Islamabad, Pakistan: In light of emerging migration management challenges in the region, and following up on discussions on how to best support Pakistan in responding to – and pursuing – its migration management priorities, the ICMPD Regional Office for the Silk Routes Region organised and facilitated a visit to Pakistan for Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). The objective of the delegation’s visit was to assess the opportunities for support and cooperation, focusing on projects and activities in the realm of migration. The visit took place on 10 – 14th January 2022 in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The visit created an on-site opportunity to discuss migration management challenges, and develop a better understanding of the current migration-relevant frameworks in place. In addition, the study visit was an opportunity to solicit expressions of interests and map possible institutional capacity building activities in Pakistan.
The aim and focus of the delegation’s visit was a set of meetings with a variety of stakeholders in Islamabad and a site visit to the Afghan Refugee Village – Haripur. A consultative meeting was also held with the Ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan, in order to update the delegation on the work done and open discussions on the impact of the Afghan resettlements across the region, with a specific focus on Pakistan. Senior management of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) presented brief overviews of the scope of their activities in Pakistan, which led to fruitful discussion on potential cooperation and synergies in the region.
The visiting delegation met Mr. Sohail Mahmood, Federal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss potential cooperation in the area of migration management between the countries represented and Pakistan. Furthermore, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Mr. Fakhre Alam welcomed the delegation and provided an overview of his Ministry’s role in migration management in Pakistan, including the tools and mechanisms in place to curb irregular migration, including future programming to curb irregular migration from Pakistan to Europe. In addition, labour migration trends in Pakistan – including post-COVID-19 impact and priorities for the Government of Pakistan – was the focus of the meeting with Mr. Ishrat Ali, Federal Secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development. Moreover, capacity building, outreach activities and awareness raising, research and policy initiatives were discussed as potential areas of cooperation between the Ministry and countries of the visiting delegation.
Within the framework of this visit, the delegation was hosted at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Headquarters on 11th January. The delegation was informed about the overall structure of the FIA and its various departments. The priority areas of the FIA were discussed, as well as the current and future programming to facilitate the curbing of irregular migration from Pakistan to Europe. The Director General of the FIA highlighted his appreciation of ICMPD’s collaboration with the FIA and expressed his interest to strengthen the cooperation.
Established in Islamabad in 2018, with EU funding, the Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) also welcomed the delegation and provided an overview of its mandate, governance, objectives, outreach, and its future expansion and vision.
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