RAKITJE, Croatia – The Regional Arms Control Verification Implementation Assistance Centre (RACVIAC) and the MARRI Regional Centre organised the seminar “Irregular Migration and its Effects on the Security”, in Rakitje near Zagreb from 27 to 28 March 2007.
The aim of this seminar was to discuss the main challenges the states in the region face in their efforts to tackle increasingly complex and diverse phenomenon of irregular migration and its effects to security, trafficking and smuggling of human beings, document security and possible areas of international co-operation and establishment of information exchange mechanisms in particular among neighbouring countries along irregular migration “routes”, addressing these challenges primarily to the officials who are tasked to co-operate mostly on operational level (intelligence agencies, criminal investigative units).
The seminar objectives were to: improve capacity building on national institutions tasked for combating irregular migration; increase regional harmonisation of the standards related to combating irregular migration and to improve intra-agency, inter-agency and inter-state cooperation through improved co-operation on international and regional level and establishment of efficient early warning system (i.e. creation of IT tool – interactive map of the region); identify gaps and develop solutions/recommendations for possible counter-measures for combating irregular migration; improve education and training systems for the state officials dealing with irregular migration; identify best practices and elaborate follow-up strategies during the workshop.
The seminar was designed for law enforcement and military officials tasked for dealing irregular migration on the operational level. Other participants included representatives of public institutions involved in migration. The seminar attendees were from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, France, Greece and Turkey. The participants included representatives of international organisations such as UNICRI, ICMPD, IOM and EUROPOL.
The seminar was divided into four sections:
I. Presentation of concept of ICMPD interactive map;
II. Presentations of countries delegation on irregular migration and its effects on security;
III. Presentation by international experts;
IV. Presentation by international organisations.
A final workshop tried to answer the question “What can be done by countries in our region to manage irregular migration in close co-operation with EU?” and to elaborate follow-up strategies.
MARRI Contact: Toni Jakimovski, State Official of Macedonia, Email: toni.jakimovski@marri-rc.org