Enhancing cooperation among the Prague Process states

News

The Prague Process webinar ‘Social Capital and Transnational Human Smuggling: What is the impact of Counter-Smuggling Policies?’ with Mr. Andrew Fallone, Researcher at the European University Institute, taking place on 6 May 2021 at 10:30 CET.

All too often, the words “Human Smuggling” evoke images of handshakes in smoky rooms behind closed doors, overemphasizing the role of organized crime in facilitating irregular migration journeys. This webinar applies a critical perspective to the market for human smuggling, elucidating the role that personal relationships and community knowledge plays in shaping both migrants’ decisions and smuggling service providers’ operating practices. In doing so, this webinar aims to provide policymakers, scholars, and informed observers with a more nuanced understanding of the far-reaching ramifications of counter-smuggling policies. 

Please register for the event through the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_E6HCLMLqR6CD8TIz2upAvA. You will receive the link to the virtual room, as soon as your registration is approved.

The recent past has seen Uzbekistan’s great efforts toward regulating organised labour migration. The country concluded a number of far-reaching agreements with countries hosting large numbers of Uzbek migrant workers, thereby supporting the employment of own citizens abroad. It also prioritized efforts on creating jobs and promoting employment within the country, especially among the youth, with 2021 proclaimed “The Year of Youth Support and Health Promotion” by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Meanwhile, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the domestic workforce, including returning migrants, negatively and forced the Uzbek Government to take additional measures to provide legal and social protection to labour migrants in
order to mitigate these negative consequences.

The new Background Note authored by Zulfiya Sibagatulina summarises the latest developments in this field and actions taken by the Government, ranging from the introduction of a system of economic, financial, organisational and legal assistance for migrants to the provision of training for in-demand professions, skills and languages.

To preview and download the paper please use this link.

The Prague Process webinar ‘Implications of the Covid-19 Crisis for Mobile Care Workers in Europe’ with Ms. Mădălina Rogoz, Researcher at ICMPD, and Mr. Bernhard Perchinig, ICMPD’s Senior Researcher, will take place on 11 March 2021 at 10:30 CET.

The webinar will give a short introduction into the different types of long-term care regimes in Europe and discuss the relevance of migration and mobility for long-term care provision. It will then discuss the links between care funding systems and mobility regimes for care workers, highlighting the links between mobility regimes and care work. Focusing on the case of the long-term care regime in Austria, it will discuss the challenges posed by existing regulations and the effects of Covid-19 crisis on mobile care workers. While the pandemic highlighted the relevance of care workers for long-term care systems in many EU Member States, it also deepened the inequalities and dependencies already existing in transnational care arrangements. The case of Romanian and Slovak live-in carers in Austria underlines the need to better balance the interests of sending and receiving countries in the field of long-term care in Europe.

The Prague Process webinar ‘Which Perspectives for Labour Migration Partnerships in the Prague Process region? Lessons from EU funded Pilot Projects on Legal Migration’ with Mr. Marco Funk, International Relations Officer, International Strategy Unit of DG HOME, European Commission, Mr. Mario Lelovsky, Director of the Digital Coalition Slovakia, and Ms. Diana Stefanescu, Project Specialist – Labour Migration, ICMPD, will take place on 15 April 2021 at 10:30 CET.

The webinar will shed light on the EU’s past and future engagement and planning for labour migration initiatives with partner countries. Speakers will present key lessons learned from EU funded labour mobility initiatives, provide a general overview of the European Commission’s new Talent Partnerships concept announced in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, and outline next steps envisaged for their operationalization. The webinar will also highlight plans for the first EU-funded labour mobility pilot project to be implemented in the Eastern Partnership region (between Slovakia and Moldova) - a possible starting point for more and deeper cooperation on the topic in the region?

The 2nd Prague Process Policy Talk ‘From COVID-19 to the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum’ with Mr Jean-Louis De Brouwer, Director of the European Affairs Program, Egmont Institute, and Mr Ralph Genetzke, Director, Head of Brussels Mission, ICMPD, took place on 28 January 2021. The talk was moderated by Mr Martijn Pluim, Director, Migration Dialogues and Cooperation at ICMPD.

The distinguished panellists discussed the key migration policies to watch in 2021, focusing on the EU and its neighbourhood. Building on the main lessons from 2020, they looked into the various implications of COVID-19 on migration and mobility, trying to sketch out the ‘new normal’ following an eventual recovery from the ongoing health emergency. The internal and external dimensions of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum was assessed from an international cooperation perspective. The conversation shed light on the megatrends of climate change and digitalisation.

You may watch the recording in English or in Russian.

We are glad to share the new issue of the Prague Process Quarterly Review covering various developments, events and activities of the fourth quarter of 2020.

Since 2013, this tool provides the latest updates about the Process and highlights relevant migration-related developments in the region.

In 2020, the Prague Process organized over a dozen online events and published an equal number of analytical publications, covering regional and country-specific issues. In mid-November 2020, the Prague Process Senior Officials’ Meeting resulted in the adoption of the new Roadmap towards the Ministerial Conference in 2022. This Quarterly Review provides a snapshot of the recent activities implemented within the Prague Process. It looks at the EU’s new Multiannual Framework 2021-2027 and migration actions within it. The review also features an Infographic on Migrant Integration across the Prague Process region and shares some recent insights related to the deepening migrant pay gap before drawing important conclusions from the year 2020.  The usual section of interesting reads entails a few reading recommendations, including the latest analytical papers produced by the Prague Process.

The issue is availiable for download in English and Russian.

To see all issues please go to the section "Quarterly Review" under News & Events.

The 9th Prague Process webinar ‘From refugee crises to labour migration and back? Lessons for migration policies in the Western Balkans’  with Prof. Anna Krasteva, New Bulgarian University, took place on 17 December 2020.

The webinar dived into the migration realities of the Western Balkan region torn between the urgency of refugee management and the legacy of forced migration on the one side, and the need to prioritize labour migration as a tool for national and regional development on the other side. Prof. Krasteva explained how and whether a labour migration policy could change the existing profile of the WB region, as well as provided related policy recommendations inspired by the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum.

The webinar recording is available in two formats: the first contains the presentation of Prof. Krasveta only while the second one represents the full-length video recording of the webinar, entailing also the Q&A session.

To watch the shorter version, please go here

To watch the full-length video, please go here

This year the annual Prague Process Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) took place in a virtual format on 16 November 2020. Formally hosted by Germany in the course of its Presidency of the Council of the EU, the SOM gathered some 80 senior-level officials from over 36 countries, the European Commission, the EU Council, Frontex, IOM and ICMPD. The event provided an opportunity for participating states to share their current migration policy priorities and needs in terms of international cooperation, as well as to take stock of the Prague Process achievements over the past two years and learn about the activities planned for 2021.

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