Successfully completed Three-day working meeting for analysis of needs and capacities in readmission between the representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro

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In the period from September 20 to 22, 2021, In Montenegro, a Three-day working meeting organized by Hilfswerk International was held, which brought together representatives of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro, the Service for Foreigners Affairs of BiH, and the Border Police of BiH,as part of the project  "Reducing Irregular Migration in the EU by Strengthening the Capacity of Migration-Related Structures in the Western Balkans".

In a wide range of thematic units considered, important points of the legislative level have been reached regarding strategic measures that have yielded results in the context of improved regulation of illegal migration, changes in criminal regulations to create an environment for better treatment of migrants and rights, as well as the issue of operational measures used to combat illegal migration. The important issue of access and treatment of migrants in the Western Balkans was also discussed, which included topics on migrant registration, profiling and identification, biometrics, as well as the issue of temporary reception centers -  what are the main problems and challenges in their menagement.

An important topic of discussion was the possibility of functioning of internal cooperation of agencies, but also the issues of current regional cooperation between agencies which would bring significant progress in the work on irregular migration.

In order to strengthen cooperation between BiH and Montenegro in the process of implementing the readmission agreement, it was agreed to improve the mechanisms in the shortened readmission procedure between the two countries, as well as between the security agencies in BiH.

In this way, improved cooperation will continue in practice of holding more frequent working meetings on a minimum semi-annual basis, in order to exchange information, experiences and best practices with the aim of strengthening regional cooperation in the fight against irregular migration.

The project "Reducing Irregular Migration in the EU by Strengthening the Capacity of Migration-Related Structures in the Western Balkans" is co-financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Austria and implemented by Hilfswerk International in cooperation with the Association for Help and Development "HAJDE”.