MedCities organised a webinar series to discuss the challenges of the reception of migrants in Mediterranean cities and outline the future work of the network in the field.

The main objectives of the seminar, entitled « Migration reception in Mediterranean cities: Experiences, challenges and action for local governments » were:

(i) to promote exchange between MedCities member cities on migration management (a topic which had not been specifically addressed before)

(ii) identify and delve into the issues that most concern member cities in this area

(iii) collect proposals for action and collaboration in the framework of the network’s work for the future.

The workshop showcased a number of interesting experiences and cases coming from MedCities network and outside. Six member cities of the network participated, two of which were represented by elected officials (City Council of Sfax, Sousse and Gabes, Tunisia, City Council of Irbid, Jordan, City Council of Dannieh, Lebanon, and City Council of Tangier, Morocco), together with the two MedCities Knowledge Transfer Centers. The city councils of Irbid (Mme Leila Youssef, Engineer in the Greater Irbid Municipality) and Barcelona (Mr. Xavier Cubells, Director of the Immigration and Refuge Service of Barcelona City Council) presented concrete experiences, together with the Director of the MC2CM program of ICMPD, Mr Lamine Abbad. 

The workshop was inaugurated by the Secretary General of MedCities, Mr. Josep Canals, and was facilitated by the expert team of MigrationWork, in charge of preparing the report-summary available here. In addition, the workshop had the collaboration of the migration expert and author of the study on « good practices in the reception of migrants in 6 Tunisian municipalities », Prof. Boubakri, published in March. 

The recording of this webinar is available in these two videos. 

First part of the session

Second part of the session

Read here the final report document with the main conclusions of the « Migration and reception in Mediterranean cities – Experiences, challenges and future actions for municipalities » seminar.