In the context of Austrian EU Presidency, Annual EMN conference was held in Vienna from 4 to 5 October 2018 organized by the Austrian National Contact Point.
The Conference, which has brought together a large number of participants, was devoted to migration management, more accurately, planned and systematized approach to migration, unlike the reactive approach.
The introductory speech was held by the Austrian Federal Minister for the Interior, Herbert Kickl, who pointed out that migration is a substantive and urgent issue, that approach to migration currently is at the crossroad and that current decisions will be crucial for the European Union itself. Hence, the arrival of refugees and migrants should be seen as an opportunity to be used in cooperation with experts who recognize the potential of migration, without political pressure. However, it is also necessary to actively approach current situation and not to allow uncontrolled migration, which is important also in the context of citizens’ trusts in the ability of the authorities to deal with the challenges that migrations bring.
Following his speech, a speech was held by Manfred Profazi, Senior Regional Adviser for Europe and Central Asia from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who reminded the participants that the year 2018 is of crucial importance to migration in general, primarily because of the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), which does not encourage nor stop migration, but manage them.
Then the lecture was given by Paul Collier, one of the leading migration experts, professor of economy and public policy at the Oxford University. Collier holds the position that currently the public discourse on the influx of refugees and migrants into the European Union, that was intensified in 2015, is polarized so on one side there are those who believe that the existing international protection system needs to be transformed to be more ethical, while on the other side there are those who claim that it needs to be more realistic. But Collier does not consider these two interpretations as opposing but he stands for an approach that would allow migration management in a way that combines ethical and realistic approach.
Also, he sees a problem in the fact that all the solutions are short-term and they are actually only “extinguishing the fire”, while the problem of influx of refugees and migrants into the Europe is a situation requiring long-term solutions. Given that the largest number of refugees and migrants are actually in refugee camps and on the territory of the neighboring countries of those where people flee from, Collier suggests that the solution should be sought in those places. Namely, since the largest number of people are in countries such as Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, Europe can help refugees (and thus also these states) by redirecting help there and by creating job opportunities. In addition, these countries should allow freedom of employment and freedom of movement for refugees and migrants who are on their territory.
After this, the presentations were held by the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Immigration and Integration Ministry in Denmark, the representative of the Directorate for Irregular Migration and Return Policy Unit, member of the ECOWAS commission and again professor Paul Collier. During this session it was concluded that the largest number of refugees and migrants really remains in the ECOWAS area (85%) and that it is necessary to provide assistance and employment opportunities to people in these areas.
The second panel was devoted to diplomacy and migration, while the last panel on the first day was about returnees. During this panel, it was emphasized that the EU had no approach developed to returns until the so-called ‘migration crisis’, but now the discourse has changed, and the biggest emphasis has been put on returns. For this purpose, large funds are allocated and in the context of return programs IOM presented the way it conducts return programs, taking into account successful reintegration.
On the second day of the Conference the presentation was held by the leading refugee expert Alexander Betts, a professor from Oxford, who also deals with ways of improving protection in the countries of origin and countries of refuge, and these are, again, the neighboring countries. In this context, Betts states that Europe is not at all faced with a challenge, considering the total number of people who come to Europe in comparison to the number of those in neighboring countries. However, this has become a political issue and as such, will have effect on the current asylum system. In Betts’s opinion, an effective refugee system means allowing autonomy - work, education and socio-economic freedom. As possible solution, he proposes giving support to the countries of refuge, a different way of resettling (all states need to participate, private sponsors can be included), re-arranged visa system, whereas spontaneous arrivals should be the last solution.
During the rest of the second day speeches were held by the legal advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, UNHCR representative and IOM representative.
The Conference was attended by a representative of the Ministry of the Interior and the representative of the Croatian National Contact Point of EMN.
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