Minister of Justice presented at GFMD summit a unique Georgian Model of Migration Management

“A unique Georgian model of migration management, free from bureaucratic mechanisms - the State Commission on Migration Issues is a leading agency to shape the migration policy in the country,” said the Minister of Justice of Georgia Mrs. Thea Tsulukiani at the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Berlin. The Justice Minister as a chairperson of the state Commission on Migration Issues of Georgia has been invited to the Global Forum for the first time, to share the unique experience and highlight the successful mechanisms of migration management in Georgia.

The main topic of the Global Forum is working on achieving a global social contract on migration and development; the partner states discuss the balance of interests of receiving and transit countries dealing with legal migration.

The Minister of Justice of Georgia addressed her speech to the participants of the session focused on the national migration strategies and the effectiveness of the national migration policy. Ms. Tsulukiani noted that participation in the Global Forum is a good opportunity for Georgia to show the progress it has achieved in the field of migration management since 2013.

The State Commission on Migration Issues comprises all relevant state agencies, expert and academic subjects working on migration as well as the non-governmental sector and the migrants themselves. As stated the Minister, Georgian experience of managing migration processes is unique since the Commission, thanks to its multifaceted composition, makes decisions based on the first hand information and evidence, and works without unnecessary bureaucracy, avoiding artificial barriers. The Migration Strategy 2016-2020 was developed with this exact spirit.

“In the framework of this Global Forum we have the opportunity to share the unique Georgian experience with our European partners and those coming from all over the world, as well as the ministers of internal affairs, justice, social issues and other ministers who are responsible for migration management in their respective countries. Our experience lies first of all in the fact that we have a very clear and flexible mechanism, free from excessive bureaucracy – the State Commission on Migration Issues, where all our member and partner state agencies are involved; we have the international and non-governmental organizations onboard, and, what might be also interesting for our European partners, we have migrants and academia representatives in our Commission as well. We have adopted the Migration Strategy for years 2016-2020 that can also be noteworthy for our partners since this policy document is not a mere compilation of decisions made by bureaucrats but instead is a well-thought-trough document based on research and evidence. The Migration Strategy of Georgia aims at facilitation of legal migration on one hand, as a tool for mutual enriching of all involved actors, and preventing irregular migration, which sometimes badly affects our nationals”, said the Minister.

Besides the Minister Tsulukiani, the Georgian delegation is also presented at the Forum by Mr. George Jashi, the executive secretary of the secretariat of the State Commission on Migration Issues who has the opportunity to directly engage with partner countries in the consultancy process regarding the Global Compact on Migration, being developed under the UN agencies..

The Global Forum on Migration and Development is focused on three topics. The 10th summit of the GFMD, which was launched by the welcoming speech of the German Foreign Minister, Mr. Sigmar Gabriel, are attended by the high-rank officials from UN member states, international organisations, and civil and private sector representatives.

The GFMD is a joint initiative of the UN member states aimed at harnessing the linkage between migration and development based on practical and result-oriented methods.

The first assembly of the GFMD took place back in 2007. The main topic of the GFMD 2017 Summit “Towards a Global Social Contract on Migration and Development” underlines the importance of safeguarding the balance of interests in the frame of legal and orderly migration.