Germany and Colombia sign joint declaration of intent on migration partnership
press release
18 September 2024
Joint steering group appointed
During a meeting in Berlin, Germany’s Federal Government Special Commissioner for Migration Agreements, Dr Joachim Stamp, and Colombia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Rojas Rodríguez, signed a joint declaration of intent on a migration partnership between the two countries.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said: “I am pleased that we are working with Colombia to gain skilled workers and reduce irregular migration. The signed joint declaration of intent creates an important basis for this. This cooperation is in our shared interest. We want to avoid asylum procedures which have no chance of success, and we want to rigorously enforce the return of people who have no right to remain in Germany. At the same time, we are offering opportunities for training and higher education in Germany to attract the skilled workers we urgently need in many fields – from tradespeople to nurses.”
Dr Joachim Stamp, Federal Government Special Commissioner for Migration Agreements, said: “The joint declaration of intent represents another important cornerstone for good cooperation in migration policy between Germany and Colombia. I am pleased that we have been able to come to an understanding on this in such a short space of time. Our countries have the same interests: we want to promote migration for research, work and education purposes and clamp down on irregular migration. And we are tackling these issues directly.”
Jorge Rojas Rodríguez, Colombia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, said: “In signing the joint declaration of intent, we have taken a step towards our shared goal of developing cooperative migration strategies that are in keeping with our shared values and benefit our societies in a just and constructive way. It is also important that we support the motivated, hard-working and performance-driven Colombians living in Germany. There are currently 14,000 Colombian nationals living in Germany who are in employment and contribute to the social security system. There are also 3,500 students and postgraduates as well as around 500 researchers. With that said, we also want to work together to develop initiatives to prevent unsafe migration.”
A new bilateral steering group, which will define topics and discuss progress, is soon due to meet for the first time. On the German side, the steering group is headed by Special Commissioner Dr Joachim Stamp, and on the Colombian side by Yolanda Villavicencio, coordinator of Colombia Nos Une, the diaspora programme at the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The steering group also includes representatives of various ministries and institutions from both countries.
Special Commissioner Dr Joachim Stamp visited Colombia in February 2024 for exploratory talks. During her tour of South America in spring 2024, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser spoke to the Colombian government about further cooperation.
The Federal Government has already concluded migration agreements with the following countries: Georgia, India, Kenya and Uzbekistan. A comprehensive migration partnership has been in place with Morocco since January 2024, and the Federal Government is also conducting talks and negotiations with other countries.
Migration partnerships are specifically tailored to each country. Some of them are based on international treaties, while others are based on memorandums of understanding (MoUs) or the establishment of bilateral working structures for practical and trusting cooperation.
Originally published at https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/pressemitteilungen/EN/2024/09/kolumbien-migration.html
