Conference "Legal support for migrants": In Montenegro, it is necessary to constantly work on the improvement of migration policies

Montenegro is on the scale of the least tolerant countries when it comes to accepting migrants, which is why it is necessary to constantly work on improving the quality of migration policies, it was announced at the final conference of the Law Center.

The final conference "Legal support for migrants" was held as part of the project of the same name, which is implemented by the Law Center in partnership with Caritas Montenegro, with the support of the Center for Civic Education (CGE), PR Center reports.

On behalf of the Law Center, Luka Kovačević said that the goal of the "Legal Support to Migrants" project is to contribute to the improvement of the migration system in Montenegro.

"The key activities of the project are: provision of free legal aid, capacity building and networking, monitoring and advocacy. When it comes to free legal aid, it includes information, counseling, and support for people who are migrants. "During the duration of the project, we provided free legal assistance to 200 people," said Kovačević.

He indicated that the users mostly approached them with questions about how to regulate status - temporary residence based on work or property ownership, how to establish a company, how to close a company, and they were also interested in the procedure for approving international protection.

"During these ten months, we had only one person who wanted to enter the system of international protection and who authorized the Legal Center for representation. We also carried out field visits as part of the project, which included not only visits to the Centers for the reception of foreigners under international protection in Spuz and Božaj and the reception center for foreigners, but also visits to various institutions at the state and local level where we try to help migrants overcome administrative barriers. obstacle in access to rights", Kovačević said.

As he stated, as part of the project, they held training for officials on the importance of multicultural competences in managing migrants, they had practical work in Reception Centers with the theme of cultural heritage and values ​​of the countries they come from, a workshop dedicated to the challenges and application of the Law on International and temporary protection of foreigners.

The Director General of the Directorate for Administrative Affairs, Citizenship and Foreigners in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Radovan Popović, said that in that institution they transposed all international legal instruments into the national system, with the aim of providing a fair and effective system of dealing with foreigners seeking international protection. and those to whom it is approved.

"However, as there is always room for improving the implementation of regulations in this area, this event is also an opportunity to make a step forward in this direction through the exchange of opinions and substantive discussion," Popović pointed out.

He said that the Directorate headed by him will continue to achieve strategic goals with dedication, expressing their determination to respond to the numerous challenges of modern times, as well as to contribute to the full implementation of regulations in the field of international protection in cooperation with international partners and the civil sector.

The representative of the Center for Civic Education (CGO), Petar Đukanović, assessed that the implemented project activities are very important, because they contribute to a fair and compassionate migration policy, as well as support for migrants who often encounter numerous legal challenges, including asylum procedures, the struggle for the recognition of their rights and integration into the new society.

"What is the special value of this project is the Manual for the acquisition and development of intercultural competence of officials in guiding and advising migrants, which seems to us to be an extremely useful tool that will help train officials to better understand the needs and perspectives of migrants from different cultures." , stated Đukanović.

He believes that the Manual will contribute to reducing prejudices and conflicts and enable better and more efficient services for migrants, because officers with developed intercultural competencies create a safe and supportive environment for migrants and encourage their integration into our community, making it inclusive.

"Regarding the quality of migration policies in Montenegro, it is important to constantly work on their improvement. "Migration will continue to be an important topic in the years to come, and we as a society must be ready to face this challenge in a way that respects the human rights and dignity of everyone," Đukanović pointed out.

The representative of Caritas Montenegro, Lidija Vulević, said that within the project, they directed help and support to refugees from Ukraine residing in the municipalities of Bar, Herceg Novi and Budva.

"Within this project with the Legal Center, we focused our attention on providing humanitarian aid to vulnerable refugees from Ukraine, as well as providing individual and group psycho-social support. The only opinion is that foreigners under international protection, asylum seekers, and returnees need the support of all of us so that they can build their lives from scratch in a dignified way, integrate and contribute to society in Montenegro," Vulevic said.

Speaking about the target groups of the project, Vulević said that they included migrants, foreigners who seek or have received international protection, civil society organizations, institutions that manage the migration and asylum system.

"Regarding humanitarian aid, Caritas provided and handed over 60 cash gift cards to users for any type of purchase and payment. Aid was delivered to refugees from Ukraine. The support was directed to the municipalities where the largest number of refugees from Ukraine live - Bar, Budva and Herceg Novi. "Psycho-social support was aimed at vulnerable categories of Ukrainian refugees," Vulević said.

Milica Božović from Caritas Montenegro, speaking about individual psycho-social support, said that they provided it for 63 beneficiaries.

"We also organized Montenegrin language courses, which was very important for their better integration and social inclusion. As for group psycho-social support, it is organized through various types of workshops," said Božović.

She pointed out that all activities were aimed at greater integration of Ukrainian refugees into society.

Natalija Đaletić, the author of the Manual for the acquisition and development of intercultural competence of officials in guiding and counseling migrants, said that Montenegro is on a scale of ten countries with the lowest index of acceptance of migrants.

"The acceptance index of migrants in Montenegro is 1.87, in contrast to Canada, where the acceptance index is 9.4. The acceptance of migrants has declined worldwide, and the nations of the Western Balkans are the least tolerant in the world. On the scale of the least tolerant countries when it comes to migration, Montenegro ranks sixth with an index of 1.87 on a scale of up to 9," Đaletić said.

Speaking about the conclusions reached in the Manual, Đaletić said that the greatest acceptance and agreement refers to the position that implies a short-term stay in the country.

"We are all ready to receive migrants, but for a very short time. The least acceptance refers to the attitude that the migrant becomes a member of the immediate family. Almost all respondents showed complete openness to accepting migrants as potential friends. Out of 15 respondents, only one respondent expressed his absolute acceptance of migrants, understanding of their status and commitment to solving their problems," said Đaletić.

Presenting Recommendations for improving the implementation of the Law on International and Temporary Protection of Foreigners in Montenegro, Luka Kovačević, who is one of the authors of that publication, said that they obtained a significant amount of data thanks to regular cooperation and communication with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the organizational units of that institution. , as well as institutions at the local level, and certain information was obtained based on the Law on Free Access to Information

"In the Manual, we tried to show the functioning of the system in an objective way," said Kovačević.

Ivan Popović, judge of the Court for Misdemeanors in Cetinje, who is also the author of the Recommendation, said that Montenegro is a transit zone for a large number of migrants and asylum seekers, stating that the system is extremely burdened.

"It's not about the lack of will on the part of the services to act in cases, it's about deficits, lack of funds, exceptional brevity of the procedure, statistics, lack of training to know how to act," Popović said.

He pointed out that the number of translators is extremely limited, which poses a problem for migrants to exercise their rights.

"We have an even stronger obligation towards foreigners, especially if we suspect that they are asylum seekers, to inform them of their rights in the procedure," said Popović.

The project "Legal support for migrants" is implemented by the Legal Center in partnership with Caritas Montenegro. The project was supported by the Center for Civic Education (CEO) within the program "CSOs in Montenegro - from basic services to policy formulation - M'BASE, financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Ministry of Public Administration.