Newsletter No. 28, January 2018

Grand finale of the CulTrain project: We hope to see you all again!

At the end of 2017, the 5th phase of the CulTrain project “Cultural Orientation Trainings

for Young Refugees” came to an end. In order to close this project in the same manner it

started 6 years ago - with an open heart and with conviction and hope for a cohesive

society - we celebrated by organizing a colorful intercultural Christmas party. Our

numerous guests – both young refugees and members of the youth organization young

Caritas - who also came from regions outside Vienna, nostalgically sent us back in time and

reminded us of the high number of trainings that we had conducted all over Austria and

the proud figure of over 870 beneficiaries reached between 2012 and 2017. As always,

participants were eager to get to know each other, to exchange experiences and to build

friendships.

Over the last 6 years, IOM Austria conducted a total of 80 post arrival cultural orientation

trainings, 12 extracurricular activities and 13 intercultural events, closely collaborating

with local youth organizations. We would like to warmly thank everyone who has been

involved in the CulTrain project throughout the last 6 years and we are looking forward to

new perspectives of collaboration.

IOM’s Global Migration Film Festival: Screening in Vienna

The second edition of the Global Migration Film Festival organized by IOM showcased

films that captured the promise and challenges of migration in more than 100 countries.

On 6 December 2017, the Top Kino was filled to the last place (and beyond), when IOM

Austria in cooperation with the international human rights film festival this human world

hosted a screening of the movie Lost in Lebanon. The screening was followed by a panel

discussion with Christina Duschl (Austrian Red Cross), Stefan Maier (Caritas Salzburg) and

Elisabeth Hochenegger (IOM Austria) about future prospects of Syrian refugees in

Lebanon. The lively discussion with questions from the audience was moderated by

Andrea Götzelmann-Rosado (IOM Austria). More details: www.iomvienna.at/en/events

We thank everyone who attended this year’s Global Migration Film Festival in Vienna!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

CulTrain Farewell…………….……………...……..1

Global Migration Film Festival…………...…..1

Admin4all…………...……….…………..….………..2

Fostering Across Borders….…….………...……2

Voluntary returns 2017…….……………...…….3

RESTART II………………….…….……………...…….3

EMN Study………………….……….…………...…...4

2018 UN Conference….….…….…………...…...4

Follow us on Twitter: IOMaustria

International Organization for Migration The UN Migration Agency in Austria

This project was financed by the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs.

© IOM © IOM

Integrating Migrants in the EU: Cities’ Solutions

Integration not only concerns the society as a whole, but multiple parties

are involved on a national, federal and first and foremost municipality

level, which is where integration really happens.

Therefore, the main objective of the international project “Supporting

Active Inclusion of Disadvantaged Migrants in Europe“ is to increase the

capacities of municipalities in Italy, Poland, Romania and Austria

regarding their challenges with diverse communities. After 22 rewarding

months, the project was concluded at the end of last year. In order to

bring together findings and results of the project, IOM Austria hosted a

national closing event in Vienna and also contributed to an international

conference in Brussels.

In Vienna, more than 50 representatives of voluntary associations, municipal administrations, national authorities and

alliances as well as International Organizations participated in the closing event. Not only the outcomes of intensive compe-

tence and capacity building in the frame of the project, supporting the integration of migrants on municipality level, have

been presented, but the conference itself emphasized the features of better collaboration between public and voluntary

structures. In Brussels, the international project team met for an exchange of various good practices between participating

countries, which was perceived as very inspiring by the participants. The Austrian delegation brought back many

impressions and a lot of food for thought to continue their work in the respective municipalities.

FAB – Fostering Across Borders: A new project dedicated to capacity building in the area of foster care for unaccompanied and separated migrant children

On 15 January 2018, IOM Austria started implementing the international project “FAB – Fostering Across Borders”, funded

by the European Commission, Directorate General for Justice. The project will be carried out for 20 months in six countries:

Austria, Belgium, Greece, Luxemburg, Poland and the United Kingdom. It aims to support, improve and promote family-

based care for unaccompanied and separated children.

The project will achieve this by mapping existing programs and by identifying the needs of social workers and foster care

parents for unaccompanied and separated migrant children. It will also support the exchange between relevant

stakeholders through meetings and conferences, consult with young refugees to ensure their active participation and

inclusion of their views in project outputs, revise existing training curricula and other materials, conduct trainings according

to identified needs, and various further activities.

We are looking forward to keeping you updated regarding the outcomes of these activities!

The project is financed by the European Union, Directorate General for Justice.

The project was funded by the European Union, DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion.

All photos: © Anna Rauchenberger/IOM

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Voluntary Returns in 2017: IOM Austria assisted more than 3,500 migrants Facts and Figures 2017

In 2017, IOM Austria assisted a total of 3,546

migrants in their voluntary return from

Austria to their countries of orgin. The

countries with the highest number of

voluntary returnees were Iraq (686), Ukraine

(348) and Serbia (291). The travel costs for

the majority of returnees were covered in the

framework of the “General Humanitarian

Return Programme” by the Austrian Federal

Office for Immigration and Asylum.

In comparison to the all-time high of

voluntary returns assisted by IOM Austria in

2016 (4,812 persons), the total number of

returns from Austria has declined by about

25 per cent. In line with the general decrease,

an important decline of returnees to Iraq

(-51%), Afghanistan (-61%) and Iran (-75%)

was observed. Nonetheless these countries

remain within the top 10 countries of return

from Austria, Iraq being the most important

country with almost twice as many returnees

as Ukraine, which ranks second.

The number of returnees to Ukraine increased by almost 90 per cent from 184 to 348 assisted persons. Also Georgia

experienced a considerable increase of 147 per cent from 77 to 190 assisted returnees. For the first time, Algeria appeared in

the top 20 countries of return, with 41 voluntary returns in 2017.

Reintegration Assistance in Afghanistan and Iran

In addition to return assistance, IOM Austria offers reintegration

support for voluntary returnees in the framework of the project

“RESTART II – Reintegration Assistance for Voluntary Returnees to

Afghanistan and Iran”, co-funded by the Austrian Ministry of the

Interior and the European Commission. The project supported a

total of 177 beneficiaries in 2017 (90 to Afghanistan and 87 to Iran)

during the first out of three years of its implementation.

For further information please contact the Assisted Voluntary

Return and Reintegration Unit: avrr.vienna@iom.int

© IOM 2017

© Province of Upper Austria

Top 10 countries of voluntary return assisted by IOM Austria in 2017.

© IOM 2018

In 2017, Samiullah S. returned to Afghanistan with support of RESTART II.

He invested his reintegration assistance in a stationery shop in Kabul.

© IOM 2018

This project is co-financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) of the European Union and the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior.

EMN Study: The Establishment of Identity in the Austrian Migration Process

The IOM Country Office for Austria has recently published the country report of the EMN

Study on “The Establishment of Identity in the Austrian Migration Process”. The study

covers identity establishment procedures for third-country nationals and gives a detailed

overview of existing institutional frameworks, IT-systems and data-sharing methods, as well

as current challenges.

The main findings of the study show that establishing the identities of migrants is a highly

relevant topic in Austrian politics and plays an important role in procedures under aliens

law. This especially applies to asylum procedures, where establishing a person’s identity is

generally very difficult. In Austria, the authority that is responsible for taking a decision on a

particular application is also primarily responsible for establishing the applicant’s identity.

Apart from identity documents, authorities are also using fingerprint comparisons,

database queries, medical age assessment, language analysis and interviews to establish a

person’s identity.

This study and all other EMN publications are available at www.emn.at

IOM chairs RAUN session at 2018 Vienna UN conference

Julia Rutz, Head of the Research and

Migration Law Unit, chaired the

session of the Regional Academy on

the United Nations (RAUN) with the

topic “Achieving Gender Equality and

Female Empowerment: A

Collaborative Vision for SDG 5.” at this

year’s Vienna UN Conference (12 – 14

January 2018). During this session, RAUN-students presented their research findings on

topics such as “Risks and coping strategies of Syrian women searching for asylum in

Austria” and “Income-generating activities for Afghan returnee women”.

RAUN is an international program for young scholars. It offers trainings on UN-related

issues, aims at raising cultural awareness and provides a forum for academic exchange. The

program consists of three separate sessions, in which high-ranking experts share their

experience. Furthermore, participants conduct research projects in cooperation with

different UN agencies and other international organizations. The IOM Country Office for

Austria has been supporting RAUN since 2014 and has supervised several research projects

on the topic of migration.

For more information please visit: www.ra-un.org, www.viennaconference.net

The National Contact Point Austria in the EMN is financially supported by the European Commission and the Austrian

Federal Ministry of the Interior.

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International Organization for Migration (IOM)

The UN Migration Agency

Country Office for Austria

Nibelungengasse 13/4

1010 Vienna, Austria

Tel: +43.1.585 33 22

Fax: +43.1.585 33 22 30

Email: iomvienna@iom.int

www.iomvienna.at

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

The UN Migration Agency

Headquarters

17, Route des Morillons

1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland

Tel: +41.22.717 9111

Fax: +41.22.798 6150

Email: hq@iom.int

www.iom.int

© IOM 2018

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