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EU and 'Eastern Partnership' countries discuss return, readmission and reintegration

05 July 2017

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EU and 'Eastern Partnership' countries discuss return, readmission and reintegration
5.7.17
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The EU and the countries of the 'Eastern Partnership' (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) met in Yerevan, Armenia in late June to discuss "recent trends, developments and challenges in return, readmission and reintegration of migrants as well as to share national practices, experiences and lessons learnt."

See: Panel meeting on return, readmission and reintegration to be held in Yerevan, Armenia on June 21-22, 2017 (Eastern Partnership Panel on Migration and Asylum) and: Concept note: Panel Meeting on Return, Readmission and Reintegration(pdf):

"The EU has concluded readmission agreements with 17 countries, of those five are EaP countries. Negotiations on similar agreement with Belarus are ongoing. The EaP countries also concluded a number of readmission agreements between themselves as well as with third countries.

Return process requires strong cooperation between the sending and receiving countries at all stages – starting from identification of citizenship (nationality) and concluding with reintegration activities. Certain challenges closely linked to irregular migration such as document forgery, readmission and return of third country nationals may hinder the process. The specifics and differences in the countries’ legislation and procedures in a number of areas such as asylum, data protection etc. can make the process even more complicated. For the sake of effective implementation, all the readmission agreements signed between the EU and the EaP countries contain special provisions on implementing protocols which are govern regulated, orderly readmission procedures."

And see: The EU-Belarus Readmission Agreement: the parties agreed on the transition period (link):

"Belarus and its European partners agreed on the transitional period, during which the country will not be accepting the citizens of third countries or stateless persons subject to readmission. The document has been approved and can pass the procedure of preliminary signing by the end of the year. This decision was made yesterday in the Interior Ministry following expert consultations. The negotiations featured Belarus’ representatives and a delegation from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs.

According to Alexei Bigun, head of the Department for Citizenship and Migration of the Belarusian Interior Ministry, the consultations are over and a compromise solution has been found. Until the last moment, difficulties in the negotiations with the EU were related to the lack of infrastructure in Belarus to receive persons subject to readmission. In particular, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the transition period allows implementing the International Technical Assistance project, namely setting up temporary accommodation centers for irregular migrants, which is planned for 2017-2022. For these purpose, the EU has allocated 7 million euros to Belarus."

See: New detention centres part of €7 million EU migration project in Belarus (February 2017)

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