The Söderköping Process was launched in May 2001, funded by the European Union, as a cross-border cooperation process on asylum and migration and in order to respond to the new challenges that arose with the EU’s eastward enlargement. It is named after Söderköping, Sweden, where the first meeting took place on the initiative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Swedish Migration Board.
The Global Commission on International Migration (GCIM), established in 2003 at the initiative of the UNSG Kofi Annan, produced its report in 2005 recognizing that human mobility is an integral component of the global economy and that international migration has the potential to play a very positive role in human development. It argues that in order to maximize the benefits of international migration while minimizing its adverse consequences, migration policies should be based on shared objectives and a common vision.
Tunisia has concluded an Association Agreement with the European Union that provides for social security protection to their citizens lawfully resident in EU Member States on an equal basis with nationals.
The central banks of Mexico and the US have signed an agreement that allows banks to to transmit electronic fund transfers from the USA to Mexico through the Federal Reserve Banks’ Automated Clearing House (FED - ACH).
The FedGlobal Mexico Service offers US financial institutions the added benefit and convenience of promotional materials and tools to aid in promoting the service to their customers and pre-opening accounts at participating institutions in Mexico.
The mission of the United States-México Border Health Commission is to provide international leadership to optimize health and quality of life along the US-México border.
They have designed joint cross-border strategies to preserve, improve and care for the health of the Mexican migrant population. These include information, referrals, engagement of local migrant networks and access to services, as well as training and guidelines to service providers.
Community Plaza is a project which incorporates the use of new information and communication technologies applied to education and formation targeting Mexicans residing in the USA. This is a result of joined efforts by several institutions to promote diversified educational actions.
This program falls under the Mexico-United States Cooperation Initiative on Education that has established programs in the US to facilitate access to education for Mexican migrants and increase their potential to adapt locally.
The objectives of the Community Plaza abroad are:
The IME-Becas program aims to elevate the educational level of the Mexican population or the Mexican Diaspora residing in the USA, by assigning resources to non-profit organizations. This program falls under the Mexico-United States Cooperation Initiative on Education that has established programs in the US to facilitate access to education for Mexican migrants and increase their potential to adapt locally.
Bangladesh signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding EPS with the Korean government on June 4, 2007 which founded the principles of sending manpower from Bangladesh to Korea. Ministry of Labor of Korea and Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment of Bangladesh are the administrative and decision-making ministries of the respective countries with regard to recruitment of Bangladeshi workers under EPS.
The South Korean Employment Permit System adopts a government-to-government placement approach to minimize exploitation of temporary migrant workers, notably the excessive recruitment free. Recruitment and deployment under its MOUs with countries like Bangladesh and the Philippines will thus be via the government recruitment arms. This could reduce the costs of migrating to nominal cost-recovery level.
Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen signed an agreement to start electronic money transfers using technology that has been developed by the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
According to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the agreement will now allow the eight countries to exchange money orders on a multilateral basis. This is particularly valuable in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, where more than 80% of the population are foreigners, and millions of dollars are sent to home countries through remittances.