Belgrade – Representatives of governmental institutions, international and civil society organizations in the Republic of Serbia attended the last workshop in the framework of “Strengthening regional migration governance” project, organized by MARRI RC with support of German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through German International Cooperation (GIZ). More than 60 professionals exchanged views and experiences in the five thematic areas in MARRI’s mandate including asylum, border management, trafficking in human beings, return/readmission and labour migration. The aim of the workshop was to gain better understanding of the migration issues in Serbia and the region.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Zoran Lazarov, Assistant to the Minister of Interior of the Republic of Serbia stressed that the regional cooperation is essential for successful management of the migration flows, adding that an efficient cooperation among the MARRI Participants and strengthened partnerships with international and civil society organisations will ensure security and stability in the region, will protect the interests of the citizens of MARRI Participants and EU, and most importantly, the interests of the migrants themselves. The participants of the workshop were also addressed by MARRI RC Sashko Kocev who briefed about the Initiative’s objectives and priorities and GIZ Advisor Ms. Kristin Baalmann who welcomed the invitees on behalf of the German Government and GIZ.
Working in groups according to their thematic expertise, the participants discussed the existing challenges and best practices in each area of interest as well as the cooperation and coordination among different stakeholders. Additionally, two possible MARRI products were presented and discussed – a publication “MARRI Publication on Migration Management”, envisioned as regional migration profile with number of comprehensive analyses on the migration in Western Balkans and, establishing Pool of Experts aimed at promoting of the regional expertise on migration.
The conclusions of the six consultative workshops are intended to provide basis for developing tools and mechanisms for addressing the regional priorities in the migration management and will be presented and discussed on the forthcoming Regional Conference on Migration, to be organized at the end of the project cycle.