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Transnational families – a phenomena that is becoming all too common globally and notably in Eastern European countries such as Moldova and Ukraine, arises when one or more nuclear family member  (typically a parent) relocate to a foreign country in search for a better life. Despite the separation imposed by borders, these families remain united, sharing support and resources. Typically, the decision to migrate is not only fuelled by financial need but by the pursuit of better living standards for the entire family. The decision to migrate, though seemingly autonomous, often stems from dire circumstances, leaving few alternative options. The absence of adequate social safety nets drives vulnerable families to seek social security through labour migration abroad. In this manner, transnational families are the primary agents of their own social protection, with dependent members, particularly children, as beneficiaries.

The Migration Partnership Facility (MPF)-funded, “Children Left behind by Labour Migration: Supporting Moldova and Ukrainian Transnational Families in the EU” (CASTLE) project aims to explore the unique challenges faced by transnational families, specifically Moldovan and Ukrainian parents migrating abroad and their children staying behind. The project’s objective is to support the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in improving their child protection frameworks and migration and mobility practices, considering the social and legal impacts of labour migration on these families.

This blog, culminating from the CASTLE project’s research findings, seeks to spotlight the stories of these families, humanising their experiences. It aims to illustrate that the decisions to migrate are multifaceted, extending beyond mere financial considerations, with families often choosing migration as a means to address critical needs and gaps.

On 5th September 2023, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and Members of the European Parliament Daiman Boeselager and Javier Moreno Sanchez co-hosted the Event “The Power of Labour Mobility Pilot Projects to Support EU Legal Migration Reform” at the European Parliament. More than 60 participants joined in-person – among them representatives of EU member states and EU institutions, research, and international and non-governmental organisations.

The publication of the book ‘Social Protection Programmes: Narratives of Nigerian Women and Anti-Trafficking Practitioners in Italy’ by Michela Semprebon marks the completion of the EU-funded action INSigHT (‘Building Capacity to deal with Human Trafficking and Transit Routes in Nigeria, Italy, Sweden’), implemented between 2019 and 2023 by the SSIIM UNESCO Chair of the University IUAV of Venice.

In September 2022, 18 talents from the Tangier Tetuan Al Hoceima region of the Kingdom of Morocco arrived to Seville, Spain for a four-month training in renewable energies and green economy. They were the first group of participants to join the MOVE GREEN project, who have now returned to Tangier upon completion of their training at the International University of Andalusia.

The project, funded by the European Union through ICMPD's Migration Partnership Facility (MPF), is currently supporting and accompanying the talents who are either seeking for employment opportunities or planning to start their own business in this innovative sector. This article looks into the journey of the young Moroccans in the green economy and the renewable energies and seeks to learn from their lived experience to improve the implementation of the project.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – 10 March, 2023 – The EU-funded Migration Partnership Facility (MPF) launched a new Call for Proposals addressing the external dimension to the EU’s border and security priorities in the migration domain. The overall indicative amount made available under the Call is EUR 13,900,000. 

 

Highlights of eligible activities under Borders (BMVI) funding framework (please see longer list in Call):

  • Integrated border management enhancing the cooperation in border management between EU MS and partner countries;
  • Investing in systems and services, training, exchange of experts, deployment of immigration liaison officers, innovative solutions and new technologies, studies;
  • Strengthening the security of identity and travel documents in non-EU countries;
  • Support to dialogue on visa issues with non-EU countries;
  • Review and development of legislation, policy documents/strategies, action plans, policy tools and instruments, standard operating procedures;

 

Highlights of eligible activities under the Security (ISF) funding framework (please see longer list in Call):

  • Support to thematic or cross-theme networks to improve mutual confidence, exchange and dissemination of know-how, information, experiences and best practices, pooling of resources and expertise in joint centres of excellence;
  • Capacity building of relevant law enforcement, judicial authorities and administrative agencies based on expressed needs in the partner country;
  • Support to joint operations in countries of origin, transit and destination, simulations and other exercises involving EU MS and partner country security actors (e.g. law enforcement, borders, judicial actors, NGOs, etc.);
  • Capacity building to combat criminal networks and organisations active in migrant smuggling into the EU, to ensure effective law enforcement cooperation in this regard;
  • Initiatives targeting trafficking in human beings including sexual and labour exploitation of illegally staying non-EU nationals and child trafficking;

 

Re-thinking Approaches to Labour Migration - Potentials and Gaps in four EU Member States’ Migration Infrastructures

 

All publications can be downloaded here.
 

Europe’s working-age population is declining. Employers in EU member states face large and persistent skill and labour shortages in a range of high- and mid-skill professions and in diverse sectors ranging from construction over care to information technology. Against a background of growing economic needs, the recruitment of foreign workers to the EU has increased in importance as one of the strategies to fill labour market shortages. At the same time, migration remains a sensitive political topic and levels of socio-political acceptance for an increase in labour immigration varies across member states.

The EU has developed the framework for Talent Partnerships (TPs) to respond to these dynamics. TPs are presented as a policy tool that can help member states to benefit from international mobility and to better match labour market needs with foreign skills. How to utilise and advance the TPs within the context of national migration systems is however not always obvious. It requires not only legal migration systems that can provide for efficient and effective access to legal migration routes but also a link between labour market assessments and the identification of current and future migration needs as well as information on skill profiles of partner countries.

The MPF and ECDPM have been mapping labour market needs and analysed national migration systems of four EU member states (Estonia, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal) with the aim to investigate how prepared the respective infrastructures are to respond to growing needs for workers. We were interested in understanding how existing modalities and labour migration pathways could be utilised pragmatically in the context of establishing Talent Partnerships as well as where gaps and possibilities for adaptations lie.

In November 2022 the MPF is launching its latest service offering in the area of legal and labour migration, the Labour Mobility Partner Country Dashboard. Check out the tool on the MPF website here!

What is the dashboard?

The Labour Mobility Dashboard is an online tool that gathers and visualises key labour and migration data of EU priority partner countries. It covers the most relevant elements pertinent to labour migration initiatives, including employment, labour stock, migration, education, economy and demography. 

The tool aims to improve the ease of finding and using reliable and credible data for labour migration purposes. By offering comparable data across countries, the tool seeks to inform policymakers in designing and setting up labour mobility schemes, cross-border vocational training initiatives or skills partnerships.

The headlines are filled with news of labour shortages, as employers report needs in nearly all industries and at various skill levels. The global ‘race for talent’ is set to heat up, with employers and countries increasingly vying for international workers as one way to meet labour needs. Why not include refugees in the search for needed talent?

 This is the premise of an EU-funded MPF project that launched earlier this year, Making refugee talent visible and accessible to EU labour markets – tapping into the potential of skills-based complementary pathways. Complementary pathways provide an opportunity for displaced persons to utilise their skills through migration channels for work, matching the skills of displaced persons with the needs of employers in other countries. This project is examining how complementary labour pathways can be expanded, for the benefit of displaced persons, EU labour markets, and host countries alike – a ‘triple win’.

Over the last year, a truly innovative project redefining migration capacity development has been taking place in Malta - the Training Institute on Migration Capacity Partnership for the Mediterranean (MCP Med TI).

What is it?

Simply put, it is an answer to that deceptively straightforward question, “How can we make training better?”

Thanks to the visionary support of the EU through the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF), along with Malta, Austria and Denmark, the Training Institute was established with an initial external dimension focus on Southern Partner Countries, specifically Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. However, after only one year of operation, its impact is already going far beyond that, redefining and professionalising the capacity training sector.

The project’s overall objective of becoming “… a permanent and accredited regional training institute offering quality-assured, bespoke learning and coaching experiences that result in certification for migration actors” was always ambitious, requiring completely new ways of thinking and working. Fortunately, with its emphasis on continuous innovation, ICMPD has proved to be the ideal organisation to do that.

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