Migration in the Republic of Belarus: Challenges, Trends and Perspectives
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IOM OIM MIGRATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS: CHALLENGES, TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES Final Document of the National Round Table Minsk, 2016 Table of Contents This document was developed based on the proposals formulated by the working groups Acknowledgements 5 of the round table «Migration in the Republic of Belarus: challenges, trends and perspectives» that took place in Minsk on 26 May 2016 The document is signed in two copies in the Russian language Foreword 6 Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Mission of the International Organization Republic of Belarus: for Migration in the Republic of Belarus Round Table Description 8 N Melchenko Z Hajiyev Group Work Description Conclusions and Recommendations 12 _____________________________ _____________________________ Deputy Minister Chief of Mission 3 Acknowledgements Mission of the International Organization for istry of Foreign Affairs and to the United Nations Migration (IOM) in the Republic of Belarus and High Commissioner for Refugees in the Repub- the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic lic of Belarus for their financial contributions of Belarus, acting as co-organizers of this round and technical support in the organization of this table, convey their gratitude to the participants, event experts and spokespersons of the round table, represented by state, non-state and internation- Besides, the organizers express their gratitude al organizations, as well as to foreign embas- to such international donors as the European sies and private companies that took part in the Union, US Agency for International Develop- event and contributed to the elaboration of rec- ment (USAID) and others who have been sup- ommendations, presented in this report porting for many years numerous projects in Be- larus in the sphere of migration and combating Our special gratitude goes to the donors of the human trafficking round table, particularly to the Norwegian Min- IOM OIM Ministry International Organization Ministry of Foreign Affairs United Nations High of Internal Affairs for Migration of the Kingdom of Norway Commissioner for Refugees 4 5 © MoI of the Republic of Belarus / МВД Республики Беларусь less, the solution of a wide range of migration eastern parts of Ukraine, who have arrived in Foreword challenges still requires elaboration of integrat- Belarus fleeing instability at home; and the third ed and coordinated policy, both at the state and one is of the growing rate of irregular transit mi- EU levels in general gration towards the West The mobility of population and labor force in the terrorist attacks, along with the environmental 21st century turned into a large-scale phenom- and technogenic devastations force millions of The Republic of Belarus wasn’t directly affected These and other migration challenges faced by enon resulting in an immense direct impact on people to look for more advantageous and safer by this migration crisis, however due to its geo- Belarus were actively discussed by the round ta- global demographic processes and socio-eco- living conditions far from their homes graphical location which can be characterized ble participants, who from their side highlighted nomic development of the states and regions as “transit”, it doesn’t stay completely away from the importance and acuteness of this event In this sense the year 2015 became a real test for the European migration challenges and threats, Over the recent years migration and related is- Europe and the European Union in general, that and also faces a need for effective management In order to ensure effective management of mi- sues were in the spotlight of international atten- faced unprecedented scales of irregular migra- of migration gration related processes the Republic of Belarus tion Due to the recent migration crisis in Europe tion The governments of many European coun- should develop effective and balanced policy in the topic of migration doesn’t descend from the tries had to rapidly develop and introduce a set A number of specific migration trends have been the sphere of migration and mobility of popula- front pages of the world media and is being ac- of emergency measures in order to handle mi- identified in Belarus over the past few years The tion responding to modern trends, meeting the tively discussed at high level international fora gration flows caused by uncontrolled inflow of first one relates to labor migration of the Belaru- social, economic and demographic interests of Migration became, without exaggeration, one of thousands of migrants to the EU territory They sian citizens to the Russian Federation – the pro- the country, as well as in line with the best inter- the key subjects of the international agenda as had to redirect migration flows into the regu- cess which is partially provoked by the absence national experience and standards with due re- migration processes affect all spheres of life on lated domain, amend their migratory legislation of visa requirements, border control and linguis- spect for the rights of migrants – one of the most the state, community and individual levels No and strengthen response in terms of provision of tic barriers between the countries, discrepancies vulnerable population groups It is expected that wonder, migration related issues have been in- humanitarian and social assistance to dozens of in the level of wages in Belarus and Russia; the the developed recommendations will be further cluded into the indicators of the UN Sustainable thousands stranded migrants second trend is a substantial inflow of Ukrainian used during the process of migration policy de- Development Agenda citizens, mainly displaced persons from south velopment in Belarus This experience, not always being positive, can Contemporary migration is characterized by still be used in future for the development of rapid development of information, transport and an effective migration management policy ca- communication technologies, as well as by the pable of adequate reacting to emerging chal- growing social and economic disparity, both be- lenges and threats Owing to the implementa- tween the states and within the societies tion of a complex of effective measures, the EU member states managed to alleviate to a certain Difficult social and economic conditions, defi- degree further negative implications of the un- ciency of prospects for development in native folding migration crisis and prevent the situa- countries, threats of the military conflicts and tion from becoming uncontrollable Neverthe- 6 7 of migration governance taking into consider- Round Table description ation the position of all concerned stakeholders The participants of the round table have touched On May 26, 2016 the national round table “Mi- national policy in the related field, as well as upon all aspects of migration in Belarus, ana- gration in the Republic of Belarus: challenges, promote the whole-of-government approach in lyzed the current migration situation in the re- trends and perspectives” was organized bringing order to resolve numerous migration challenges, gion and discussed potential tendencies in together representatives of state stakeholders, in- ensuring participation of all relevant stakehold- light of the migration crisis in Europe Besides, ternational organizations, civil society, lawyers, ers, including state, non-state, international and the participants also defined some particularly banks, academia, employment agencies as well private problematic issues that emerge in the process as the embassies of Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and of migration management in Belarus, as well as Ukraine In his welcoming address to the participants of proposed possible solutions and came up with the round table Mr Zeynal Hajiyev, Chief of respective recommendations The round table was organized jointly by the Mis- IOM Mission in Belarus, speaking about the re- sion of the International Organization for Migra- cent migration crisis in Europe and its impact on As stated by the representatives of the Ministry tion in Belarus and the Ministry of Internal Affairs Belarus, noted: “The Republic of Belarus, being of Internal Affairs, the round table contributed of Belarus with financial support from the Minis- mainly the transit country, does not stay away to the enhancement of interaction among com- try of Foreign Affairs of Norway and the United from what is happening in the rest of Europe petent agencies, helped to identify methods to Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Over the past few years Belarus has faced at improve migration situation, inter alia through least three challenges directly affecting the situ- the exchange of best practices in the field The need for such an event was preconditioned ation within the country First of all, it is an in- by the emerging migration challenges in the re- creased labor migration flow of Belarus citizens The main result of the round table is the text of gion and the ongoing situation in Europe The mostly to the Russian Federation; secondly, it is recommendations for the Government of Belar- organizers of the round table sought to facilitate a considerable influx of the citizens of Ukraine, us on such issues as irregular migration, forced comprehensive inter-agency discussion on mi- mainly displaced persons from the conflict zone migration and migration and development The recommendations were developed as a result of gration related issues resulting in the develop- of Donetsk and Lugansk; and thirdly, an intensi- © MoI of the Republic of Belarus / МВД Республики Беларусь