Skopje – MARRI RC under the Presidency-in-Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, organized MARRI Friends Meeting / Diplomatic Briefing for representatives of diplomatic corps in North Macedonia, relevant international organizations, MARRI partners and donors as well as representatives of the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs of MARRI Participants. Coinciding with the 15th Anniversary of MARRI, the meeting was dedicated to the celebration of its existence and the joint achievements with all Friends of MARRI. Following the introductory remarks by the Minister

Skopje, Pristina, Tirana, Podgorica – Representatives from the Sectors for Asylum at the Ministries of Interior of North Macedonia, Kosovo*, Albania and Montenegro, in four separate sessions attended training on the Use of the Interpreter-Scheduling Platform, launched as part of the MARRI Regional Remote Interpretation Service (RRIS). The MARRI RRIS Platform has been fully developed by IOM, within the EU-funded IPA II project ‘Regional Support to Protection-Sensitive Migration Management in the Western Balkans and Turkey’. The trainings were delivered by

Pristina – The second workshop in the framework of “Strengthening regional migration governance” project, supported by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through German International Cooperation (GIZ) gathered more than 60 participants from relevant partners and stakeholders in Kosovo*, among which representatives of governmental institutions, international organizations, research/academic institutions and civil society organizations. According to the agenda, the participants exchanged viewpoints on the challenges and priorities in the areas of asylum, border management, trafficking in human beings, readmission

Tirana – MARRI RC organized the first out of 6 workshops in the framework of “Strengthening regional migration governance” project, supported by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through German International Cooperation (GIZ). The aim of these workshops is to thematically deepen the understanding of migration issues among all relevant partners and stakeholders in each MARRI Participant at local and national level, as well as to identify the regional priorities in the areas of asylum, border management,

Istanbul – The Budapest Process held its 6th Ministerial Conference, preceded by the 4th Preparatory Meeting for Senior Officials, under chairmanship of the Republic of Turkey and co-chaired by Hungary. The Ministers adopted the political declaration “The Istanbul Commitments’ containing key commitments under a Silk Routes Partnership for Migration and the action plan “A Call for Action – a five year plan” which lists key actions that can be drawn from the six interconnected priority goals agreed upon in the

Skopje – MARRI RC and GIZ Office in Skopje organized Validation Workshop for development of a new joint project “Preventing and Combatting Smuggling and Trafficking in Human Beings in the Western Balkans”, supported by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The event was a follow up on numerous preparatory activities that started in October 2018 among which, a Fact Finding Mission, Consultative Workshop and Appraisal Mission. Following the opening remarks in which both, MARRI RC Director Sashko

Belgrade – The presentation of Vega Handbook: Children at airports published by Frontex, was the main theme at the Eight Joint Training within BORDAIRPOL II project, organized by MARRI RC. The training was attended by Commanders and operational staff of Border Police at the international airports of MARRI Participants, project beneficiaries Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova as well as representatives from ICMPD, Interpol and the Centre for Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings of the Republic of Serbia. With this activity,

Skopje – As part of the EU-funded IPA II project ‘Regional Support to Protection-Sensitive Migration Management in the Western Balkans and Turkey’, IOM organized a one-day workshop to present and validate the Regional Platform for Migration Data Exchange in the Western Balkans (WB-MIDEX). The workshop gathered representatives working on migration statistics from MARRI Participants’ Ministries of Interior/Security and National Statistical Agencies. European Commission, Frontex, UNHCR and MARRI RC were also represented at the workshop. In his introductory statement, MARRI RC

Skopje – The regular mid-term MARRI Regional Committee meeting under the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina took place at the premises of the Regional Centre in Skopje. The event was chaired by MARRI Committee Member of Bosnia and Herzegovina Almir Sahovic and it was attended by MARRI Committee members, National Coordinators, representatives of MARRI Participants and MARRI staff. MARRI RC Director Sashko Kocev presented the overall activities of the Regional Centre in the past six months with particular focus on the implementation

Sarajevo – MARRI RC under the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and with the support of GIZ, organized the Second meeting of Ad hoc Working Group for finalization of key legal documents related to internal organization of MARRI. The meeting that takes place on 22-23 November 2018 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, is attended by MARRI Committee Members, National Coordinators, MARRI Participants Representatives and Regional Centre experts and staff. The session is a