British approach to managing migration: tackling problems at source

Guest blog by Svitlana Yavorska, EU Co-ordinator, British Embassy Kyiv

Last week I attended a seminar delivered by UKBA experts for their Ukrainian colleagues at the State Migration Service of Ukraine.

Following a recent visit to London by the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service, this event was designed to continue UK support to Ukraine in her efforts to achieve visa-free travel with the EU and to prepare for effective border management during Euro2012  next year in Ukraine.

During the two days, Lorna Canning and Natalie Moss from International Group of UKBA and Kyiv-based Sian Edmunds discussed migration management with Ukrainian colleagues.  They exchanged experience in areas including migration intelligence; countering threats; technical systems and tools for managing migration flows; tackling illegal migration; and dealing with highest harm offenders.

The British experts explained that this summer the UK launched a  new strategy on fighting organised crime, focusing on tackling problems at source. These can include tackling illegal migration and organised immigration crime as well as UKBA work to prevent violations of migration and border law both inside and outside the UK, sharing information at all levels.

The seminar examined case studies of UKBA’s work. One was a recent successful UKBA operation in Bangladesh, which had a worldwide impact in uncovering and stopping the activity of a manufacturer of false documents used all over the world.

Ukrainian specialists said the seminar was timely and that they appreciated the experience of UKBA, accumulated during over 40 years of working in migration. I hope the seminar will help Ukraineto deal with the second stage of the EU visa liberalization plan, aimed at creating infrastructure and systems for ensuring transparency and eliminating risks of abuses or violations while travelling to and through Ukraine.