More than 60 employees of public administration and representatives of academia, non-profit sector, media and foreign embassies took part in the educational seminar entitled Irregular Migration – Borders and Human Rights organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as the coordinator of the European Migration Network (EMN) National Contact Point for the Slovak Republic in Bratislava on 25 – 27 August 2015.

Among speakers of the seminar were Martin Xuereb, Director of the first private maritime operation saving lives in the Mediterranean Sea - Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), Roger Zetter, Emeritus Professor of Refugee Studies at the University of Oxford and 15 other foreign and local experts from the European Commission, EU agencies – FRONTEX and EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), international organisations: IOM and International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), non-governmental organisations: Farsight, Migration Policy Institute Europe (MPI Europe) and Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), and the Bureau of Border and Alien Police of the Police Force Presidium. The guests shared their knowledge of irregular migration in the world, EU and in Slovakia, smuggling and other forms of irregular migration, fight against irregular migration, dealing with the situation of irregular migrants and protection of their rights, and intermingling of forced and irregular migration.

See the pictures from the educational seminar Irregular Migration – Borders and Human Rights.

More information about the EMN Educational Seminar: www.emn.sk.

EMN Educational Seminar has been organised by IOM as the coordinator of the EMN activities in Slovakia since 2012, each year being dedicated to a selected topic in the field of migration and asylum:

2014 – Forced Migration – Causes and Possible Solutions

2013 – Opportunities and Challenges of Labour Migration

2012 – Migration Globally and Locally

Accompanying events of the seminar in 2015

The seminar offered to the public two other interesting events – the first one was the Slovak premiere of the Hollywood film The Good Lie about Sudanese refugees resettled to the United States of America. 150 people came to see the film at Kino Lumière in Bratislava on 25 August 2015.

The next day, the Discussion Evening Europe or Die? on irregular migration and current situation in the Mediterranean took place at KC Dunaj in Bratislava. The event started with the screening of an episode from the VICE News documentary series Europe or Die. Zuzana Vatráľova, Head of the IOM Office in the Slovak Republic, moderated the discussion with the participants Miriam Fassbender, documentarist and author of the book 2 850 kilometres (2 850 Kilometer) and the film Foreign (Fremd); and with Livia Styp-Rekowska, expert of the IOM Regional Office with long-term experience in border and migration management in Europe, Africa and Asia.

See the pictures from the Discussion Evening Europe or Die?