Tuesday 26 November 2002

Press Briefing Notes
Tuesday 26 November 2002
Spokesperson: Jean Philippe Chauzy

GENEVA - 84TH Session of the IOM Council
ITALY - The Image of Migrants through the Media, Civil Society and the Labour Market
TURKMENISTAN - Assistance for Voluntary Return of Irregular Migrants





GENEVA - 84th Session of IOM Council - The 84th session of the IOM governing body will open on Monday, 2 December 2002, in Conference Room XVII
at the Palais des Nations.

During this session, the application of four new Member States will be considered - the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Rwandese Republic, and the Republic of Zimbabwe. The Republic of Burundi, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have applied for observer status. This will bring the number of IOM Member States to 98.

Reacting to the applications for membership, IOM's Director General Brunson McKinley said, "The fact that our membership is growing provides strong evidence of the growing importance of migration around the world. Migration is an essential, inevitable and potentially beneficial component of the economic and social life of every nation and every region. Today, there is an emerging consensus that governments can and must manage migration through international cooperation and policy approaches that address all facets of this complex phenomenon."

As part of its ongoing International Migration Policy Dialogue, the Council will focus on partnerships in managing migration. IOM's Director of Migration Policy and Research Programme, Gervais Appave will deliver a presentation on migratory trends and migration policy trends.

This will be followed by a plenary discussion on Elements of a Managed Migration System led by the Egyptian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Farouk Ghoneim and by Peter van Wulfften Palthe, Migration and Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Following workshops on integration, irregular migration and on the role the diaspora can play in development, a general discussion focusing on these themes will take place on Tuesday afternoon, 3 December.

The general debate will include discussions on the future direction of IOM as an international organization, focussing more specifically on relations between IOM and the United Nations system. The question of whether IOM should join the UN system will also feature on the agenda.

This debate stems from a report of the UN Secretary General (SG) Kofi Annan to the General Assembly on 9 September entitled: "Strengthening the United Nations: An agenda for Further Change". In that report the SG identified migration as an important issue deserving greater attention by the United Nations.





On this issue, Brunson McKinley said, "This is not for the Administration to decide, it is up to our

Member States and the United Nations to decide. But as the SG rightly points out, it is time to take a more comprehensive look at the various dimensions of the migration issue."

As a follow up to the 84th IOM Council, the Director General will meet the UN Secretary General on 9 December in New York.

Members of the press are welcome to attend the Council session and discussions. For registration, please call the Media and Public Information Unit, Tel: 022.717.9111 mpi@iom.int

ITALY - The Image of Migrants through the Media, Civil Society and the Labour Market - For an Image Free of Stereotypes and Prejudice - With this slogan, the IOM office in Rome is launching this week the project 'The Image of Migrants in Italy, through the Media, Civil Society and the Labour Market'. The project aims at improving the perception of migrants in Italy, enhancing their presence and fostering their social and work related integration.

From emigration country, Italy became an immigration in the mid 1970's. Over the past 25 years, the number of immigrants in Italy had risen from 300.000 up to an estimated 1.5 million at the end of 2000, representing 2.5% on the population. These trends are on the increase, and therefore Italy, like many European countries, is slowly becoming a multiethnic and multicultural society. This transition is not always easy and carries along contradictions as well as social tensions.

Immigration is far too often presented in negative terms, and most of the time immigrants are represented and perceived as intruders and a danger to society. Foreigners are often victims of cultural stereotypes and prejudice. Many people believe that there are far too many immigrants and that they are criminals or terrorists, they take away jobs from the local population and "contaminate" Italian culture.

According to a recent research conducted by the Italian research institute Censis, 78% of the cases in which the television news mention immigrants were within a negative news item. And 58% of these cases were linked to criminality/illegality.

The general objective of the project is to improve the perception of migrants in Italy, to enhance their presence, and to foster their social integration and insertion in the labour market.

A series of events will be organized throughout the country. Manuals, reports and materials produced by all organizations involved will be made available at public meetings, conferences, cultural events, exhibitions, reviews; broadcasts will be organized. Caritas Rome, which has published the Statistical Immigration Dossier since 1991, will use the Dossier as a tool to foster knowledge of the immigration phenomenon based on objective data. Relying on the support of immigrant experts, Caritas will organize, in at least 50 Italian municipalities, seminars and debates in collaboration with local bodies, entrepreneurs, unions, employment services and ecclesiastic institutions. Training courses and manuals provided to operators of public and private services who receive immigrants (employment services, local bodies, schools, health services, etc.)

IOM, Caritas Rome/Statistical Immigration Dossier, the Archive of Immigration and 19 other partners have joined forces to combat discrimination, exclusion and inequality in the labour market and in society in general. The 19 partners are: RAI Television; the research institute CENSIS; the Intercultural Centre of the city of Turin; the Centre for Intercultural Education of the Province of Mantua; the immigrants' associations Abusuan, Baobab, Bota Shqiptare, Capoverde Women in Italy, Filipino Women's Council and NODI-Our Rights; the NGOs COSPE and UCSEI; the training institutions Forema-Padua, CEFAL-Bologna, ENFAP-Pescara, ESCLA-Matera, and IRSEA-Bari; the company Ergon Sistemi.

The 1.8 million Euro project is financed by the European Commission. For more information, contact Francesca Ferrari, IOM Rome Tel: 39 06 44186223 fferrari@iom.int

TURKMENISTAN - Assistance for Voluntary Return of Irregular Migrants - The IOM office in Ashgabat assisted on Monday a group of 113 stranded migrants from Armenia to return home voluntarily.

The number of Armenian nationals currently living in Turkmenistan is estimated between 37,000 and 40,000. Although there are no precise figures, it is estimated that a considerable number of Armenian nationals currently residing in Turkmenistan are irregular migrants, as they have not registered in the country or have overstayed their visas. In the past their presence was tolerated, but in recent years the Armenian Embassy in Ashgabat has seen an increase in the number of cases referred to them by the Turkmen authorities, or individuals calling the embassy asking for return assistance. All those considered irregular migrants (not registered of with expired visas) are fined, detained, or ordered to leave the country. As the fines are defined on the basis of the number of months they overstayed their visas, the amounts ended up being beyond the financial means of the migrants.

The group of 113 assisted by IOM were living in Turkmenistan in the cities of Ashgabat, the capital, Mary, Turkmebashy on the Caspian coast, and Balkanabat. IOM provided land transportation from those cities tot he capital and overnight accommodations. As most passengers said they wanted to arrange their own transport once back in Armenia, all returnees received a small US$10 grant for transportation to their final destinations in Armenia. They also receive a reintegration grant of US$200 per adult and US$100 for minors under 18 years of age. The Armenian government has also agreed will also provide additional reintegration assistance.

A lady, due to give birth in December could not travel with the group. She will return to Armenia in January once her health and the baby's permit. As she has no financial means, IOM will cover the cost of her delivery in Ashgabat.

The government of Norway provided funding for this project. For more information, please contact, Zoran Milovic, IOM Ashgabat Tel: 993.12.42.08.16 zmilovic@iom.untuk.org