News
Mr Anton Travner, Director of DCAF Ljubljana, participated in the Regional Working Meeting in the area of Readmission and Return hosted by the Croatian Border Police Directorate
Zagreb, Croatia - The meeting at the level of regional heads of services responsible for the implementation of readmission agreements was held in Zagreb, Croatia on 19th October 2012, at the initiative of by the Croatian Border Police Directorate. Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and DCAF participated. The need was established to intensify regional cooperation in the area of migration management and, furthermore, to take a common stand regarding the issue of an increasing number of illegal migrants and asylum seekers in the Southeast European region. Problems in the implementation of existing readmission agreements were discussed, where regional cooperation should continue based on mutual trust and recognition of each country’s specificities. A notable change in the ethnic structure of illegal migrant flows is observed, raising issues on the establishing of identity, absence of identification documents and other pertinent problems regional authorities have been facing. It was agreed that with the assistance of DCAF, a regional project is to be initiated in the area of common flights. The next meeting in this format will take place in the spring of 2013 in Sarajevo, BiH.