Tuesday 16 September 2003

Press Briefing Notes
Tuesday 16 September 2003
Spokesperson: Jean Philippe Chauzy

1. SWITZERLAND - China-Europe Migration Study
2. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - DDG Visits to Press for Counter-Trafficking, Migrant's Rights
3. BELGIUM - Return of Qualified Afghans Website
4. COLOMBIA - Children in Armed Conflict

SWITZERLAND - China-Europe Migration Study - Chinese migration to Western Europe was catapulted into public view in June 2000 when 58 smuggled Chinese migrants were found suffocated in a truck at the British port of Dover. The tragedy triggered EU-funded research by scholars from China and Europe now published in a new issue of IOM's International Migration.

The issue includes articles by researchers from China discussing patterns of emigration from China, factors contributing to increased emigration to Europe, and the role of Chinese government policy in shaping migratory flows. Other articles by European researchers look at current trends in migration from China to Europe based the latest available information and statistics.

While the number of Chinese migrating to Europe is still relatively small compared to the numbers heading for North America or Australia, researchers agree that flows have grown dramatically in the past decade.

For example in Italy, the number of Chinese residents rose by 260 per cent from 18,700 in 1991 to 48,650 in 2000. In Spain, there has been a six-fold increase in the number of Chinese immigrants over the last ten years, reaching 36,000 in 2001.

Central and Eastern European countries now also host significant Chinese communities and have become a transit zone for Chinese migrants heading for western Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Large numbers of Chinese students and skilled migrants have also been attracted to northern Europe. In the United Kingdom, for example, some 18,000 Chinese students are enrolled in British institutions of higher education, making them the largest group out of a total of 143,000 foreign students. This figure represents a 71 per cent increase from 2000. Preliminary figures for 2002 show a further increase of 67 per cent, taking the likely total to more than 25,000.

After the completion of their studies overseas, the majority of Chinese students do not return home, but take up employment in the destination country, continue further studies, or move to another country. In the United States, the return rate of Chinese students over the period from 1978 to 1999 was only 14.1 per cent. By contrast, nearly half of the Chinese students in Europe return home.

But "brain drain" is a growing concern to the Chinese authorities, given China's rapid economic growth, the rising ability of Chinese families to pay to educate their children abroad, China's WTO membership and the active pursuit of foreign students by EU higher education establishments seeking tuition fees.

In contrast to booming student numbers, the number of Chinese irregular migrants stopped at EU borders appears to have dropped since the Dover tragedy. According to the researchers, who admit that their data is incomplete, they now only represent about 3% of all irregular migrants stopped by EU border controls.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - DDG Visits to Press for Counter-Trafficking, Migrant's Rights - IOM's Deputy Director General, Mrs. Ndioro Ndiaye arrived on Sunday in Santo Domingo for an official three-day visit. She met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the State Secretary for Women, the Director of Migration and other government counterparts to review ongoing cooperation, in areas such as counter trafficking and migrants' rights.

Today Mrs. Ndiaye is travelling to neighbouring Port au Prince on an official visit where she will discuss with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and other government counterparts the possibilities of enhancing IOM's cooperation on migration and migrant health issues with the Haitian Government. Later this week she will travel to Kingston, Jamaica and Georgetown, Guyana to meet with authorities and discuss migration issues of concerns to IOM and governments.

As part of a series of events to mark Migrant's Day in the Dominican Republic, the IOM office brought together members of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences and organizations representing the civil society for a roundtable on migration. The more than 70 participants of the seminar "Dominican Republic: Land of Migrants", discussed the human rights of migrants in the country, including those of Haitian migrant workers, irregular migrants from the Dominican Republic who travel to Puerto Rico seeking entry into the United States, and the proposed migration bill.

At the same time, the IOM office and the Attorney General's Office held a workshop for some 100 members of the Public Ministry which provided them with practical information and training on the implementation of a counter-trafficking bill passed by the Dominican Congress last July.

The lack of adequate legislation fuels abuses of migrants' rights, as well as discrimination and racial prejudice in the Dominican Republic. IOM is carrying out a series of projects focused on education and training for the protection of the human rights of migrants, including workshops for local community leaders, strengthening of civil society institutions and a public information campaign.

The migration bill currently in force dates back to 1939. In 2001 IOM assisted the Dominican Government to prepare a modern migration bill, which was presented to Congress but has yet to be reviewed or put into force. IOM is presently working with government officials and civil society groups to lobby with Congress for the consideration and passing of the project.

Trafficking of Dominican women has being taking place for the past 20 years, mainly associated with sexual exploitation. Together with the State Secretariat for Women and several NGOs, IOM initiated in October 2001 a programme to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings. Although trafficking of women to Europe slowed down in the last few years, it has increased towards new destinations such Argentina, Central America and neigbouring Haiti. There is also a noticeable increase in trafficking of Haitian children for bonded labour and begging. Last month, the Dominican Government enacted a counter- trafficking and migrant smuggling bill.

During 2002 and 2003 IOM assisted in the voluntary return from Argentina of 55 Dominican women victims of trafficking. The return of around 40 cases of trafficking victims in Haiti is presently being considered.

For more information contact: Juan Artola, IOM Santo Domingo, Tel: 1.809.732.7121 iomsdomingo@codetel.net.do

BELGIUM - Return of Qualified Afghans Website - Today, IOM Brussels has launched a new EU-RQA website http:// www.iom-rqa.org. The site offers increased functionality and enables the end-user to obtain the most current information available about the EU-RQA programme benefits. Several new features were introduced, including the ability to download EU-RQA materials for dissemination, and to obtain the most up-to-the-minute information available regarding job opportunities for prospective participants.

The EU-RQA programme, which is co-funded by the European Commission, is offering comprehensive assistance packages to qualified and highly qualified Afghans now residing in the EU who wish to return to their home country to work in the public and private sectors. The programme focuses on the development of critical sectors in Afghanistan, including: private businesses that provide goods and services in the domestic market, civil and social services, public infrastructure, and rural development.

The EU-RQA programme also offers a self-employment option, whereby grants of up to 3 600 € per person are awarded to Afghans who wish to start their own small businesses. Assignments are 6 months or 12 months in duration and include travel and reintegration assistance. Skilled Afghan women are encouraged to apply and will receive an extra per month allowance.

The EU-RQA programme was developed out of the framework of the Global RQA programme, which began in 2001 and placed 556 Afghans in areas crucial to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Thus far, the EU-RQA programme has placed six candidates in prominent positions in the private sector and in the public arena. The programme is working to identify positions for an additional 359 applicants currently in the EU-RQA database. The programme began in March and will run for eighteen months.

For more information, please contact: Cynthia Hatfield, Email: chatfield@iom.int Tel: 32 02 282 45 73

COLOMBIA - Children in Armed Conflict - The IOM office in Bogota, the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare, UNICEF, the Antonio Restrepo Barco Foundation and the European Centre for International Strategic Thinking, this week joined met to discuss ways to help minors demobilized from Colombia's armed conflict and to offer them the possibility to return to a normal life.

The meeting on "Children in Armed Conflict" brought together organizations working with minors demobilized from Colombia's ongoing conflict. Participants exchanged lessons learnt and best practices from countries with Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programmes, such as Cambodia

The participants agreed that Colombia possesses the basic tools for a successful demobilization programme for minors. Since 1999, more than 1,400 minors have received support from the National Programme to Assist Children and Youth Demobilized from the Colombian Armed Conflict, run by the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare and supported by IOM, with funding from USAID.

Marcelo Pisani, IOM Representative A.I. in Colombia, said that working with governmental institutions, local NGOs and the country's youth, solutions are already in sight. Today there are 21 assistance centres providing support to some 600 youth in six cities. These centres offer physical and mental health, and education. So far, 334 scholarships for formal education and 215 for vocational education have been awarded.