Newsletter Issue No. 6 – DECEMBER 2008

A National Campaign against Human Trafficking in Bulgaria (IOM Sofia)

DVD cover - IOM Sofia’s campaign against human trafficking

A national campaign was launched against human trafficking for young people in Bulgaria. IOM Bulgaria, the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science and the US Embassy has jointly initiated the National CT Public Info Campaign called “CARGO-Safe Vacation”. The campaign was aimed at pupils from the ages of 14-17, and focused on the dangers of trafficking and how to avoid becoming a victim. The launch of the information campaign, including handouts

and posters, started with free film screenings of the compelling documentary film, “Cargo: Innocence Lost”. The movie demonstrates the U.S. experience with trafficking through interviews with victims and government authorities. The campaign is also promoting the IOM Bulgaria information hot line on counter-trafficking and on support victims of trafficking.

In This Issue A National Campaign against Human Trafficking in Bulgaria..................................... 1 Migrant Service Centres in South-Eastern Europe Become Operational....................... 2 Migration Profiles in the Black Sea Region . 3 SSC Fair a Unique Opportunity for New Market Linkages and Business Partnerships 3 Economic & Social Stabilization Programme for Vulnerable Social Groups Residing in Border Communities (ESS) ......... 4 Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) Programmes in Poland .................................. 5 Conveying a Message on the International Migrants’ Day in Budapest............................ 5

Specialized brochures were also developed which emphasize how to prevent becoming a victim of trafficking. Within the framework of the campaign, Page 1

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IOM Bulgaria also conducted a series of public awareness events in schools around the country in order to familiarize pupils with the issue of human trafficking. Feedback forms were distributed among them, designed to assess the impact of the campaign and their knowledge about human trafficking.

Migrant Service Centres in South-Eastern Europe Become Operational (Regional)

Migrant Service Centres in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia (including Kosovo) opened their doors on the 1st of June to persons seeking information on migration opportunities or exploring their option within their country of origin. IOM advisers provide visitors to the Migration Service Centres (MSCs) with personalized assistance and latest information on visas, work permits, residence, social security and other issues in the most popular countries of destination. The Centres also provide referral services to relevant local institutions for individual skills development in view of improving employment potential both at home and abroad. In addition to providing direct services to migrants and potential migrants, the project will also focus on building capacity of local authorities to develop policy and good practice as sending and receiving countries in the context of current and projected foreign labour needs. A three-day Regional Training

Workshop on Labour Migration Management will be organized in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO) for policy-makers and migration managers. National-level trainings and bilateral discussions/roundtables will follow the Regional Training Workshop. The results of daily profiling of migrants and potential migrants undertaken by the MSCs will feed into the research report on legal emigration from the Western Balkans, which will provide analysis of the migration potential from the region as well as of current migratory trends, highlighting the challenges that lie ahead for the target governments and migrants towards optimizing the use of legal avenues for migration and minimizing the risks of irregular movements. The MSCs are embedded within identified local structures, such as local and regional Employment Offices and relevant Ministries. Local officials within these local structures work in tandem with IOM staff receiving on-the-job training within the daily activity of the Centres throughout the project implementation. The Centres are part of the project Capacity Building, Information and Awareness Raising towards Promoting Orderly Migration in the Western Balkans, which has received financial assistance from the European Commission AENEAS 2006 program as well as the Swiss Federal Office for Migration and the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. For more information www.migrantservicecentres.org

visit

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Migration Profiles in the Black Sea Region The International Organization for Migration (IOM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in 2006. One of the main aims of this agreement is to enhance cooperation in addressing irregular migration and combating trafficking in persons in the Black Sea region, an area that experiences significant migration challenges as a transit, origin, and destination hub for migrants. Consequently, in 2007, IOM launched the “Black Sea Consultative Process on Migration Management”, a joint project with the BSEC’s Working Group on Combating Crime (Particularly its Organized Forms). The project aimed to contribute to effective migration management in the Black Sea region as well as combating irregular migration through strengthened regional cooperation and capacity building of relevant authorities in all twelve member states of the BSEC1 . Specifically, IOM has drafted national Migration Profiles for those countries where such documents did not exist, and has reviewed and updated existing Profiles.2 A concept and tool promoted by the European Commission, the Profiles are an evidence-based approach to assess the migration situation in a country. IOM has adopted and further developed this concept and has since implemented it in various regions such as the Balkans, Western and Central Africa, and Latin America. The intention is to contribute towards greater coherence of national migration policies and enhanced regional cooperation.

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine 2 Within the framework of the Slovenian presidency of the EU, IOM prepared Migration Profiles for the Western Balkan Countries including BSEC members Albania, Serbia and Turkey. 1

Furthermore, to ensure the legitimacy and recognized value of the Profiles, the BSEC member states and the BSEC Working Group on Combating Crime (WGCC) provided substantial feedback on the Profiles. Drafted in IOM’s office in Budapest and coordinated with IOM’s Research Unit at IOM Headquarters in Geneva and the respective IOM office in each of the BSEC countries – to ensure high-quality – the Profiles also offer a set of policy recommendations for effective migration management in the region. These were thoroughly discussed during an expert meeting of the BSEC’s WGCC in Istanbul on the 10th of September 2008. Subsequently, the recommendations were approved by the BSEC’s Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs that convened in Tirana on the 23rd of October 2008.

SSC Fair a Unique Opportunity for New Market Linkages and Business Partnerships (IOM Prishtina) In June, IOM organized a Fair in Gračanica/Graçanicë with the participation of around 110 of the most successful programme beneficiaries through the EU-funded programme Support for the Stabilization of Communities (SSC). The main purpose of the fair was to promote economic and community revitalization for all communities in Kosovo through an adherence to the principles of economic opportunity, sustainable development, and community-based partnerships. The fair gave a unique opportunity for the SSC beneficiaries to share their experiences, products, and services with each other and the larger community. This event brought together beneficiaries from different sectors who have the willingness and potential to improve their existing Page 3

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micro-business and to encourage market linkages among them. Exhibitors were divided per sector of production/services. This way, food, honey, wine & brandy, cookies, clothes, shoes, carpentry, Polyvinylchloride (PVC), advertising & engraving, coffee and herbs, feed, vegetables and plants, plastic & metal, construction and handcrafts producers had an opportunity to share a stand with the producers of the same kind of products/services. Each sector – depending on the number of exhibitors – had between 5-10 producers in one space. “This is an extraordinary opportunity for us coming from enclave villages to exhibit our products and present to a wider population what we can do. Other organizations should follow this great example,” said one of the SSC beneficiaries, Mr. Predrag Jovic from Crkvena Vodica/Caravodice, Obilic/Obiliq municipality, who is involved in the honey production sector. The SSC is a second phase of the Community Stabilization Programme, which started in November 2002 and was completed in December 2006. The SSC started in April 2007 with the ultimate aim to provide minority communities already living in Kosovo with better living conditions so that they are more willing to remain in Kosovo and to encourage those who have left to return. The assumption is that this growth/development process leads to increased levels of general welfare that will reduce migration from the areas and increase the resettlement of actual displaced persons.

Economic & Social Stabilization Programme for Vulnerable Social Groups Residing in Border Communities (ESS) Business Skills Training Organized for the ESS Beneficiaries in Kumanovo and Bitola

(IOM Skopje) As part of its Economic & Social Stabilization Programme, IOM organized a Business Skills and Business Management Training for 37 women residing in the border towns of Bitola and Kumanovo.

Business skills training in Kumanovo conducted by experts from Enterprise Support Agency (ESA) and training in Bitola organized by the Euro-Regional Technology Centre

The training course was designed to support the beneficiaries in acquiring the basic business skills needed for the start-up and management of their small businesses. The course included: cash flow management, entrepreneurship skills and customer services. The Business Skills and Business Management Training along with the other capacity building exercises, contributes to the strengthening of the beneficiaries’ confidence through the enhancement of the beneficiaries’ practical knowledge and skills. In the next phase, the ESS clients will work to identify locations for their businesses and start all required administrative procedures to launch their businesses. This project is an employment assistance programme for vulnerable women aimed at tackling key factors conducive to labour exploitation, including human trafficking and irregular migration, through provision of training and seed capital to support the establishment of small businesses. The project is implemented in the Municipalities of Bitola and Kumanovo. Hairdressers, cosmeticians, grocery shops, fast food, farms and agricultural production are some of the new small Page 4

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businesses that will be opened in the two towns. The IOM Macedonia Programme is supported by the Governments of Norway, Finland, Italy, Czech Republic, SIDA, the European Commission, Council of Europe Development Bank and the German Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”.

Assisted Voluntary Programmes in Poland (IOM Warsaw)

Return

(AVR)

Assisted Voluntary Return programmes have been implemented by IOM Warsaw since 2005. There has been a considerable rise in the number of beneficiaries assisted since the project started. IOM provided 86 persons with voluntary return assistance in 2005, 412 were assisted in 2006 and 740 in 2007. It was originally envisaged that by the end of 2008, an estimated 800 migrants would return voluntarily to their countries of origin within the framework of IOM’s AVR programme. However, that number was already reached in September. Around 95% of the beneficiaries of the programme returned to the Russian Federation, mainly to Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia. However, there has also been a considerable rise in the number of returnees to other countries in comparison to previous years, especially to Armenia, Mongolia and the Ukraine. To address an increasing demand for AVR assistance, IOM Warsaw has implemented three projects3, two of which also have reintegration components. Beneficiaries were provided with pocket money upon their return. The funds were 3

One of the three, Assisted Voluntary Returns and Reintegration of Unsuccessful Asylum Seekers with a Special Emphasis on Vulnerable Groups, funded by the European Refugee Fund and co-funded by the Office for Foreigners (Poland), concluded on 31st August. A total of 304 returnees were returned voluntarily within the frames of this project since its start in 2007.

meant to enable them to support themselves for the first few days after return while looking for long term sources of income, accommodation, schools, etc. Additionally, some returnees, namely those returning in the frames of a regional programme Enhancing Mechanisms and Harmonising Standards in the Field of Voluntary Return in Central Europe, were offered an opportunity to submit a business proposal and enter a contest for a business grant of up to 2000 EUR. These IOM AVR activities facilitate the safe return of people to their countries of origin and help them better integrate into their home communities. Conveying a Message on the International Migrants’ Day in Budapest (IOM Budapest) “Countries should recognize the positive contribution that migrants can make to economic growth and recovery and resist the temptation to close doors to them in times of economic slowdown”, said the IOM’s news release issued as the Organization marked International Migrants’ Day on 18 December 2008. The reception organized by the IOM Mission with Regional Functions in Budapest and the Hungarian Office of Immigration and Nationality (OIN) to celebrate the International Migrants’ Day succeeded in conveying IOM’s message to a diverse and influential audience. Close to 150 invitees attended the event representing a wide range of national and international organizations, as well as more than 50 diplomatic missions accredited to Hungary. As in previous years, the IOM and its counterparts effectively used this unique opportunity to reach beyond the boundaries of the field of migration and draw the attention of a wide variety of actors to the issue. Page 5

IOM/MRF Budapest Newsletter, Issue 6, December 2008