| 22 December 2009 On December 22, 2009 the Ministry of Internal Affairs hosted the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the Project ‘Consultative Assistance for Establishment of Centers for Detention and Temporary Accommodation of Illegal Migrants in Ukraine – ‘Readmit – 1’. This project is being implemented owing to the Program ‘International Assistance within the Framework of the 2007 National Action Plan for Ukraine of the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument’. David Kelley, Director of Readmit-1, presented the project. Mr. Kelley emphasized that the main goal of the project is about improving effectiveness of the government’s efforts in tackling illegal migration. The project was launched on September 1 this year and will continue for 26 months. The project involves construction of eight centers for temporary accommodation of irregular migrants operated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and twenty centers for detention of illegal migrants operated by the State Border Guard Administration of Ukraine. The construction of all centers is preliminarily estimated at 120 million Euros. Unfortunately, only 26 million Euros has been committed so far; therefore, the participants of the meeting have discussed ways to resolve this problem by looking at experiences of other countries in construction and operation of such facilities. Mr.Rybalko, Head of Department for Countering Illegal Migration of the MIA of Ukraine, in his turn informed the participants about two facilities for accommodation of irregular migrants being fully operational in Ukraine, as well as about the progress in establishment of 8 more centers under the Readmit-1 project. The participants raised the issue of protection of the rights of irregular migrants and of children in particular. They noted that children who are placed in such facilities should attend local schools. In the course of the meeting the participants arrived at the conclusion that a capacity development project was necessary. In particular, there is a need for a plan of engagement with the local population in the communities where such facilities will be established. Also all the participants agreed that employees of migrant accommodation centers need to improve their professional skills continually.
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