Today, 21 February 2018, in Pristina, Kosovo, the fourth Migralona conference took place. The conference was opened by Sazan Ibrahimi, the Executive Director of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, who noted the importance of sharing experience on this topic, followed by a presentation from the Ministry of Interior of Kosovo about the exact situation with migration in Kosovo. During this conference, the Italian experts from ICS described the Italian system for protection of migrants and asylum seekers and explained what is the role of the local governments and the civil society in the integration process. It was noted that although Kosovo did not have large number of refugees, they have significant number of returnees for whom the same principles for integration can be applied. The municipalities noted that they are responsible for implementation of the integration policies, but because all funds are currently centralised, the LGs do not receive sufficient funds for implementing these integration policies.
This is the fourth of six conferences that happen in six countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo.
The conferences are part of the project Migralona which is funded by the Italian Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and co-financed by other partner organizations.