During the 2015-2016 crisis, the territorial dimension of migration management was on top of the international agenda and focused on the improvement of long-term reception and integration of asylum seekers and refugees.
NALAS, the association of the SEE Municipalities; MARRI, the Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative, and the CEI Secretariat in parallel with other international organisations raised the issue of the regulatory, financial and methodological framework for the best collaboration between central and local public administrations and the public-private partnership needed with specialised CSOs for assisting people in need of international protection.
In this perspective, an important step forward was made in Skopje, Macedonia on 14 – 15 March with the regional closing workshop of the MIGRALONA project.
This action - co-financed by the Italian Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and implemented by the Focal Point on Migration of the CEI Secretariat - brought about an improvement of migration governance along the Balkan Route in order to prevent new emergencies. Moreover, the current low rate of migrants in the region enables the capacity building of the relevant bodies.
The MIGRALONA project overviewed the state-of-the-art of the reception and integration of migrants in the Western Balkan region through six workshops where over 160 representatives of relevant ministries, towns and municipalities with their associations, CSOs and local offices of the international organisations compared their experience with that based on a widespread reception assistance of migrants implemented in Italy.
Mayors and CSOs operators from the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region witnessed the dissemination of the rationale and operational features of the Italian SPRAR Programme. The final event in Skopje was also attended by the Commissioner of the Italian Government for the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, H.E. Annapaola Porzio. The participants to the Regional Workshop closing the MIGRALONA project shared a Position Paper with records and conclusions to be further considered by decision makers in the WB6.
For more information: poli@cei.int
