The “Söderköping Thematic Workshop” on “Return and Readmission” will take place in Kiyv, Ukraine on 28-29 November, 2005. It is the third such thematic workshop organised within the framework of the Söderköping Process. The workshop will draw together: asylum, migration, border guard officials and representatives of non-governmental organisations from Belarus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine, as well as representatives of the European Commission (EC), the Swedish Migration Board (SMB), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The main objectives of the workshop are to:

• Present EU policies on readmission (familiarization with the EC Directive on minimum standards on return and expulsion of third country nationals and the Green Paper on a Community Return Policy on Illegal Residents);
• Present international and European standards relating to readmission of refugees and asylum seekers and explore prospects of assisted voluntary return arrangements for third country nationals among countries participating in the Söderköping process;
• Take stock on existing readmission agreements amongst participating states and exchange information and views on their practical implementation towards third country nationals.

The Söderköping process was launched in 2001 with the objective to facilitate cross-border co-operation and dialogue between the then new EU candidate countries and the Western NIS on asylum, migration and border management issues. It includes ten countries situated along the enlarged EU border: Belarus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine. The process is supported by the EC, the SMB, UNHCR and IOM.

All media are invited to the opening session of the Meeting on 28 November from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and the concluding session on 29 November from 12:30 to 13:00 at Hotel Rus, 4, Hospitalnaya str.,
Kiyv, Ukraine.

For further information please contact Ms. Anna Yefimenko (www.soderkoping.org.ua) tel +380 44 254-5346/47, fax +380 44 288-9850, e-mail:efimenko@unhcr.org, address: CBCP Secretariat, 32-A Sichnevogo Povstannya St., Kyiv 01015, Ukraine