Newsletter Issue No. 18 March 2015
International Organization for Migration Country Office for Austria Editorial
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IOM is actively engaged in the World Humanitarian Summit – an initiative aimed at bringing the global community together to commit to a new agenda for humanitarian action beyond 2016.
Editorial……………………………………….1
In a world in which millions of people are affected by conflict and forced migration, and where global trends such as climate change, urbanization and population growth constitute new challenges, we have to re-think humanitarian action. Moreover, humanitarian work has never been more risky than today with record numbers of humanitarian workers becoming victims of violence in 2013.
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To find answers to these issues, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will convene the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, in May 2016. The Summit aims to build a more inclusive and diverse humanitarian system by bringing all key stakeholders together to share best practices and find innovative ways to make humanitarian action more effective and less risky. The process is being managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). IOM is part of the global discussion and our goal is to highlight migration-specific issues and incorporate the voices of affected populations. OCHA emphasizes the fact that this is a once in a generation opportunity – it is a call for new thinking, not on how to adjust the existing system. We are very proud to be part of this opportunity!
Katerina Kratzmann, Head of Office
The Austrian Humanitarian Admission Programme Austria's response to the Syrian refugee crisis In the light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria and its persisting influx of Syrian refugees into the neighboring countries, the Austrian government in summer 2013 declared to initiate a Humanitarian Admission Programme (HAP I) by resettling 500 Syrian refugees to Austria. In spring 2014, the Austrian government decided to expand the programme by introducing HAP II, adding another 1,000 resettlement places.
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Both programmes, HAP I and HAP II, follow a twofold approach regarding the admission of eligible refugees: one share of the contingent is dedicated to UNHCR quotarefugees who are already registered in the region. For the other share, the Christian community was invited to suggest Christian Syrian refugees with family ties to Austria. Additionally, the possibility of direct application for refugees with family members in Austria was introduced during HAP II. The final decision in the selection process lies with the Federal Ministry of the Interior. IOM’s role is to organize the transfer of the refugees to Austria and, since HAP II, also to deliver pre-arrival Cultural Orientation Trainings in the transit countries. HAP I was completed in December 2014 with a total of 504 refugees being resettled. HAP II has started only recently with the first arrivals in October 2014 amounting to 202 refugees from the civil society quota so far. First arrivals of refugees submitted by the UNHCR are to be expected by the beginning of May 2015. All 1,000 refugees of HAP II should be resettled by the end of 2015.
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