Managing Migration for the Benefit of All
Armenia - Study tour of key Armenian Government Officials to Sweden
15.04.2008
On March 31 through April 4, 2008 International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Armenia organized a study tour of key Armenian migration management officials to Sweden within the framework of the part of IOM Armenia “Capacity Building in Migration Management Programme: Armenia Assessment” Project, funded by the Swedish Migration Board (SMB). The Project is a result of cooperation between South Caucasus and EU within the framework of the IOM “Informed Migration – An Integrated Approach to Promoting Legal Migration through National Capacity Building and Inter-Regional Dialogue between the SC and the EU” Regional Project implemented in the three Republics of the SC under the auspices of the EU Programme for Financial and Technical Assistance to Third Countries in the Areas of Migration and Asylum (AENEAS). Thanks to the Cluster Process Meetings under the AENEAS-funded Informed Migration Project, Armenia and Sweden established a country team to increase cooperation on migration management and return. As part of the Project, IOM and SMB conducted an Assessment of Migration Management in Armenia at the request of the Government of the Republic of Armenia (RA).
Participants included representatives of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA); RA Ministry of Labour and Social Issues (MLSI)/ State Occupation Service Agency; RA National Security Service (NSS)/ Border Guards Troops; RA Police; RA Ministry of Territorial Administration (MNF) and its Migration Agency (MA). The delegation was accompanied by Representatives of IOM TCC and IOM Armenia Project Development and Implementation Unit.
The study tour enabled the key personnel of RA state bodies dealing with migration matters to evaluate comparative models of implementation and exchange experience.
During the study tour the participants had important meetings, including meetings discussing policy-making and practice, at the Ministry of Justice of Sweden (Division for Migration and Asylum Policy, Division for Management of Migration Affairs), various units of the Swedish Migration Board, the Swedish Police, the Migration Courts. The participants also visited the Arlanda International Airport and Detention Centre.
Additionally, the study tour entailed discussions on the preliminary findings and conclusions produced by the international experts, during which the agencies represented clarified any missing or incorrect information and gave final comments before final presentation of the Assessment to the Armenian Government. The main purpose of the assessment was to develop recommendations for a new management structure capable of dealing more effectively with the issues and challenges facing the country in the area of migration. Additionally a preliminary review of the existing migration related legislation was also carried out. The Project assessed current policies, legislative bases, including the mandates, procedures; structures; technical capacity; and equipment. The comments of the Government officials were incorporated into the final Assessment paper, which will be presented to the Armenian Government in May 2008.
The study tour was evaluated as useful by the Armenian government officials, who acknowledge IOM’s activities in reforming migration management in Armenia.Migration News
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