Istanbul, 27-28 November 2017 – The meeting brought over seventy-five senior officials from 36 countries and 7 international and regional organisations to discuss the Call for Action on large movements of refugees and migrants which is to be adopted at a Ministerial Conference in October 2018.

The Call for Action proposed by Turkey – Chair of the Budapest Process – focuses on a set of overarching commitments and priority goals that are deriving from the Silk Routes Partnership for Migration. It follows the logic of the migration flows and starts with priority goals furthering pathways for legal migration and improving the conditions in countries of origin. It moves on to priority goals managing on-going migratory movements and the last block handles the aftermath and consequences of large movements. Over one and a half days countries engaged in constructive and vivid discussions on the draft text which will be updated and further discussion in March 2018.

The Call for Action intends to strengthen the Silk Routes Partnership for Migration and make it more functional with regard to large movements of refugees and migrants. Prior to November senior officials meeting two consultations have been already held regarding the Ministerial Conference: a Consultation Meeting for all participating countries and international organisations in March 2017 in Istanbul and a drafting meeting in September 2017 in Ankara, which gathered the Silk Routes countries as well as the donors to the Budapest Process. 

The preparatory process in 2018 will include three preparatory meetings – in March, June and October, and an expert level consultation meeting in September. Exact dates and location of the above events will be announced by the Secretariat of the Budapest Process in due course.

20-21 September, Ankara – Over thirty senior officials from representatives of the Silk Routes countries and the donor countries of the Budapest Process/Silk Routes Partnership for Migration as well as the European Commission met these days in Ankara, upon the invitation of Turkey as a Chair of the Budapest Process.

Following the Consultation Meeting held on 2 March in Istanbul, Turkey proposed to hold the 6th Budapest Process Ministerial Conference in October 2018 and to work towards a Call for Action on large movements of migrants and refugees under the Silk Routes Partnership for Migration.

Migration has crystallised as one of the most important issues humanity has to deal with. It is clear that it can only be dealt with in partnership and cooperation between countries. Following the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants the international community is joining forces to develop the Global Compacts - one for refugees and one for safe, orderly and regular migration with the hope that these documents will provide necessary guidelines to the international community.

Now also the Budapest Process region - the Silk Routes Region - stands ready to take onthe challenge and work towards an even more functional Silk Routes Partnership for Migration – with a view to improve the management of and cooperation on migration and both contribute to and take inspiration from the international discussions.

The drafting meeting was used to discuss and identify priorities in order to firstly, increase the capacity to deal with large flows and secondly, to narrow down priorities for the future.

The meeting was convened back-to-back with the Launching Conference of the project “Improving Migration Management in the Silk Routes Countries” – 21-22 September 2017 – that brought together over fifty representatives from over twenty countries. The project was officially launched on 1 August and will be running over four years. It aims at maximising the development potential of migration and mobility within the Silk Routes region and towards major labour receiving countries. It also aims to establish comprehensive regional responses to migration and mobility with full respect of human rights and protection of migrants.