Enhancing cooperation among the Prague Process states

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We are happy to announce the release of the new issue of the Prague Process Quarterly Review covering various developments, events and activities of the third quarter of 2020.

In the EU, the third quarter of 2020 started with Germany taking over the EU Council Presidency and ended with the release of the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum. In its role of acting Presidency, Germany joined the Strategic Group of the Prague Process and will host the upcoming Prague Process Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) on 16 November, which will take place remotely this year. Lithuania, the current Chair of the Process, attended the annual meeting of the “Inter-State consultation mechanisms on migration”. After two years, it will hand over its chairmanship to the Czech Republic during the upcoming SOM. The Prague Process Secretariat meanwhile continued its webinar series in line with the Contingency Plan, which the Prague Process Strategic Group recently decided to extend.  

The Mobility Partnership opens up new perspectives for potential cooperation between the signatory EU Member States and the Republic of Belarus. It brings an opportunity to develop a comprehensive migration policy, and to ensure the safe movement of migrants and their social and legal protection. The full potential of the Mobility Partnership is yet to be mobilized. It could provide incentives to improve labour migration legislation, further expand educational programs, pave the way to visa liberalisation or see the launch of new projects on migration.

The new policy brief "The EU-Belarus Mobility Partnership: The Way Forward" authored by Anastacia Bobrova analyses the implementation of the individual policy areas addressed by the Mobility Partnership and outlines a set of corresponding recommendations.

To preview and download the brief please use this link.

The sixth Prague Process webinar 'Migration and the Platform Economy' with Glen Hodgson, Founder and CEO of the Independent Think Tank Free Trade Europa, took place on 10 September 2020.

The webinar looked at the perspectives that the platform economy could provide to migrants. Not only can it help in turning black jobs white and integrating migrants into host country labour forces but also in addressing the respective labour market demand. Many researchers agree that the majority of jobs will be freelance and plat­form-based within a few years. Appropriate action shall, therefore, ensure that third-country nationals are not locked in a technology-facilitated parallel economy, which leads to unstable incomes, limited training and social isolation. The webinar was based on the recently published policy brief "Migration and the Platform Economy" authored by Glen Hodgson.

The Prague Process Policy Talk ‘The EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum: What role for international cooperation?’ with Ms Maria-Myrto Kanellopoulou, member of the Cabinet of EC Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, and Mr Martijn Pluim, Director for Migration Dialogues and Cooperation at ICMPD, will take place on 22 October 2020 at 10:30 CET.

This Policy Talk will focus on the Pact’s external dimension and possible ways for its operationalisation.

ICMPD Director General Mr. Michael Spindelegger and Ms. Gurlu Jabborzoda, Minister of of Labour, Migration and Employment of Population (MoLMEP) of Tajikistan have exchanged views on migration issues and signed a Memorandum on Understanding.

Irregular migration, including human trafficking, remains widespread in spite of all national and global efforts to counter it. In the post-Soviet space, the appearance of new independent states following the dissolution of the USSR has largely facilitated irregular migration. Various ethnic and territorial conflicts have accompanied the respective state formation processes, resulting in a continuous reforming of the migration authorities and attempts of international criminal groups to make use of the situation for their own purposes. The Islamic fundamentalism witnessed in some states has further aggravated the problem.

Since 2014, Ukraine has faced an armed conflict resulting in a humanitarian crisis and the internal displacement of large parts of its population. Their situation remains an emergency until today. The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), which currently amounts to over 700,000 persons (or 1,5 Mio. according to the Ukrainian official sources) makes Ukraine the country with the most IDPs in Europe. The large-scale human displacement brought severe challenges, ranging from the socio-economic integration of IDPs in their host communities to their political, legal or psychological needs.

The new Analytical report 'Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Mapping the Flows and Challenges' authored by Dr. Natalia Husieva, Dr. Yekaterina Segida, Dr. Galina Kravchenkova and Dr.Tatiana Lesnichaya provides a time-space analysis of the forced internal displacement in the period 2014-2018. It presents the most imminent challenges faced by the IDPs and proposes possible solutions, taking into account the specific characteristics of individual regions as well as international good practices and lessons learned. Thereafter, the report proposes various measures aimed at developing and strengthening the resilience, independence and self-reliance of IDPs in Ukraine. Lastly, the report substantiates policy recommendations aimed at facilitating the adaptation and integration of IDPs into local communities.

To preview and download the report please use this link.

The ongoing outbreak of the COVID-19 revealed and further exacerbated some of the existing systemic challenges related to migrants and their stay in destination countries. The new infographic represents an attempt to outline some of the important factors increasing migrant vulnerabilities in times of the pandemic, as well as related policy measures and challenges thereof. This visualisation was first published in the Prague Process Quarterly Review No 23 April-June 2020.  Please preview and download the infographic in English or in Russian.

Our vast Repository contains all recent and older Publications, video-recordings of the webinars and interviews with state officials and academic experts, studies, manuals, Migration Profiles and more.

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