OSCE expert meeting in Vienna focuses on effective policies for temporary, seasonal and circular labour migration

VIENNA, 6 November 2015 – Some 70 representatives of OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation, experts from international organizations, civil society and research centres discussed changing labour migration dynamics at an expert meeting that concluded in Vienna today on effective policies for temporary, seasonal and circular labour migration.

The event, organized by the OSCE Office of the Co-ordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities in co-operation with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), discussed  pilot initiatives, policies and practices in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as the European Union’s approach to temporary migration.  

Good governance in migration is high on the agenda of Serbia’s 2015 OSCE Chairmanship. “The concurrent anniversaries of the Helsinki Final Act, the International Labour Organization Convention no. 143 on Migrant Workers and the UN Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and the members of their families represent an opportunity for a renewed impetus of the OSCE in the field of migration management,” said Jovica Cekic, representative of Serbia’s OSCE Chairmanship. 

Andrei Muntean, OSCE Senior Economic Affairs Officer, said: “Temporary, seasonal and circular migration schemes can offer a suitable response to the growth of flexible labour markets that is often related to rapid fluctuations in the national economies and production. Our goal today was to offer useful inputs for decision-makers on how to effectively govern the varying duration of labour migration patterns, in line with the commitments contained in the 2009 Ministerial Council Decision on Migration Management.”

Today, more than 230 million international migrants represent a sizable part of the global labour force, including in the OSCE region, said Martin Hofmann, Research Officer at ICMPD. “The growing diversity of migration flows needs to be addressed with wide-ranging tools,” he said.

The key findings of this event will form a platform for possible future undertakings in the area of good migration management.