Migrant Protection and Assistance

The Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund (ARTF) is a multi-donor trust fund that coordinates international aid to improve the lives of Afghans. It’s administered by the World Bank and currently supported by 32 donor partners.

Established in 2002, the ARTF was the largest source of on-budget financing for Afghanistan's development until the political event in Afghanistan in August 2021. Until then, it funded Afghanistan’s national priority projects, including in health, education, agriculture, rural development, infrastructure, and public financial management.

In February 2021, the Colombian government launched the Temporary Protection Status (Estatuto Temporal de Protección para Migrantes Venezolanos, or ETPV), a legal mechanism which facilitates the transition of migrants from an emergency migratory regime to a regularization status, granting access to formal employment, education, healthcare, and financial services for almost two million Venezuelan migrants and refugees. 

In accordance with the local development plan, in 2020, the city government of Barranquilla (Colombia) created the Local Integration Centre for Migrants (CILM, for its Spanish acronym), which provides orientation, referrals, and support to Venezuelan refugees and migrants, as well as Colombian returnees from Venezuela, to grant them access to procedures and services. 

The main objectives are three: 

Zimbabwe’s National Diaspora Policy provides for a comprehensive national framework to formally mainstream the diaspora into national development processes. It aims to develop measures to enhance protection of Zimbabweans abroad, and establish mechanisms for the transfer and repatriation of terminal, pension, and social security benefits for retired returnees through conclusion of bilateral labour agreements with host countries.

In July 2016, the Government of Zimbabwe has launched a Trafficking in Persons (TiP) National Plan of Action (NAPLAC) to operationalize the Trafficking in Persons Act which was passed in 2014 to fight against human trafficking in the country.

Officially launched by Zimbabwe Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the plan was developed with technical support from IOM, UNODC and the SADC Secretariat. 

Guided by the Africa Union Migration Policy Framework for Africa (2018-2030), the National Migration Policy has been launched by the Zimbabwean Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage's immigration department. 

In 2013, Belgium launched a structural resettlement programme. Since then, the country has committed to annually receiving vulnerable refugees. 

The Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil) manages, in cooperation with national and international partners, the preparation, the journey and the reception of the refugees selected for resettlement in Belgium. The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) is responsible for the selection abroad.

The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) has been reaching out to trade unions in destination countries to ensure the protection of Nepalese migrant workers. They have moreover signed agreements and MoUs with trade unions in Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Hong Kong, and the Republic of Korea to enhance Nepalese workers' rights in these countries.

The group "Migrants CSC" informs and raises awareness among migrant workers (documented or undocumented) about their rights, the labour legislation in force in Belgium and the fight against all forms of exploitation and discrimination.

The service also responds to individual requests on issues such as work permits, extending residence permits, diploma equivalence, and validation of skills. 

In a nutshell:

The African Trade Union Migration Network (ATUMNET) was formally formed and launched in August, 2016 after a meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, under the auspices of the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa).