The International Organization for Migration (IOM) as a coordinator of the European Migration Network in Slovakia organized the 8th edition of the Educational Seminar on Migration – Migration in the Multilateral World that took place from 24 to 26 August 2021 in an online format. 22 speakers from 15 countries lectured on current migration topics.
Experts from Afghanistan, Greece, the Netherlands, Libya, Mexico, Norway, Austria, Slovakia, the USA and other countries, working in the area of policy making, research, academia or in the field, addressed the role of multilateralism in migration management and the impacts of international cooperation on migrants and refugees in transit and destination countries. The participants of the seminar learnt about the life in refugee camps in Greece, current migration situation in Afghanistan, in Libya and in the Mediterranean, but also about the possibilities to strengthen legal migration and work mobility into the EU.
Among more than 100 participants there were representatives from 25 countries working in state and public administration, state implementing authorities, embassies, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organisations, think-tanks, academia, private sector and as independent experts. Representatives of the EMN National Contact Points from other EU Member States and Norway, Georgia and Moldova also participated in the seminar.
The seminar offered three public events. On Tuesday, 24 August, an online discussion entitled How does Slovakia assist migrants and refugees? took place. You can watch the recording of the discussion with experts on migration policies in Slovakia and on the assistance to vulnerable people in the world at the IOM Slovakia YouTube Channel.
The first seminar day ended with the documentary film screening Midnight Traveler in the Kino Lumière in Bratislava. In the context of the current situation in Afghanistan, the film was very topical and it showed the spectators an uncertain journey of the Afghan director Hassan Fazili to Europe. Together with his wife and two daughters he was forced to flee under the threat of Taliban and he documented this odyssey on the mobile phone.
In the context of labour migration that was discussed during the third seminar day, we introduced on 25 August in Kino Lumière the Slovak premiere of a German film Gleis 11 (Track 11). The director Çağdaş Eren Yüksel recorded stories of five families that talk about the life of the first generation of German guestworkers – about their dreams, expectations, fears and about the reality from the beginning until today. After the film a short pre-recorded interview with the film director Çağdaş Eren Yüksel followed. It is available on the YouTube channel of IOM Slovakia.
The presentations, videos and podcasts from the seminar will be available soon at www.emnseminar.sk.