Events and News
Page 1 >> Page 2
SUPPORT THE STATE MIGRATION SERVICE
FOR STRENGTHENING OF MIGRATION MANAGEMENT
IN ARMENIA
The 7th Steering
Committee Meeting
27 May 2014
SEMINAR ON LEAN MANAGEMENT
1 July 2014
The 7th Steering Committee Meeting of the EU-funded Twinning project “Support the State Migration Service for Strengthening of Migration Management in Armenia” was held on 27 May 2014 at the State Migration Service.
The Project leaders from the State Migration Service and the Swedish Migration Board, the Resident Twinning Advisor, the RTA counterpart, representatives of EU-Delegation and the RA Ministry of Economy were participating in the meeting.
They discussed the overall progress of the project, agreed and signed the 7th quarterly report.
Migration Policy Report
Activity 3,4
Activity 3.4 was implemented in two missions. The first mission was carried out on 19-23 May, and the 2nd and final mission – 30 June- 4 July of this year. The aim of the activity was to introduce recommendations and provide a model for a Migration Policy Report reflecting the country’s migration situation. SMS will compile it annually on regular basis and share it with its stakeholders and international partners.
Within the first mission the experts reviewed the current situation in Armenia. They met with relevant specialists in SMS, Armstat and representatives of IOM. Based on the findings they were expected to provide support in developing a model for Migration Policy Report comparable with EU MS migration policy reports.
Thus they conducted a comparative presentation of two different EU MS Migration Reports, one from Sweden and one from Lithuania, as a comparatively more recent MS. The head of SMS, deputy head and heads and representatives of SMS divisions were present. After the presentation the group discussed the structure of the report, the possible sources of information and the target audience.
It was decided that the idea of the report would be further discussed between SMS and the project team.
During the next mission within this activity on 30 June- 4 July the experts met with relevant specialists in SMS and provided recommendations for the development of model for a Migration Policy Report. They introduced draft specifications for the Report and the SMS representatives gave comments on the draft. They mainly made suggestions on the structure of the proposed model. At the end of the mission the experts provided the amended version of the proposal.
Europe Day Information Fair
24 May 2014
On 24 May 2014 the project was represented at the Europe Day Information Fair at Freedom Square in Yerevan. The project staff informed the visitors about the aim and activities of the project.
They provided booklets and other informational material to those visitors who were interested to get more information.
Media interest was rather big towards the project. Therefore the topic was covered by different TV channels, internet pages and newspapers.
Workshop on Enhancing SMS
Coordination Role
9 July 2014
The lean consultant from SMB Kirsi Lepistö continued the works within activity 2.4. She summarized the results of the previous mission as well as the outcome of the seminar on lean management conducted 1 July 2014. Based on this a final workshop was organized on 9 July for the staff of SMS, particularly the deputy head of SMS, heads and representatives of the divisions. The expert made a presentation aimed at reviewing the findings on collaboration and introducing a stakeholder management model.
Summarized in slides Kirsi Lepistö introduced the current state and the instruments for collaboration and coordination. The purpose, benefit and challenges of each instrument were introduced and discussed with the group. She paid a special attention to the challenges for collaboration, bringing examples for each challenge and how they could be addressed from lean aspect and what improvements could be suggested for those challenges.
The stakeholder management was a crucial part of the workshop. As a model it should be implemented according to the following steps: identify, prioritize by authority/power and interest level, understand needs and expectations, engage, follow-up with the stakeholders. The model was visualised in a picture showing the central role of the SMS in the cycle of coordination. It was underlined that mapping and prioritizing the stakeholders from the ”level-of-authority” aspect would furtherly serve as a ground for developing a collaboration and communication strategy for each them. To do this SMS should understand the needs and expectation of each stakeholder, engage them and follow up the processes. The follow-up process was something comparable with continuous improvement consisting of components such as understanding the needs,agreeing the instruments for collaboration, executing these instruments and monitoring the quality of collaboration.
Survey on Circular Migration
Activity 2.7
On 14-18 July the expert from Swedish Migration Board Bernd Parusel visited Armenia within activity 2.7. The overall objective of the activity is interagency support for discussions on circular migration with a study of different temporary labor schemes in EU MS.
The expert compiled the answers from a survey sent to different EU MS. This activityis planned to provide information on what agreements, with a focus on low skilled labor, there arein different EU MS, what skills are required, as well as contact information to the responsible institutions in charge. The activity will continue later in the summer.
The results of the survey will be presented in a seminar with special focus on circular migration after the summer.
Study visit to Sweden
20-22 August 2014
The 8th Steering Committee Meeting
27 August 2014
Activity 2.9
28 August 2014
On August 20-22 in the frames of Component 2 of the project a study visit was organized to Sweden. The aim was to get acquainted with cooperation mechanisms between public authorities involved in the migration management area in Sweden. The head of SMS Gagik Yeganyan and the chief specialist from the division for refugees Karmen Manucharyan, the head of information provision division in State Employment Agency under the Ministry of Labor and Social Issues Tsoghik Bezhanyan, and the head of consular division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Karmirshalyan were participating in the study visit.
According to the program the Armenian delegation had meetings with the Swedish Migration Board, the Ministry of Justice, and the Public Employment Service.
On the first day the SMB hosted the delegates. André Nilén, the head of unit for international strategies and Caroline Henjered, the head of reception division made their welcoming speeches. After the welcome and introduction Erik Jönsson from the reception unit held a presentation introducing the mission of the SMB and its cooperation with other stakeholders. He underlined the work with municipalities especially in regard with reception of asylum seekers and their housing. Later on the same day the experts from legal division Louise Rehnberg, Malin Starke and Cecilia Unga presented the coordination work in the legislative process implemented by SMB.
On the second day the delegation visited the Ministry of Justice. Here the meetings were focused on the migration legislation framework. Alexandra Wilton-Wahren, Susanna Pohl Söderman and Inger Högberg introduced the law making process in Sweden. In the second half of the day the head of the lean Center at SMB Kirsi Lepistö and lean expert Monika Ericsson introduced the lean network with state authorities which have either initiated or are interested to start using lean principles. The lean approach has been presented to the SMS within the project activities. The head of the Armenian delegation Mr Gagik Yeganyan mentioned this input and the recommendations made afterwards as very efficient and something that could be useful in migration management area in Armenia.
On the last day of the study visit a meeting was held at the Swedish Public Employment Service and it gave a good understanding on how SMB and PES work together, and what happens to the immigrant after obtaining a residence permit in Sweden. The experts presented the Introduction Act and activities under it which facilitate immigrants' integration and entry into the labor market.
”Lean is a mindset with focus on people, process and continuous improvement. Lean provides a method for developing activities and tools that support the daily work”. With this key description the lean consultant from the Swedish Migration Board Kirsi Lepistö started her presentation on the major idea and principles of lean management to the staff of SMS. She built her presentation based on her work experience in private and public sectors and her observations made in Armenia during the previous visit 3 months ago.
Ms Lepistö compared the traditional way of thinking and lean thinking pointing out the main differences between them. In traditional thinking all parts optimize their own performance. Lean thinking implies a flow of activities that work together to create an effective process and optimize the flow regardless the organizational setup. The key focus of lean thinking is the customer. "What services are you providing?", "Who is your customer?", "What is the need of your customer?" are the most important questions in lean management. Another key aspect of the lean is holistic approach in the circle service - customer's need - competences to provide services - process effectiveness - impacting factors - the way of carrying out activities.
Ms Lepistö offered an exercise to the participants to help them self-evaluate whether their way of thinking was more lean or traditional. The group discussed the exercise and asked questions to the expert. The questions involved the lean principles: continuous improvement, respect of the people, process and flow, philosophy and long-term thinking. The expert showed an example of a migrant who should pass a process and what the value and effectiveness would be for him. It was underlined that in the process as a whole the employees working directly with customers were a key to improvements. There should be a direct contact between the leader and the employee to provide optimal work conditions and support in problem solving.
The lean consultant summed up the presentation with introducing lean methods and tools, as well as observations made in SMS during the previous mission.
This seminar was carried out in the frames of the 2nd mission of Kirsi Lepistö to Armenia within activity 2.4 aimed at preparation of a draft proposal for an instrument for cooperation and coordination.
Survey on Circular Migration Continues – Activity 2.7
Activity 2.8
8-12 September 2014
The 8th Steering Committee Meeting of the EU-funded Twinning project “Support the State Migration Service for Strengthening of Migration Management in Armenia” was held on 27 August 2014 at the State Migration Service.
The Project leaders from the State Migration Service and the Swedish Migration Board, the Resident Twinning Advisor, a representative of EU-Delegation were participating in the meeting.
They discussed the overall progress of the project, the closing conference to be held in October of 2014, agreed and signed the 8th quarterly report.
Temporary Labour
Schemes with EU Member States
The third mission within activity 2.7 was organized in the period of 29.09.2014 - 4.10.2014. Anna Tillander and Bernd Parusel from SMB finalized their survey on EU MS labour immigration policies. As expected by the SMS they were to identify those EU MS which were interested in cooperating with Armenia regarding temporary labour schemes. The experts were asked to provide contact details of relevant MS ministries in those MS for SMS to be able to establish contact with them.
During their work in Armenia the experts had meetings with the deputy head of SMS Ms Irina Davtyan, the head of the SMS external relations division Ms Haykanush Chobanyan,and representatives for the EU Targeted Initiative for Armenia Mr Frank Rietveld and Ms Karine Simonyan to discuss their findings so far and the work that is done in the area of circular migration within that project.
The result of their findings and recommendations will be presented at the seminar in activity 2.6 that will focus on circular migration.
Checklist to Ensure Quality in the Asylum Process
On 28 August the project experts from the Swedish Migration Board Rustem Yunusov and Christian Andersson held a seminar on quality issues in asylum procedures and presented the project “The learning organization” implemented in Sweden. The project will improve the quality in SMB.
The seminar was organized in close cooperation with the EU-funded project “Quality initiative in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus” implemented by UNHCR. The seminar hosted participants from State Migration Service, UNHCR, Mission Armenia NGO and Armenian Red Cross Society NGO. The Twinning project team and the project leader from Sweden were present at the seminar.
The RTA Lars-Erik Fjellström welcomed the participants. The experts started the seminar with a short introduction and then the participants were asked to introduce themselves and what they first think of when they hear the word 'quality'. The ideas expressed provoked an active discussion. The experts had prepared a case study on which the participants were asked to comment and express their ideas on how they would deal in that certain situation.
The discussions were carried out in line with presenting the results from “Learning organization” in Sweden aimed at establishing building quality and a better work-environment in migration services. The objective of the project is to provide conditions for a uniform asylum examination process of a high legal quality. The main achievements of the project are the methods developed amongst which checklists for quality follow-ups, uniformity follow-ups and annual follow-ups were mentioned. The methods are used to ensure judicial quality in the asylum procedure and make sure that the decisions made by SMB are formulated in a way so the asylum seeker can understand them. To achieve high quality SMB uses the method of case study based on real asylum cases and fictional asylum cases. For this they have created a ”case-study bank”. Another method to be mentioned is the introduction program for new employees as well as a university course in migration law.
The presentation was summed up with the SMB definition of the Legal quality in the asylum process – “A quick, correct and understandable decision, which shows that we have paid attention to the applicant”.
On 25-29 August Anna Tillander visited Armenia within activity 2.7. The aim of the mission was to continue the survey started within activity by Bernd Parusel. The outcome of the activity is expected to facilitate for SMS to contact interested EU member states for discussions concerning circular migration schemes.
This activity will create a study of different temporary labor schemes and identify EU member states that can be of interest for Armenia. An ad-hoc query has been sent to EU member states to inquire about national policies for circular migration and temporary migration schemes across the EU within the European Migration Network.
The expert studied the report from the first mission and country reports about circular and temporary migration prepared in 2011. Different criteria were developed in order to select countries for further consideration. The activity will continue in the end of September.
On 8-12 September the project hosted the head of the division for migration law from the Swedish Ministry of Justice Alexandra Wilton-Wahren, and the senior legal advisor from the Swedish Migration Board Cecilia Unga. This was the first mission to Armenia within activity 2.8. Its aim was to focus on the legislative process in Armenia and how the process could be enhanced.
The experts met the deputy head of SMS Irina Davtyan, the head of the asylum division Petros Aghababyan and the head of the newly established legal division, Ruzanna Petrosyan to discuss how the SMS coordinates the legislative processes regarding the migration law. To have an overview of the whole process the experts and the RTA had meetings with UNHCR and the Ministry of Justice.
As a result of this mission the experts will present a report with recommendations on how to enhance the cooperation between public authorities in the law-making process.
The second mission within Activity 2.9 was implemented during 29.09.2014 - 10.10.2014. The experts from SMB Rustem Yunusov and Christian Anderson were in Yerevan to continue the work they started during their 1st mission. They had several meetings with representatives of UNHCR and SMS asylum division. The aim of the meetings was to discuss checklists to be used for the asylum process.
Checklists have been developed and used in Sweden as a method to ensure legal quality in the asylum procedure. The checklists focus on 3 sections: the interview, the procedure and the decision making. Each section contains from 10 to 20 statements which should be taken into consideration while carrying out an interview.
On 29 October 2014 a seminar on circular migration and temporary labour schemes was held in the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration.
The experts from the Swedish Migration Board Anna Tillander and Bernd Parusel introduced the finding of the survey on circular migration and temporary labour schemes in EU MS. Representatives from public authorities, NGO’s and EU projects, namely RA Police, Ministry of Labour and Social Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, State Employment Agency, UNHCR and “Targeted Initiative for Armenia”project were present at the seminar.
Thegeneral objective of the surveywas to identify those EU MS which would be interested in future cooperation with Armenia in the frames of temporary labour schemes, as well as receive the contact details of the responsible bodies in interested EU countries for SMS to establish communication and cooperation with them.
The experts were expected to provide information what agreements there are within EU, what skills are required and which EU MS would be interested in labour agreements with Armenia in future.
The experts started their presentation introducing the legal framework regulating circular migration and temporary migration in EU and stressed EU Directive on Seasonal Workers in particular since SMS had shown interest towards it in previous meetings. They introduced the definitions of circular migration and temporary migration and difference between them.
The results of the survey were introduced afterwards:
-
Four countries provided contact details for responsible persons at the respective ministries
-
Hungary and the Slovak Republic expressed themselves positively about contacts regarding future cooperation
-
Poland and Czech Republic referred to existing legislation and possibilities for labour migration within current frameworks
Hungary is in the process of developing policy and specific measures regarding circular and temporary migration. Hungary is also continuously negotiating Working Holiday Scheme agreements with third countries.
The Slovak Republic seeks to increase the number of bilateral cooperation agreements in the field of economic migration as well as sign additional agreements on social security.
Poland highlighted the “simplified procedure” for labour migrants, which includes Armenia.
The seminar was organized within Component 2, Activity 2.6 “Interagency training on migration issues”.
Temporary Labour
Schemes with EU Member States
On 29 October 2014 a seminar on cooperation between institutions working in the area of migration was held in the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration.
The lean consultant from SMB Kirsi Lepistö and an analyst from the Swedish Public Employment Service Christine Johansson were in Yerevan within activity 2.8, Support for strengthening the coordination capacity. They conducted a seminar for representatives of public authorities, NGO’s, migration-related projects such as RA Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labor and Social Issues, Police, State Employment Agency, OSCE, ICHD and TIA project.
The experts presented the Swedish experience on cooperation between the institutions working in the area of migration. The Swedish Introduction Act regulates the area of cooperation regarding the services provided to newly arrived immigrants and facilitates their integration in Swedish society. This process includes the Swedish Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Employment, and relevant agencies such as Swedish Migration Board, Public Employment Service, Swedish Tax Agency, Swedish Social Insurance Agency, municipalities, county administrative boards and introduction guides.
In the period of September 2013 – February 2014 the Swedish Migration Board initiated the project ”Working together” on cooperation between institutions working in the area of migration. The activities within the project included mapping and analyzing the process for the client with focus on the interaction between the client and different government agencies, other actors and addressing strains for the client. The purpose was to make the process easier for the client and increase the efficiency.
Kirsi Lepistö continued the seminar with presentation on a model for enhancing the collaboration. She presented the results of the studies on collaboration and coordination conducted in Armenia and introduced the concept of stakeholder driven development which should be implemented in close cooperation between the interested authorities.
In the end the participants were divided into two groups to discuss what leanings of the ”Swedish experience” were most useful to them, and what findings from the ”Armenian experience” should be prioritized. The participants introduced their views and the experts summed up the seminar.
Click here for the report.
Seminar on Cooperation
29 October 2014
The 9th Steering Committee meeting
4 November 2014
The 9th and final Steering Committee Meeting of the EU-funded Twinning project “Support the State Migration Service for Strengthening of Migration Management in Armenia” was held on 4 November 2014 at the State Migration Service.
The Project leaders from the State Migration Service, the Swedish Migration Board, the Polish Ministry of Interior, the Resident Twinning Advisor, the RTA counterpart, representatives of EU-Delegation and the RA Ministry of Economy were participating in the meeting.
They discussed the outcomes of the project, the activities within the 9th quarter, and the closing conference to be held on the same day. The Project leader from the State Migration Service Mr Gagik Yeganyan thanked the partners and especially the Resident Twinning Advisor Mr Lars-Erik Fjellström for his commitment and input in the success of the project.
Closing Conference
4 November 2014
On 4 November 2014 the EU Twinning Project “Support the State Migration Service for Strengthening of Migration Management in Armenia” held its official closing ceremony at Erebuni Plaza Business Centre. High-ranking officials from Sweden and Poland – the implementing EU Member States, from RA Government, EU Delegation to Armenia, diplomatic representations, other international and local institutions took part in the event.
The Twinning Project, funded by the European Union, with an overall budget of € 1 million, began on 7 August 2012 and ended on 6 November 2014. The principal beneficiary of the project has been the State Migration Service of the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration, as well as the RA Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the RA Police, the RA National Security Service, other governmental bodies. The project activity has been aiming at bringing Armenia closer to EU legislation and best practices in migration and asylum issues management through legislative reforms, enhanced cooperation and improved communication leading to the institutional strengthening of the State Migration Service.
MrArtashesBakhshyan, the deputy Minister for the Territorial Administration, TraianHristea, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Armenia, MsEva Åkerman-Börje, Ambassador, Swedish Ministry of Justice, MrRobert Rokicki, First counselor at the Embassy of Poland in Yerevan made welcoming speeches. “Some activities of the project have been a basis for a number of Government Decisions among which I would like to underline the big input of the project in the development of the National Action Plan approved by the RA Government in July 2014 for analysis of the legal framework regulating the area of migration and identifying the gaps in legislation.” said MrArtashesBakhshyan. “Migration and mobility is one of today's most decisive issues. It requires innovation, collaboration and dialogue to take advantage of the opportunities that migration brings for all of us.”Ms Eva Åkerman-Börje said.
The MS project leader Conny Larson introduced the results of the project. Respectively the following outcomes have been ensured:
Component 1:
-
A legal analysis of the RA legal framework governing migration and asylum area was conducted
-
Gaps in the RA legislation were identified and recommendations were proposed in a report
-
Based on the recommendations legislative changes were developed
Component 2:
-
Structural reforms and instruments were suggested for enhanced coordination role of the State Migration Service and enhanced cooperation between public authorities dealing with migration
-
A study on temporary labour schemes was conducted and presented
-
Checklists for enhancing quality mechanisms in the asylum procedure were developed
-
Three study visits to Belgium, Netherlands and Sweden were conducted
Component 3:
-
An analysis of the information needs for the State Migration Service was conducted
-
A feasibility study on the establishment of data processing and communication system was carried out
-
A model for a migration policy report was developed and presented
-
A study visit to Sweden was conducted
The BA Project Leader GagikYeganyan concluded the overview of the project results. “The project was successful with its all threecomponents and their results: changes in legislation, new model for enhancing cooperation between the public authorities in migration area and a model for statistical report on migration”, MrYeganyan concluded.
The presentations of the project results were followed by panel discussions on future migration issues.
Follow-up meeting
5 November 2014
The project outcomes, lessons learnt and expectations were discussed at the meeting organized at the State Migration Service on 5 November 2014.
Mr Gagik Yeganyan, and Ms Haykanush Chobanyan from the State Migration Service of the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration,Ms Monika Wendleby, Mr Conny Larsson, Ms Lada Biskup and Ms Leila Nielsen from the Swedish Migration Board, Mr Piotr Sadowski from the Polish Ministry of the Interior, Mr Borislav Dimitrov from EU Delegation to Armenia, Ms Marina Minasyan from the RA Ministry of Economy and the RTA Mr Lars-Erik Fjellström were participating in the meeting.
On 6 November 2014 the project organized a farewell event at the State Migration Service.
All the SMS staff members with the head Mr Gagik Yeganyan were present. The project and the SMS representatives exchanged words of joy and gratitude for the possibility of joint work and productive cooperation. Both Mr Yeganyan and Mr Fjellström underlined that the project achieved success not only in the result of performing a good job but also in the result of establishing good relations and becoming a part of the big State Migration Service family.
Farewell Event
6 November 2014
