The Budapest Process
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The Budapest Process is a consultative forum, which is constituted by more than fifty governments and ten international organizations, which aim at developing comprehensive and sustainable systems for regular migration. It is formed with the purpose of sharing information and the best practices regarding the issues such as “Regular and Irregular Migration, Asylum, Visa, Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling, Readmission”. Under favour of this dialogue, a harmonized approach is encouraged, in which a well governance within the migration field towards the difficulties of irregular migration, and also a mutual understanding on the subject of migration concept and policies are discussed.
The Budapest Process is an intergovernmental formation. It presents an effective framework to the end that the states and the other stakeholders come together on equal footing, discuss the common issues, and realize information sharing. The participant states lead forth and guide all the activities carried out within the process.
The Budapest Process is a flexible forum, which is accessible all concerned states and to all international organizations which carry on activities in the field of migration. It conducts unofficial studies on the basis of recommendations and conclusions. The Budapest Process was initiated in 1991 by Germany which is one of the 26 European countries that were convened in order to work upon the common measures against increasing pressures of irregular migration in Europe.
The Budapest Process has developed over a series of phases since its foundation.
First Phase (1993-2003): focused on cooperation with the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, at that time outside the EU framework, as well as with South East European countries.
Second Phase (2003-2009): brought the Commonwealth of Independent States together within the framework of Budapest cooperation and established continuous connections.
Third Phase (2010-onwards): commenced in 2010 with a regional approach and involved a further expansion eastward with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan (the Silk Routes Region).
As of September 2003, Turkey held the Co-Chairmanship of the Budapest Process and in January of 2006 Turkey undertook the Presidency of the process with the co-chairmanship of Hungary. Within the framework of the significance we attach on the international cooperation extent in preventing the irregular migration, Silk Routes Region Working Group was formed under the leadership of our country within the scope of the Budapest Process, the presidency of which is held by our country; and a dialogue was established by gathering the countries of origin, the transit countries, and destination countries throughout migration routes. On the occasion of 20. Anniversary of the Budapest Process, Fifth Ministerial Conference, with the theme of the Silk Routes Partnership for Migration, was organized in İstanbul on 19thApril 2013. The secretariat of the Budapest Process is carried out by the International Centre for Migration Policies (ICMPD).
The Participants: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.
New participating countries of the Silk Routes Region: Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.
Observer Countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, India, Iran and USA
THE MEETINGS
The Budapest Process habitually hosts three types of meetings (as the Ministerial Conference, the High Level Officials Meeting and Working Group Meetings) to support participating states, sustain and develop international cooperation mechanisms and work towards concrete outcomes.
a) Ministerial Conferences: Ministerial conferences typically mark a point of departure and shifting of strategic direction for the process. There have been five Ministerial Conferences in the history of the Budapest Process.
The First Ministrial Conference: Germany, Berlin (31 October 1991)
The Second Ministrial Conference: Hungary, Budapest (16 February 1993)
The Third Ministrial Conference: Chech Republic, Prag (14-15 October 1997)
The Fourth Ministrial Conference: Greece, Rodos (25-26 June 2003)
The Fifth Ministrial Conference: Turkey, İstanbul (19 April 2013)
b) The Budapest Group of Senior Officials: The Budapest Group of Senior Officials meets annually or bi-annually, gathering senior officials from all Budapest Process participating states and organisations to discuss developments, to determine the main policy directions and to support the Process.
c) Working Group Meetings: The Working Groups gather expert officials from national administrations to examine, discuss and share information or matters dealing with concrete migration challenges. They are established in response to expressed interests by participating states and reflect the main issues discussed in the Budapest Process. The current working group structure consists of:
· Working Group on South Eastern Europe (Session Leader: Croatia)
· Working Group on the Black Sea Region (Session Leader: Bulgaria)
· Working Group on the Silk Routes Region (Session Leader: Turkey)
4th Ministerial Conference of the Budapest Process was held in 2003. Significant and fundamental changes occurred in migration movements and migration understandings at both regional and international level as a result of political and economic developments for the duration of 10 years period. As a result of this, it has become evident that the process needs to be updated as to give response to these developments and to include new developments.
In order to give response to these fundamental changes, Turkey, as the Chair of the Budapest Process, launched an initiative for developing the process by incorporating Silk Routes countries into the process by expanding to the eastward in 2010 and this initiative was the beginning of the third phase of the Budapest Process. Turkey, as the Chair, hosted the 5th Ministerial Conference in Istanbul on 19 April 2013 to initiate a Silk Routes Partnership for Migration. As a consequence of conference, six priority areas in migration area were identified. These topics cover migration and mobility, integration, migration and development, irregular migration, international protection. Please click to reach İstanbul Ministerial Declaration.
SILK ROUTES PARTNERSHIP FOR MIGRATION
Turkey has started its attempts to expand the Budapest Process towards countries of Silk Road Region as of November 2010. This expansion reflects the third pillar of the Process. Currently, this Process covers more than 50 countries in a large geographical area, brings together the countries who have migration ties and incorporates countries which reflect all kinds of migration realities into the dialogue. Being the Chair of the Budapest Process and the crossing point of Asia-Europe and many other culture and tradition as well, Turkey leads and makes contributes to this dialogue. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Budapest Process, Turkey hosted the 5th Ministerial Conference on 19 April 2013 with the aim of initiating Silk Routes Partnership for Migration. The main objective of Silk Routes Partnership for Mıgration is to promote the dialogue and the mutual cooperation for the management of migration influx emerged through the Silk Road Route; and also to promote the mutual efforts for the implementation of concrete actions aiming at fulfilling the objectives and priorities set forth in the Ministerial Declaration. The concrete implementation of this geographical and strategic expansion initiated in 2010 was promoted with 3 projects.
1. Strengthening the cooperation in the area of migration among Silk Road Countries and in the Silk Road Region
Duration: 18 Months (September 2011- February 2013)
Sponsor: The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
General Objective: To promote cooperation in the area of migration among participating countries of the Budapest Process and the Silk Road countries.
Aim of the Project: To develop a comprehensive database concerning migration realities in the Silk Road Countries and to form a basis for a common structure and unofficial cooperation for an equal intergovernmental dialogue among participating countries of the Budapest process and the Silk Road Countries.
2. Establishing a Common Measure for Migration Management in the Silk Road Region
Duration: May 2013 - April 2014
Sponsor: United Kingdoms
Aim of the Project: This Project aims at ensuring transition from current abstract dialogue to a structure which provide concrete outputs concerning the needs and priorities on migration of the Silk Road Countries; supporting the administrations of Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan for the development of a sustainable national migration management system by focusing on capacity development activities.
3. Supporting the Budapest Process Silk Road Partnership for Migration
Summary and Objectives of the Project
The project aims at making contribution for the concrete implementation of the Budapest Process Silk Road Partnership for Migration by strengthening migration management capacities of the Silk Road Countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.
Duration: 36 months (2014-2017)
Budget: 4.000.000 (approximately) (While the EU makes a contribution of approximately 2.700.000 Euro, Turkey’s contribution to this Project is 450.000 Euro.)
Project Partners:
Silk Road Countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan.
Donors: The EU Commission, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary (chairman of the Project), Norway and Turkey (co-chair of the Project)
Implementers: International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD)
Objectives and a Brief Introduction of the Project: Various events of the Budapest process such as meetings, assessment visits, country reports and consultations revealed the existing deficiencies of all target Silk Road Countries at different levels in the area of migration. The general objective of the Project is to strengthen the migration management capacities of the Silk Road Countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistani and by this way to make contribution to the concrete implication of The Istanbul Ministerial Declaration on a Silk Routes Partnership for Migration.
The specific objectives of the project are:
1) To raise the migration-related knowledge, expertise and management skills of relevant government officials in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan,
2) To strengthen the national migration data management systems and consolidate the knowledge base on the migration realities in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan,
3) To support the development of comprehensive national policy frameworks for migration management,
4) To strengthen regional and intergovernmental dialogue and information exchange on migration matters among the Silk Routes' countries through the regular Budapest Process meeting structure,
5) To increase the concrete operational cooperation among the Silk Route countries in the area of migration.
Pilot Projects
Three Pilot Projects have been aimed within the Project “Support to the Silk Routes Partnership for Migration Project”.
Pilot Project 1: Initiating Regional Law Enforcement Cooperation
Pilot Project 2: Establishment of Migrant Resource Centres and Raising Awareness on Migration in Pakistan
Pilot Project 3: Establishment of Migration Information Centres and Raising Awareness on Migration in Afghanistan
1) Pilot Project on Initiating Regional Law Enforcement Cooperation
Turkey carries out the leadership of the project. It aims to enhance cooperation in the field of law enforcement and mutual regional assistance. This pilot project focuses on prevention, identification of and combat against migrant smuggling and human trafficking in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkey. Totally four workshops, two in Turkey, have been organized within the scope of the project.
2) Pilot Project on Establishment of Migrant Resource Centres and Raising Awareness on Migration in Pakistan
The objectives of this Pilot Project are to facilitate the accessibility to general and private information on migration, to inform and guide the potential migrants, to raise the awareness on regular-irregular migration and their results. Within the scope of this Project, Migrant Resource Centres were established in Islamabad on 12 April 2016 and in Lahore on 20 September 2016.
3) Pilot Project on Establishment of Migration Information Centres and Raising Awareness on Migration in Afghanistan
This Project will support the Afghan government on developing a comprehensive migration policy and forming a sustainable education structure, and the authorized ministries on migration management.
For detailed information visit https://www.budapestprocess.org/
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