With increasing global migration and forced displacement, many migrants face risks of insecurity, violence, exploitation, abuse, and violation of their rights. During the seminar we have looked at what makes migrants vulnerable and how to protect them, which kind of power passports have in global mobility as well as in access to opportunities, and why we keep hearing about migrant caravans. Listen to a series of podcasts of the European Migration Network (EMN) Slovakia on this topic.

In the series of podcasts from the 9th EMN Educational Seminar on Migration you will learn among other topics about:

• Migrants and their vulnerabilities related to health, work, and gender.
• The power of the passport, the phenomenon of migrant caravans, and protection possibilities for those without valid documents.
• Modern slavery and effective protection for victims of human trafficking.

The podcasts and presentations are available in English or Slovak here.

Watch snapshots from the seminar:

Listen to the lectures from the EMN Educational Seminar on Migration 2023:

Federico Soda: New and protracted crises: vulnerabilities of migrants and refugees

The lecture delivered by Federico Soda provides an overview of key trends that can be seen in relation to migration and, in particular, displacement. Federico highlights the implications for the affected population with a focus on regional dynamics and crisis, closing with recommendations to work more closely together with relevant stakeholders to move forward in discussing and resolving these complex questions.

Federico Soda, Director of the Department of Operations and Emergencies (DOE), IOM Headquarters, Switzerland

Listen to the lecture:

Nassim Majidi: Migration and health: challenges and needs across the migration cycle

What is the link between migration and health? What do migrants need regarding health when they cross into another country? What issues do they face? This lecture by Nassim Majidi provides not only answers to these questions but also highlights the connection between access to health and vulnerability, and the results from the most recent research that has explored the links between health needs, access to care and sustainable reintegration of returnees.

Nassim Majidi, Founder & Executive Director of Research, and Policy, Migration and Displacement Pillar Lead, Samuel Hall

Listen to the lecture:

Melissa Siegel: Gender and migration

Gender is central to any discussion of the causes and consequences of migration, whether forced or voluntary. Melissa Siegel introduces the concept of migration and gender, specifically the feminisation of migration and its implications. She also tackles the question of where we can see specific gendered aspects of migration and the effects gender has on people who migrate and the migration itself.

Melissa Siegel, Professor of Migration Studies at United Nations University-MERIT and Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Listen to the lecture:

Samuel Okyere: Vulnerabilities of working migrants and migrant children in the global economy

Labour migrants account for around 62% of all migrants, which is around 2/3 of all international migrants, according to the IOM's World Migration Report 2022. Many of them face various challenges in the labour markets of their destination countries. In this lecture, Samuel Okyere talks about the challenges faced by migrant workers in the global economy while providing a broad look at the status of international migrant workers and exploring solutions to the issues they face in the new country.

Samuel Okyere, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, SPAIS, University of Bristol, United Kingdom

Listen to the lecture:

Ján Orlovský: Situational vulnerabilities of foreigners and people in need of protection in Slovakia

How many people apply for asylum in Slovakia? How has the war in Ukraine changed the migration situation in Slovakia? How vulnerable are people who decide to migrate to Slovakia and how (un)prepared is our country for the integration of migrants? Ján Orlovský offers an insight into the background of the migration situation in Slovakia and policies related to the integration of foreigners, vulnerability, systemic change and challenges that Slovakia is facing.

Ján Orlovský, Director of Migration Office, Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic & EMN Steering Board member for the Slovak Republic

Listen to the lecture:

EMN Discussion Evening: The New Europeans

Discussion with experts on migration, migration policy and long-term public attitudes towards foreigners and diversity in Slovakia within the broader economic, demographic and social reality. In the discussion you learn about:

• what the migration policy looks like in Slovakia,
• what are the long-term attitudes of the public towards foreigners,
• can an ageing Europe manage without integrating all of these new arrivals?

The discussants were:

• Oľga Gyárfášová, Sociologist and Associate Professor at the Institute of European Studies and International Relations, University of Comenius in Bratislava
• Lucia Mýtna Kureková, Labour Migration Expert and Researcher, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Ján Orlovský, Director of Migration Office of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic

The discussion, which was preceded by a screening of the documentary film The New Europeans, was moderated by Zuzana Vatráľová, Head of the Office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ireland.

Listen to the discussion:

Boldizsár Nagy: Passports, visas: coats of arms of a feudalistic mindset

Boldizsár Nagy introduces the topic of passports and visas in the context of mobility and current events in the world. What is the power passports hold? Why do governments need to know who is on the state’s territory? Why can some people get visas and others not? What are the rights of people when it comes to mobility? These are the notions Nagy leads you through in his lecture on passports and visas.

Boldizsár Nagy, Associate Professor, Central European University, Austria

Listen to the lecture:

Baptiste Amieux: The global mobility and access to identity

This lecture provides insight into mobility and border crossing between countries around the world, particularly from the perspective of legal identity (i.e., how migrants present themselves to the authorities of a given country). Baptiste Amieux talks about how access to identity and documentation supports safe and legal migration around the world and how it helps the development of a country.

Baptiste Amieux, Regional Immigration and Border Governance Specialist, Policy and Programme Support Division, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Office for the EEA, the EU and NATO, Belgium

Listen to the lecture:

Dardan Koçani: Smuggling and organized criminal networks in migration flows: focus on Southeast Europe

For many migrants, smuggling is often the only way to reach a more developed country. Smuggling is a growing transnational crime that threatens the lives and safety of migrants while undermining the integrity of national borders and migration management systems. In this lecture, Dardan Koçani introduces the topic of smuggling, together with the results of at the time an unpublished study on the implications of the war in Ukraine for south-eastern Europe.

Dardan Koçani, Field Coordinator for Kosovo, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Listen to the lecture:

Simona Carnino: The Power of Passport – documentary screening and discussion

“In our world, there are those who can travel freely and those who cannot. This disparity depends on several reasons but especially on the passport one holds,” says Simona Carnino, a freelance journalist and documentarist while introducing her documentary The Power of Passport. Carnino’s lecture introduces you to her experience as a documentarist who focuses her work on human rights, environmental and migration issues mainly in Latin America.

Simona Carnino, freelance Journalist and Documentarist, Italy

Listen to the lecture:

Abril Ríos: “Alone, we go fast. Together, we go further”. Migrants’ collective (dis-) empowerment in the Americas

What are migrant caravans? How are women and their position affected? Based on her experiences and research results, Abril Ríos transfers you to Mexico to introduce not only the issue of migrant caravans, but also other forms and clusters of cooperation created or used by migrants in Mexico that are less visible or well-known compared to migrant caravans.

Abril Ríos, DPhil candidate in Migration Studies, Oxford Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Listen to the lecture:

Michele LeVoy: Regularisation and other ways to protect undocumented migrants / migrants in irregular situations

In this lecture, Michele LeVoy talks about undocumented migrants and people who have irregular migration status. She introduces the challenges that are faced by undocumented migrants who very often live in poverty and are exploited and abused. Within the lens of this issue, she also talks about possible solutions that governments are looking at, with a focus on regularisation policies – trying to achieve regular migration status.

Michele LeVoy, Director of the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), Belgium

Listen to the lecture:

Katarina Schwarz: Slavery is not a crime in almost half the countries in the world – how can we change that?

Modern slavery, human trafficking, law, intersections with migration and immigration issues and policies as well as some emerging trends and concerns in the anti-trafficking space are the keywords of the lecture delivered by Katarina Schwarz. In this lecture, you will hear about the way international legal frameworks govern the issues of trafficking and slavery, you will review fundamental definitions of these practices, and look at domestic legislation and victim protection.

Katarina Schwarz, Assistant Professor in Antislavery Law and Policy & Associate Director of the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

Listen to the lecture:

Samuel Okyere: The global anti-trafficking framework: overview, issues and debates

Anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling initiatives are very often part of or informed by border regulation or border control measures. In this lecture, Samuel Okyere looks back at the 20 years after Palermo Protocol and discusses who actually benefits from the antitrafficking efforts. His talk leads you through the topic of modern slavery from the perspective of international legal instruments and how these translate into assistance to victims of trafficking and exploitation while looking at the issue of border control exceeding the human rights protection.

Samuel Okyere, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, SPAIS, University of Bristol, United Kingdom

Listen to the lecture:

Heather Komenda: Global estimates and datasets on human trafficking & examples of effective assistance to the victims

A lecture by Heather Komenda discusses new global data and databases on victims of human trafficking and how to effectively assist victims of this crime while providing examples from practice. Throughout the lecture, the need for and importance of data gathering, mainly through a case management system, is highlighted as a tool that can significantly improve not only new policies but also the overall experience of victims of human trafficking.

Heather Komenda, Senior Regional Thematic Specialist for Protection, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Office for South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Austria

Listen to the lecture:

Martha Mendoza: How to best cover and communicate human trafficking stories? Tips for policymakers and journalists

How to best cover and communicate stories of human trafficking and modern slavery by policymakers and the media? How to make sure that the communication is not only comprehensible to the general and professional public but also protects the victim? How to incorporate the fact that human trafficking is a sensitive topic with a broken human being at the centre of it? In this lecture, Martha Mendoza teaches us how to communicate the stories of survivors based on her practical experience as an award-winning investigative journalist.

Martha Mendoza, Investigative Journalist & Pulitzer prize-winner, Associated Press (AP), USA

Listen to the lecture:

Podcasts and presentations from the 2023 seminar:

You can find all seminar outputs here: https://www.emnconference.sk/lectures.html

All EMN Slovakia Podcasts:

Listen to: https://emnslovakia.podbean.com/.

Would you like to follow lectures from future EMN events? Add  EMN Slovakia Podcasts and IOM Slovakia YouTube channels to your favourites.

The activities of EMN Slovakia are funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic.