Country Office Austria

International Organization for Migration

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Editorial ..................................... 1

VREN - Creation of a Voluntary Return European Network ......... 1

News from the National Contact Point Austria in the European Migration Network .... 2

IOM Vienna welcomes the Plural+ Project ............................ 3

IOM Vienna´s Work on Unaccompanied Minors ............ 4

EDITORIAL Return is an integral part of migration management. Migrants who are unable or unwilling to remain in countries

of destination and wish to return voluntarily to their countries of origin are supported by IOM to return safely and

reintegrate in a sustainable manner. Worldwide, IOM has assisted just over 400,000 migrants to return to over

160 countries of origin in the past ten years.

In the Austrian policy context, voluntary return is favoured over forced return, and IOM Austria organizes the

voluntary return of migrants at the request of NGOs and Austrian authorities. In the last ten years, the numbers of

returnees assisted by IOM Austria rose from approximately 430 returnees in 2001 to almost 3,000 returnees in

2011.

In the European context, the diverse responses and practices of EU Member States in the field of voluntary return

give rise to new challenges. Given the variety of programmes, initiatives and

stakeholders in different countries of destination, transit, and origin, the

exchange of information and the support for a coherent migration manage-

ment approach, orientated to migrants´ rights and needs, becomes more

urgent.

To meet this need, IOM is implementing a project, which is introduced in more

detail below. The ‘Voluntary Return European Network’ aims at creating a

solid web-based exchange mechanism to strengthen and increase coordinati-

on and improve information sharing among a variety of stakeholders in both

Europe and countries of origin.

IOM Austria is part of this initiative and we are confident that this new net-

work will strengthen IOM´s work at the national and international level,

and confirms our approach of finding migration solutions for the benefit

of migrants and governments.

VREN - CREATION OF A VOLUNTARY RETURN EUROPEAN NETWORK Voluntary return of migrants has become an important aspect of the EU’s overall migration policy. However, the

European Commission has noted that there is a lack of coordination among Member States, and even within

certain Member States, in the area of voluntary return and voluntary return assistance.

In order to improve the coordination among EU Member States in the field of voluntary return, a project was

recently launched to create a “Voluntary Return European Network” (VREN). This two-year initiative, prepared

jointly by IOM and 15 EU Member States (including Austria) is funded by the European Return Fund and aims to

facilitate exchanges among stakeholders in participating EU Member States as well as in Switzerland and Norway

on voluntary return and reintegration of third country nationals.

Following a participatory approach involving also major countries of transit and origin, VREN aims to create a

platform for exchange of information, ensuring visibility and harmonization of activities between various partners.

Once established, it will be a reference source in the field of voluntary return and reintegration and a tool to

strengthen awareness and compliance with the standards set by the EU Return Directive (2008/115/EC).

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Newsletter Issue No. 7 April 2012

Katerina Kratzmann, Officer in Charge

© IOM 2012

Over an initial period of two years, from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2013, the project will

build a bottom-up, multi-layered framework, allowing for coordination and cooperation at the

national and international level to identify needs, priorities, responses and good practices in the

field of voluntary return.

To ensure regular communication, VREN will set up a website that will be nurtured and used by

the experiences of all its members, represented by governmental officials of the Members Sta-

tes, international organizations (IOs), NGOs, and other stakeholders in the field of voluntary

return. This e-community will be able to share information through the web-based platform

which is designed to enhance coordination among all interested stakeholders on all aspects of

voluntary return.

At the European level, an Advisory Group (AG), will advise the Project Management Team on the

access to, design and content of the website. Throughout the implementation of the project, the

Advisory Group will also suggest the ad hoc participation of representatives of other organiza-

tions with relevant expertise on voluntary return such as, UNHCR, EMN, or Caritas. These

“thematic partners” will enrich the network through sharing their experience and expertise with

the other members of the Advisory Group, their participation at the final conference, and their

direct contribution to the “thematic” areas of the website (i.e. unaccompanied migrant children,

vulnerable migrants, minorities, or reintegration in the countries of origin).

At the national level, IOM will make use of its existing contacts to establish National Stakeholders

Networks (NSNs). The focus of the NSNs will be the deepening of the discussions launched within

the e-community, the identification of further areas in need of coordination and the facilitation

of the exchange of information amongst all national stakeholders. Moreover, the NSNs will enga-

ge in annual stakeholder consultations to gather quantitative and qualitative information on

voluntary return and reintegration that will be made available for the e-community in the form

of country factsheets.

The Austrian NSN is currently being set up and is open to all stakeholders interested in participa-

ting. Interested organizations can contact IOM Austria (Ms. Andrea Götzelmann, agoetzel-

mann@iom.int) for more information.

This project is funded by the European Union.

NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL CONTACT POINT AUSTRIA IN THE EUROPEAN MIGRA-TION NETWORK The European Migration Network (EMN) is a network coordinated by the European Commission

in cooperation with National Contact Points established in each Member State, plus Norway. Its

aim is to meet the information needs of Union institutions and of Member States’ authorities and

institutions by providing up-to-date, objective, reliable and comparable information on migration

and asylum, with a view to supporting policymaking in the European Union in these areas.

Changes in the Austrian EMN Team The National Contact Point Austria in the EMN welcomes two new faces in its team. Ms. Theresa Bittmann, a graduate of Business Administration and Advanced European and International Stu-dies, and Mr. Adel-Naim Reyhani, a lawyer who previously worked as a legal assistant for the Asylum Court and as a legal advisor in the Austrian asylum and aliens’ police procedure, have both been supporting the research activities of the National EMN Contact Point since January 2012.

2nd Edition of the EMN Glossary of Terms rela-ting to Asylum and Migration In January 2012, the European Migration Network (EMN) published an updated version of the first EMN Glossary, which was very well received by practitioners across the EU. Modifications include the addition of further terms reflecting the dynamic nature of asylum and migration and a refinement of previous definitions. This second edition contains more than 300 terms, primarily taken from the EU aquis. For each term, the agreed definition plus the source of the definition along with the translation into other Member State languages is provided.

The EMN Glossary, is available here http://www.emn.at/en/glossary .

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© IOM 2012

EMN Team (from the left): Elisabeth Petzl,

Mária Temesvári, Theresa Bittmann,

Katerina Kratzmann, Adel-Naim Reyhani.

As migration becomes more complex, the need for brokering cooperative approaches among countries of origin, transit and destination increases. The “Voluntary Return European Net-work” (VREN) aims to contribute to a harmonized voluntary return manage-ment policy in Europe by encouraging and strengthening the cooperation among voluntary return stakeholders in the EU and other countries and regions of the world. Within a bottom-up, multi-layered framework, needs, priorities, responses, and good practic-es in the field of voluntary return will be identified, and coordination and cooperation at the national and trans-national level will be facilitated.

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Background Paper “Temporary and Circular Migra-tion in Austria – A statistical analysis based on the Population Register POPREG (2002-2009)” of the European Migration Network Following the report of the National Contact Point Austria on “Temporary and Circular Migration in

Austria” as presented in the previous IOM Newsletter, a background paper has been published. This

background paper elaborated by Dr. Stephan Marik-Lebeck, a migration expert at Statistics Austria,

provides a clearly structured analysis of statistical data on temporary and circular migration in Austri-

a.

The Background Paper is available here http://www.emn.at/en/studies/

Further information on the recent publications as well as other EMN activities may be obtained from

http://www.emn.at .

The EMN was established via Council Decision 2008/381/EC. The National Contact Point Austria in the EMN is finan-

cially supported by the European Union and the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior.

IOM VIENNA WELCOMES THE PLURAL+ PROJECT

April brings an exciting new project to IOM Vienna. Plural+ is designed to stimulate dialogue on issues

relating to integration, human rights, migration, and social inclusion in a fun and interactive way.

Young people throughout Austria are encouraged to submit short videos on these topics for conside-

ration by an expert jury. Plural+ has been implemented on the international level since 2009 by IOM

and the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) targeting young people worldwide. New this year is the

Austrian version, organized to coincide with the upcoming Fourth UNAOC Forum which will be held in

February 2013 in Vienna. IOM Vienna together with the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and

International Affairs and the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior are now partnering together to

make this happen.

The project aims to get young people involved in a discussion about issues which directly affect them

and their communities by providing them with a platform to air their views, thoughts, feelings, o-

pinions, and hopes on these topics. In this way it opens doors for the youth of Austria to discuss mig-

ration and diversity issues at the national level, with the goal of contributing to a better under-

standing of these among young people and to the improved integration of migrants in the long term.

IOM Vienna hopes to run the project on an annual basis to ensure a continued and fruitful dialogue

on these important topics.

So, how does it work? Young people from 9 to 25 years of age are invited to submit short videos of

one to five minutes in length expressing their views on migration and diversity. We anticipate that

circa 40 films will be submitted. Our expert jury will then select the best entry in each of three age

categories (9 to 12, 13 to 18 and 19 to 25 years of age). But that is not all – in addition, three more

prizes will be awarded for Best Movie, Best Direction and the Most Active and Dedicated Participant

(s). The winners will be invited to a glittering awards ceremony which will take place during the UN-

AOC Forum in February 2013. So we encourage any would-be participants to get out there, get creati-

ve and get filming.

Young people of Austria, we want to hear from you!

The Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs and the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior

are partnering with IOM Vienna in the Plural+ Project.

PLURAL+ Share your Vision!

PLURAL+ recognizes youth as powerful agents of social change, and supports cooperative efforts to reduce tensions in a world often characterized by conflict and division.

Since 2009 over 400 entries from 63 countries have participated in the global PLURAL+ Video competi-tion. Winning videos have been screened in dozens of festivals, cinemas and broadcast on televi-sion networks throughout the world. The UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Forum 2013 will take place for the first time in Vienna on 27-28 February. The Annual Forum is the highest-profile event of the UNAOC, bringing together promi-nent personalities, current and potential partners, and other stakeholders.

© UNAOC 2011

© UNAOC 2011

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IOM VIENNA´S WORK ON UNACCOMPANIED MINORS Children and youth make up an increasing percentage of migration flows today, an issue that has recently

begun to attract attention on the policy level in Europe and elsewhere. Those under the age of eighteen

migrating without a parent or other responsible adult may variously be referred to as unaccompanied

minors or as unaccompanied (migrant) children. Whatever the term is used however, the fact remains

that these young people constitute a particularly vulnerable migrant group, due to their young age as well

as the difficult journeys they frequently make that leave them open to exploitation and abuse. While their

rights are safeguarded by a number of international and regional standards, above all the 1990 UN Con-

vention on the Rights of the Child, implementation in practice is patchy and uneven. As a global agency

working on migration, IOM therefore aims to strengthen and support coherent approaches to unaccom-

panied minors (UAMs). In this context IOM Vienna is currently involved in two exciting projects in this

area – for more information read on!

Training of Trainers for Guardians and Social Work-ers of UAMAS in Warsaw

14 guardians and social workers from seven Central European countries, namely Bulgaria, the Czech Re-

public, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, attended a two day training of trainers (ToT) in

Warsaw from 2-3 April 2012. This ToT was organized in the framework of the EC funded project

“Improving the Quality of UAMAS’ Guardianship and Care in Central European Countries”, which is coor-

dinated by IOM Budapest.

IOM Vienna was responsible for the development of a training manual, the training curriculum as well as

the training exercises of the ToT. During the two days, exercises, games and teaching methodologies were

taught to participants in an amusing way while keeping the important role of guardians and social work-

ers for UAMAS in mind.

Drawing on the gained knowledge and improved capacity in organizing and implementing trainings, parti-

cipants will conduct national-follow up trainings in their respective countries in the upcoming months in

order to train guardians and social workers as well as other relevant experts on good practices related to

guardianship of UAMAS.

The Training of Trainers was organized in the framework of the EC funded project “Improving the

Quality of UAMAS’ Guardianship and Care in Central European Countries”.

Cultural Orientation Trainings for Unaccompanied Minor Refugees (CulTrain) - an Update

As of January 2012, IOM Vienna is implementing the project CulTrain, which offers cultural orientation

trainings to (former) Unaccompanied Minors between 16 and 21 years. Currently, CulTrain is in its prepa-

ration phase: Contents, training methods and a comprehensive curriculum were developed, a flyer was

produced and on 29 February 2012 the expert group met for the first time. IOM Vienna will start to

conduct 10 cultural orientation trainings beginning with May in Vienna, Lower Austria, Upper Austria and

Salzburg. More information is available at www.iomvienna.at.

The project is co-financed by the European Refugee Fund and the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior.

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Country Office Austria

Nibelungengasse 13/4

1010 Vienna

Austria

Tel: +43.1.585 33 22

Fax: +43.1.585 33 22 30

Email: iom-vienna@iom.int

Web: http://www.iomvienna.at

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Headquarters

17, Route des Morillons

Grand-Saconnex

1202 Geneva

Switzerland

Tel: +41.22.717 9111

Fax: +41.22.798 6150

Email: hq@iom.int

Web: http://www.iom.int

Participants of the Training of Trainers in

Warsaw

© IOM 2012

Copyright © 2012, IOM

All Rights Reserved

More detailed information on this excit-ing project can be found on online at www.iomvienna.at. We are also pleased to announce that the publication Train-ing Manual for Guardians and Social Workers dealing with unaccompanied minor asylum seekers will be available here in the near future so we urge all of those interested in this topic to keep an eye on the website!

“IOM is committed to promoting and protecting the rights of unaccompanied migrant children, having their best inter-ests as the top priority in all of its activi-ties.” (Unaccompanied Children on the Move, the work of the International Organization for Migration, 2011)

IOM Vienna carries out cultural orienta-tion trainings for Unaccompanied Minors.