The international conference named ‘Fostering practical cooperation in return matters’ was held in Gdansk on 26-27 Nov 2015. Patronage of the conference was taken by Norwegian GDISC (General Directors' Immigration Service Conference), the institution which is aimed at developing cooperation in the field of migration management.
This year’s event was hosted by the Department for Foreigners of Border Guard HQ in cooperation with the Office for Foreigners and with the support of the Maritime Border Guard Division.
The conference was participated by 70 persons, amongst them representatives of migration services from the majority of European countries, delegates of The European Commission, representatives of international organizations: UNHCR, IOM, Caritas, ICMPD.
The guests were welcomed by (Brig. Gen.) Andrzej Pilaszkiewicz – Deputy Commander–in-Chief of Polish Border Guard and Mr Rafał Rogala – Head of Office for Foreigners. Among the speakers were Mr Patrick Schmidtke of German Federal Office of Migration and Refugees, Mr Thomas Lory of Swiss State Secretariat for Migration, Ms Muriel Hulpiau of Belgian Immigration Office, Ms Katinki Hartmann of The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, and (Col) Izabela Walczak of the Department for Foreigners of Border Guard HQ.
The topics raised during the conference and workshops were concentrated on cooperation with third countries which are recognized as countries of foreigners’ origin, efficient return management or efficient identification of foreigners. During the two-day meeting the guests had the opportunity to discuss thus exchange their experiences and good practices in the field of return. Not only did participation in the conference make it possible to verify the functioning of the regulation on migration in Poland, but also enabled the comparison of legal systems in other countries.
This event was a part of the Project 26/NMF PL 15/14 named ‘Strengthening the competence and qualification of public service within the area of migration and asylum including counteracting illegal migration’, co-financed by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.
