OSCE States, Mediterranean partners discuss security challenges, co-operation on migration policies

CAIRO, 14 December 2009 - Representatives from the OSCE's 56 participating States and its Mediterranean partner countries will discuss co-operation toward enhanced security and stability at the 2009 OSCE Mediterranean conference, which started in Cairo today.

Ambassador Mara Marinaki of Greece, which holds the 2009 OSCE Chairmanship, opened the conference with remarks on the OSCE's high-level European security dialogue in the framework of the Corfu Process.

"Our goals were - and are - very ambitious, namely to promote understanding, confidence and trust among the participating States, and to resolve concrete security challenges," she said, adding that the OSCE states' agreed on the need to involve Partner countries in the dialogue: "This came as a response to the interest of the Partners themselves, and in recognition of the close interlinkages between security in Europe and in adjacent areas."

Participants will discuss the politico-military aspects of security in the OSCE area and the Mediterranean, as well as the prospects for enhancing OSCE-Mediterranean co-operation, including proposals to expand the Mediterranean Partnership. The Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.

Yerbolat Sembayev, Deputy Head of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry's OSCE Department, emphasized that the incoming Kazakh chairmanship was committed to engaging the Partner countries in the implementation of recent decisions taken by the OSCE States on furthering the Corfu Process, countering trans-national threats to security and on police work.

"We are determined to ensure that the Mediterranean Partners are involved as much as possible in the implementation phase of these three decisions," he said.

The conference will also address co-operation between the OSCE and the Mediterranean Partners with respect to migration policies, preventing and combating illegal migration and trafficking in human beings, including for forced labour, and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.

"This year has been characterized by the severest economic and financial crisis for a long time. The crisis has had an impact on many areas of strategic interest to the OSCE and its partners, including migration," said OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.

"An area of particular emphasis has been the establishment of gender-sensitive migration policies, as women account for a growing part of migration flows and are too often victims of discrimination, abuse and exploitation due to the lack of legal migration channels, and to insufficient support and protection services. The OSCE recently developed a guide on this topic for countries of origin, transit and destination, and will be promoting it in 2010 through events in the region."