Zuzana VATRÁĽOVÁ has served as the Head of the IOM Office in the Slovak Republic since 2004. In 2003, she worked at IOM as a coordinator of the information campaign on Preventing Human Trafficking in Slovakia. From 1997 to 2002, she worked as a journalist for BBC Bratislava and London. Prior to that, she had been a project manager at the National Agency for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (NADSME) and she had also worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. She graduated in Journalism from the Faculty of Arts at Comenius University in Slovakia, and accomplished postgraduate studies at the Karol Rybárik Institute of International Relations of the Law Faculty at the Comenius University.

Opening of the seminar

Ola HENRIKSON is the Regional Director of International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Regional Office for the European Economic Area, the European Union and NATO. Ola has substantial knowledge of global and EU migration issues stemming from more than 25 years of experience in the asylum and migration sector at the national and international levels. Prior to joining IOM in 2019, Ola was the Director General for Migration and Asylum at the Swedish Ministry of Justice.  He has also served in several executive positions, including Director of the Department for Migration Policy in the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also headed the Swedish Delegation in the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA) of the Council of the European Union from 1999 to 2018. Other international assignments include the World Economic Forum and the Global Commission on International Migration. Ola holds a LL. M. from Stockholm University.

Topic presented: Migratory trends in and outside the EU 

The lecture highlights key facts and figures about global migratory trends and looks at the (future) migration situation in Europe. Ola stresses the reasons why most migrants move across the borders and how they contribute to the world economy. He mentions challenges that free movement in Europe faces nowadays and describes main routes of irregular migration into the EU. He summarizes EU’s internal and external actions in the field of migration since 2011 (including the final Progress Report on the Implementation of the European Agenda on Migration from March 2019) and gives examples of IOM’s support to the EU in this regard.

Admiral Giuseppe DE GIORGI is an Italian Admiral and former Italian Chief of Navy. As Chief of Staff of the Navy between 2013 – 2016, he directed a 5.7 billion Euro expansion of the Italian Navy to include the construction of an amphibious ship, ten frigates, a logistics vessel and 2 special operations stealth vessels. He was the Commander of the Italian cruiser ITS Vittorio Veneto from 1997 to 1999 before serving as Commander of the Maritime Task Force of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 2006 for which he received the “Military of the Year” award at the Smithsonian National Air Museum in Washington, D.C. A year after retirement from the highest command in the Italian Navy, Admiral Giuseppe de Giorgi is now assisting non-governmental organization Sea Shepherd and Gabonese authorities to stop illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing off the coast of Central West Africa within Operation Albacore.

Topic presented: The law of the sea and boat migration in the Mediterranean: securitisation of search and rescue

Nicolas ROLLASON is a partner and head of Business Immigration at London-based law firm Kingsley Napley LLP.  He advises on all areas of United Kingdom immigration and nationality law and has particular expertise in providing strategic advice to businesses on their global immigration needs. He has over 20 years’ experience in advising corporations and individuals, providing strategic advice on UK and global immigration and citizenship solutions and often advising in the most complex of cases. He is a recognised expert in EU immigration law and has litigated key test cases before the European Court of Justice. He is listed as a leading figure in Chambers UK and The Legal 500, International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Law,  The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom and the Citywealth Leaders List. He is listed in Who's Who Legal as a Thought Leader in Corporate Immigration, 2019. He is regularly consulted by the UK immigration authorities on proposed changes to UK immigration rules and policy and is a regular press commentator, conference speaker and contributor to immigration publications. He has given evidence to the UK Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee on skilled migration and is a former Rapporteur for the European Commission’s Annual Free movement report. He has been a consultant to the OECD and the ILO on migration matters.  He is currently Secretary of  the International Bar Association’s Immigration and Nationality Committee. Nicolas holds a degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford and a Masters in Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Topic presented: Populism, politics and attitudes to immigration

Boldizsár NAGY is an Associate Professor at Central European University. Besides the uninterrupted academic activity both at the Eötvös Loránd University (since 1977) and the Central European University (since 1992) he has been engaged both in governmental and non-governmental actions. He acted several times as expert for the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Council of Europe and UNHCR and participated at several inter-governmental negotiations. He is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Refugee Law and of the European Journal of Migration and Law. He is a co-founder and editor of the on-line Refugee Law Reader. His teaching venues include Beijing, Brussels, Geneva, Moscow, and New York. More than two dozen books were co-authored and/or edited by him. He read law and philosophy and received his PhD at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and pursued international studies at the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Bologna Center. His website is: www.nagyboldizsar.hu

Topic presented: Migrants’ human rights and their vulnerabilities

Richard DANZIGER is the Regional Director for West and Central Africa of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) based in Senegal which covers 23 countries and 5 regional economic communities. Since joining IOM in 1994, he has served as Chief of Mission in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka & the Maldives and in different capacities in Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Philippines, Israel and the Occupied Territories. From 2005 to 2010, he headed IOM’s Counter Trafficking Division overseeing human trafficking projects and research throughout the world. He was a Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Council on Illicit Trade & Organized Crime and a member of their Council on Migration. He graduated from the University of Virginia where he studied drama and comparative literature.

Topic presented: Interlinkage between migration and (the lack of) good governance: Experience from the West and Central Africa region

Melissa SIEGEL is a Professor of Migration Studies and Head of Migration Studies at the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance and UNU-MERIT where she manages several migration research projects, coordinates the Migration Studies Specialization as part of the Master’s Program in Public Policy and Human Development and formerly headed the Migration Management Diploma Program. She is Co-Director and heads the Migration and Development research theme of the Maastricht Center for Citizenship, Migration and Development (MACIMIDE). She currently holds the Chair of the UNU Migration Network and is a Research Associate at the Center on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford. She is also on the advisory board of the Migration Policy Center, EUI and was formerly on the board of the Hague Process on Refugees and Migration. She has done visiting research fellowships at Harvard University, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the University of Oxford. She has advised, worked on or headed projects for Governments and International Organisations. She is also regularly involved in migration-related trainings for governments and organizations. She has also given advice at the United Nations and European Commission on migration issues. Her main research interest lies in the causes and consequences of migration with a strong emphasis on the linkages between migration and development.

Topic presented: Migration processes-corruption nexus and its implications for all parties involved/affected

Vicki SQUIRE is Professor of International Politics at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick. Her research cuts across the fields of border, migration, citizenship and critical security studies, and she is author of The Exclusionary Politics of Asylum (Palgrave, 2009) and Post/Humanitarian Border Politics Between Mexico and the US: People, Places, Things (Palgrave, 2015). Professor Squire is also Editor of The Contested Politics of Mobility (Routledge, 2011), and is currently completing two monographs on the ‘Mediterranean migration crisis’. She is a frequent contributor  to The Conversation and openDemocracy, and tweets @vidkowiaksquire

Topic presented: Securitisation and politicisation of migration

Andreas FRAUNBERGER is a producer for extended reality experiences and interactive media. Media theorist, lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Vienna. Managing Partner of Junge Römer Creative Production Studio, Vienna (https://www.jungeroemer.net).  Accounts: ProSieben Sat.1 Media Group Munich, Red Bull TV, Vienna State Opera, ORF, ARTE, Tyrol Tourism Advertising Board etc. 

“Together with my team from Junge Römer I create interactive virtual realities that capture the minds and hearts of the audience with state-of-the-art 3D animations, spatial audio and exciting stories. Immersion and engagement are essential, not only for entertainment purposes, but also for sales presentations and training. Quality virtual reality content enables you to tell the most personal stories and create empathy.”

Presented Escape Velocity Visual 360º Reality: https://www.jungeroemer.net/escape_velocity/ 

CV - see above

Topic presented: Changing the (public) narrative on migration and debunking migration myths

Since July 2016, Blanca TAPIA is the Programme Manager at the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) one of the EU’s decentralised agencies set up to provide expert advice to the institutions of the EU and the Member States on the fundamental rights of people living in the EU. Previously Blanca Tapia worked as FRA Spokesperson/Media Manager, directly working with journalists on issues such as hate crime, racism, xenophobia, migration, gender equality, access to justice, LGBTI rights, and information society and privacy. She was as well Spokesperson for Combating Human Trafficking in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and press officer at the Spanish Ministry of Defence. She started her career as broadcast journalist in the USA and then in Spain.

Topic presented: Communicating human rights in migration context

CV - see above

Topic presented: (Anti)smuggling from a migratory perspective

Kathrine JENSEN is a Policy Analyst at the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC). She has recently contributed to the report "Demographic Scenarios for the EU – Migration, Population and Education" which examines possible future scenarios for the EU and its population based on demographic and migration trends.  With the EU Policy Lab, she has worked with the scenario-based engagement tools 'Migration Toolkit' to facilitate future-oriented discussions with policymakers and various other stakeholders. Kathrine has a background in communication and holds an M.A. in European Studies from the University of Göttingen and the University of Deusto, where she focused on the external dimension of EU's migration policy.

Leading facilitator: Scenario Exploration System role-play workshop exercise on the topic: Migrants journeys and the role of policies

Publication n. 1: The future of migration in the European Union: Future scenarios and tools to stimulate forward-looking discussions

Publication n. 2: Migration discussion toolkit elements

CV - see above

Topic presented: Categorization of migrants

Montserrat FEIXAS VIHÉ is UNHCR’s Regional Representative for Central Europe. She has been based in Budapest since July 2013. She is responsible for the overall formulation, coordination and management of UNHCR’s operations in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, and she leads the policy dialogue and advocacy on refugee issues and statelessness with these Governments. Ms. Feixas Vihé joined UNHCR in 1984 as an Education Officer in Gedaref, Sudan, and since then she has held different posts in UNHCR’s missions in Honduras, Pakistan, Uganda and India, as well as at UNHCR’s Headquarters in Geneva where she has been responsible for operations in the Middle East and in Central America and the Caribbean. Immediately before being appointed as Regional Representative for Central Europe, she was Chief of Mission at UNHCR’s Office in New Delhi, India, for five years.

In 1993-1994 Ms. Feixas Vihé was based with the World Bank in Washington DC where she worked on health, education and nutrition programmes for Central America, and in 2002 she was seconded to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Islamabad to develop a special programme for the development of refugee hosting areas in North West Pakistan. Montserrat Feixas Vihé holds a Bachelor Degree in Political Science from Geneva University, a Master’s Degree in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University and a PhD in Geography from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Topic presented: Global trends in forced displacement and solutions to current situation in the Mediterranean

Janne TELLER is a Danish novelist of Austrian-German background. Her literature, that also includes essays and short stories, has received numerous literary awards and grants, and is today translated into more than 30 languages. Always confronting the larger philosophical questions of life and modern civilization, her books often spark controversial debate. She has published i.a., the novel Odin's Island (1999), a modern Nordic saga and parable of political, historical and religious dispute, Europa, All that you Lack (2004) about the significance of history in war and love, Come, an existential novel about ethics in art and modern life, and most recently the novella African Roads (2013), and the short story collection Everything (2013). She has also published the existential YA/crossover novel Nothing (2000) which was first banned, then has become an international bestseller, winning numerous international prizes and is today by many critics already deemed a modern classic. Her unique passport-shaped book War, what if it were here (2001) about life as a refugee, she transforms to each country in which it is published - by now 16, and still growing. Janne Teller has published a number of essays and short stories in Danish and International newspapers and magazines, such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Lettre Internationale and PEN Atlas - and often participates in the international public debate. Together with six other authors, she instigated the 2013 worldwide campaign 'Writers Against Mass Surveillance', and in June 2019, she instigated the successful women writers campaign for more women at the top of the European Union. Since 2014, she has been a member of the Jury for the prestigious German Literature Peace Prize. In December 2016, Janne Teller was designated European Cultural Heritage Ambassador by Germany. Originally educated a macro economist, Janne Teller has lived and worked with conflict resolution and humanitarian issues all over the world, in places as diverse as Tanzania, Mozambique and Bangladesh. In 1995, she left her professional career with the United Nations to concentrate fully on her literature. She has lived for years as an international nomad between Paris, Milan, New York, Elsinore, Berlin and other cities.

Host of the EMN Discussion evening

 CV - see above

Host of the EMN Discussion evening

Bernard PRIECEL is the Director of the Migration Office of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. He has been working in the Migration Office since 1995; he has held the position of the Director since 1999. Prior to that, he served in several positions at the Office of the Minister of Interior of the Slovak Republic. He lectured at the University of Economics in Bratislava and Faculty of Health Care and Social Work of the Trnava University.

Host of the EMN Discussion evening

Svetozár SPRUŠANSKÝ is a Slovak theatre scholar, dramaturg and director. Since 2017, he works as an in-house dramaturg of theatre Nová scéna in Bratislava, where he regularly performs as a sucessful theatrical director. At the same time, he directs a private Comedy Theatre. In years between 1995 and 2007, he has worked as a dramaturg and theatrical and artistic director of Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra. For twentytwo years, he has been creating incredibly sucessful productions and co-forming an image of this theatre. Svetozár has graduated in Culture and Aesthetics from the Faculty of Philosophy of the Comenius University and in Theatre Studies from the Department of Drama and Puppetry of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava.

Svetozár has been awarded the highest award of Slovak theatre criticizm Dosky for the inscenation and direction of play Tri sestry (Three Sisters). His aim to bring the original Slovak theatral classics closer to the audience in a monothematic season called The family silver at Andrej Bagar Theatre has been rewarded by another Dosky award in the category of Discovery of the season (2008). Svetozár is holder of ten Literary Fund awards and six Literary Fund considerations for the direction and dramaturgy in the area of theatre and broadcasting.

As an author of the project targeted on youth audience Ty kokso in the Andrej Bagar Theatre, he has been acting as the dramaturg and director of plays dealing with the issues youth are facing today, such as cyber harassment, intergenerational relations, faith seeking, and self-abuse. The dramaturgical narrative called Youth Nová scéna of the Nová scéna theatre is carried in a similar vein, it aims to reflect the problems that the contemporary teenage generation is facing. The perfect instances of such plays are Punk Rock by Simon Stephens, dealing with the violence against children and adolescents by their own peers, or dramaturgical portrayal of the novel Home – Where is yours? by Janne Teller, dealing with the issues such as migration, loss of home and loss of identity. All performances are adapted in a cooperation with professionals in a given area and with institutions that organize expert-led discussions with the audience after the performance.

Host of the EMN Discussion evening

Mathias CZAIKA is a Professor in Migration and Integration and Head of the Department for Migration and Globalization at Danube University Krems, Austria. He is also Research Associate at the Department for International Development and former Director of the International Migration Institute, both at University of Oxford. His research interests include; drivers and dynamics of international migration processes; globalization, development, inequality, and conflict; heuristics and decision-making; migration policy formation and policy impact; migration of high-skilled workers, asylum seekers and refugees. He has published in journals such as Demography, Population and Development Review, International Migration Review, or the Journal of Peace Research. He has a PhD in Political Economy from the University of Freiburg.

Topic presented: Migration in the context of globalization, development and inequality

Jill HELKE has worked for International Organization for Migration (IOM) since April 1999 and is currently the Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Partnerships at IOM Headquarters in Geneva. She worked in the Office of the Director General from 1999-2009 and was Chief of Mission for IOM in Sudan from 2009 to 2012. Before joining IOM, she was in the British Foreign Service from 1978 to 1999, serving at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, the British Embassy in China, and the UK Missions to the United Nations both in New York and Geneva.

Topic presented: Relationship between migrants and the cities in the urbanising world

Lefteris PAPAGIANNAKIS has been elected as a member of the Municipal Council of Athens in  September 2014 and was named vice mayor on migrant and refugee affairs in March 2016. He is the chair of the working group Migration and Integration of the Eurocities Network, vice President for Refugee Issues of European Coalition of Cities against Racism (ECCAR) and president of the Council for the Integration of Migrants of the Municipality of Athens. He was born in France in 1971. He completed his primary and secondary education in Greece. He returned to France to study public law in the University of Lille II, followed by a DEA in European Community Law and International Economy. After the completion of his studies he worked in the European Parliament as a parliamentary assistant. Since then he also worked on the education of the muslim minority in Greece (in Thrace), as a legal counselor for the political party Ecologists Green and the Special Secretariat on environmental inspection.

Topic presented: Roles and needs of European cities in managing migration at local level

Peter BARNETT has led Coventry’s Library and Information Service since 2014. He has been responsible for transformation of Coventry libraries as part of the wider Connecting Communities programme. He also leads on the Council’s work in migration, as well as commissioning external advice services. Coventry became one of the first authorities to respond to the refugee crisis in the Middle East in 2014. To date, the City has received more than 600 refugees. The Council works in partnership with both statutory and voluntary sector agencies to meet the housing, health, educational and social needs of some of the most vulnerable refugees fleeing from conflict and seeking a place of safety. Stimulated by the positive impact of this work, Coventry has been successful in securing EU funding for the MiFriendly Cities project and the CMF-funded Building Bridges project. Together, these initiatives celebrate the contribution refugees can make to their new home City, helping them develop and broaden their skills whilst also promoting dialogue and shared understanding with established communities. Having worked at the Council since 2003, Peter’s previous role was as manager of the Health Development Service which focused on lifestyle and behavioural change and combatting long term health inequalities through the promotion of healthy eating and increased levels of physical activity. Prior to relocating to Coventry, Peter worked for Middlesbrough Council and North Yorkshire County Council. 

Topic presented: Migration in the United Kingdom and Coventry – MiFriendly City regional initiative for migrants and refugees

CV - See above

Topic presented: Demographic scenarios for the EU: migration, population and education