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Recent Events
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Technical Experts Meetings to develop “Regional guidelines on how to identify and refer refugees and asylum-seekers at the borders of Central Asia” in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, June-November 2016 UNHCR was requested by the Governments gathered during the Regional Conference on Protection-sensitive Border Management in Central Asia that took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 4 December 2015 to take the lead in the elaboration of regional guidelines on referral mechanisms for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers through enhanced regional cooperation amongst the Central Asia States, utilizing the Almaty Process platform. The “Regional guidelines on how to identify and refer refugees and asylum-seekers at the borders of Central Asia” were developed in the course of Technical Experts Meetings that took place in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in 2016. The document was presented in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz Republic, on 29 November 2016, with the presence of the Chairperson of the Almaty Process, Mr. Almazbek Asanbayev, Deputy Chair of the State Migration Service of the Kyrgyz Republic. The “Regional guidelines on how to identify and refer refugees and asylum-seekers at the borders of Central Asia” are available here in Russian, English and Kazakh. Third Senior Officials Meeting of the Almaty Process, Astana, Kazakhstan, 19-20 September 2016 The Third Senior Officials Meeting of the Almaty Process on “Addressing Mixed Migration Flows in Central Asia: Human Mobility, Rights of Vulnerable Migrants and Refugees and Regional Cooperation” aimed to support States to address complex challenges concerning mixed and complex migration flows into, within and out of Central Asia and broader region through enhanced regional cooperation in migration management and addressing rights of refugees and vulnerable migrants. The Meeting summarized the Chairmanship period of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Chair of the Almaty Process was transferred from the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Kyrgyz Republic. The new Chairperson of the Almaty Process is Mr. Almazbek Asanbayev, Deputy Chair of the State Migration Service of the Kyrgyz Republic. The Third Senior Officials Meeting of the Almaty Process concluded with the Chair's Statement. Regional Conference on Protection-sensitive Border Management in Central Asia, Almaty, Kazakhstan, 4 December 2015 The Regional Conference gathered entry officials and migration authorities from the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan who participated in the National Workshops on Protection-sensitive Entry Systems and Trainings of Trainers on Protection-sensitive Border Management and Refugee Protection in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in 2015, as well as representatives of UNHCR and IOM. The Regional Conference aimed to further enhance the capacity of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan to manage mixed migration flows more effectively and in line with international human rights and refugee law standards. The Government officials of the four Central Asian States shared their asylum and migration management policies, capacity building initiatives, and current developments in referral mechanisms and other practices. The participants of the Regional Conference recommended the development of a set of Regional Guidelines or Checklists on Referral Mechanism of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers by UNHCR and the State authorities concerned utilising the Almaty Process platform. Trainings of Trainers on Protection-sensitive Border Management and Refugee Protection in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, September-October 2015 The trainings were organized with the financial support of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. The trainings aimed to strengthen the capacities of trainers (lecturers) of border and entry officials and other relevant government institutions in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on protection-sensitive border management and refugee protection, to make professional development sustainable for the long-term. The course programme for the trainings was designed to develop capacity of the Central Asian border and entry officials to establish/enforce protection-sensitive entry systems in border areas and to be able to deliver training to their peers or subordinate in matter related to the access to territory and asylum procedures for persons in need of international protection. The trainings were facilitated based on the developed operational tools:
Second Senior Officials Meeting of the Almaty Process, Astana, Kazakhstan, 22 September 2015 The Second Senior Officials Meeting of the Almaty Process on “Labour Migration Opportunities and Challenges in Central Asia – Addressing solutions for migrants and refugees” was organized by the former Chair of the Almaty Process, the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Meeting aimed to strengthen the capacity of participating States in the sphere of addressing the complex challenges related to labour migration in Central Asia, and the broader region, through sharing good practices, analysing emerging trends, identifying gaps and providing recommendations. The participants of the Meeting agreed to explore labour migration opportunities and to use labour rights of refugees as a pathway to solutions for their situations in their host communities in Central Asia. The Second Senior Officials Meeting of the Almaty Process concluded with the Chair's Statement. Ambassadors meeting of the member and observer states of the Almaty Process on refugee protection and international migration, Astana, Kazakhstan, 14 July 2015 On 14 July 2015, UNHCR, IOM and former Chairperson of the Almaty Process, Mr. Birzhan Nurymbetov, Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan, held a meeting for Ambassadors in Astana, Kazakhstan, to discuss t In the course of the meeting, it was noted that during the Chairmanship of the Republic of Kazakhstan important steps have been achieved, including the successful work on refugee protection and international migration at the national and regional levels. Mr. Birzhan Nurymbetov and Mr. Almazbek Asanbayev highlighted the importance of the Almaty Process for the region, the commitment of their Governments to the future of the Process and expressed their gratitude to the Member States, UNHCR and IOM for their engagement, which has contributed to current achievements. During the meeting, the former UNHCR Regional Representative for Central Asia, Mr. Bernard Doyle, and the IOM Sub-regional Coordinator for Central Asia, Mr. Dejan Keserovic, provided an update on the activities of the Almaty Process in Central Asia. The activities on refugee protection have resulted in the development of Standard Operating Procedures for the National Referral Mechanism of Asylum Seekers in the Republic of Tajikistan. In the Kyrgyz Republic, the Government in coordination with UNHCR developed draft Instructions on reception and referral of asylum seekers in case of individual, as well as mass arrival. National Workshops on Protection-sensitive Entry Systems in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan (February-April 2015)
The Government in coordination with UNHCR developed a draft Plan of Actions containing key proposals for improvement of the reception and referral mechanisms at the border.
The Government in coordination with UNHCR developed draft instructions on the reception and referral of asylum-seekers in case of individual and mass arrival.
The Expert Working Group on Refugee Protection in the Republic of Tajikistan approved draft Standard Operating Procedures for the National Referral Mechanism of Asylum-Seekers. It will further be considered by the Main Department of the Border Forces under the State Committee on National Security and the Passport Registration Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for promulgation as administrative directives.
A set of recommendations was developed as outcomes of the discussions in the workshop in Turkmenistan which will be further refined. First Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in Almaty, Kazakhstan (21 November 2014) The Meeting was attended by the National Coordinators and Senior Officials of Member and Observer States the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, People’s Republic o The Senior Officials Meeting concluded with the Chair's Statement, available here in Russian and English. |
The workshops were organized with the financial support of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. The workshops aimed to identify gaps and agree on the necessary steps to establish border systems that are sensitive to managing population movements, while also protecting those in need. 
f China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Turkey and Turkmenistan, as well as representatives from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Resource Persons from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA). The theme of the Meeting was 'Mixed Migration Movements from Afghanistan Post-2014' and aimed to review current analyses of the situation in Afghanistan, share good practices on profiling and referral of migrants and asylum-seekers, on border management and emergency preparedness, discuss regional cooperation on mixed migration flows and agree on the next steps in the Almaty Process.
