatian Governmental bodies, Diplomatic and Consular Missions accredited in Croatia, international organizations, NGOs and media. The goal of the Conference was to discuss the issues and challenges related to the implemen-tation of international and national anti-discrimination legislation. In addition to national experts – eminent university professors, the topics were also presented by international ex-perts from the UK and the secretariat of the European Court of Human Rights. During the Conference, it was emphasized that Croatia has accepted all important international agreements and enhanced domestic legislation regarding the suppression of all forms of dis-crimination. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that Croatia also enacted a special Law on Sup-pression of Discrimination which became effec-tive as of January 2009. However, the number of final convictions is still very low, which indicates that domestic legal

practice has problems recognizing what consti-tutes discrimination. Several decisions that had been brought by the Croatian Constitutional and Supreme Courts were presented as positive examples in recognizing discrimination, but also the practice of the European Court for Human Rights and European Justice Court was high-lighted during the Conference. The Conference concluded that the permanent education of judges, prosecutors, members of relevant state institutions, members of civil soci-ety groups is required in order to make sure that domestic legislation is implemented and interna-tional standards on suppression of discrimination are followed. Conclusions of the Conference were presented to the Minister of Justice with recommendation that specialized trainings have to be continued. ■

International Conference…

continued from page 5

Zagreb, the location for the interna-

tional conference “Anti-

Discrimination Legislation and Prac-

tice.”

During the Conference,

it was emphasized that

Croatia has accepted

all important interna-

tional agreements and

enhanced domestic

legislation regarding

the suppression of all

forms of discrimina-

tion.

The Link