IOM Vienna

Since 1952, when Austria joined the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as one of its earliest member states, the IOM Mission in Vienna has promoted a vision of mutually beneficial migration that is not only humane and orderly but that actively involves the migrant in both sending and receiving countries in the development of migration policies. In 2007, our Mission celebrated its 55th Anniversary and through the years has increased its responsibilities and developed a multi-dimensional identity to reflect the rapidly changing European, and global, landscape.

IOM Vienna's task as a Special Liaison Mission is to coordinate the policy dialogue between IOM, its Member States, the Vienna-based international (UN), regional organizations (OSCE), EU Agencies and the Government of Austria.
To this end, in November 2006, IOM Vienna launched the Vienna Migration Group (VMG) - a new initiative furthering the migration dialogue in consultation with Vienna-based regional and international organisations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), United Nations Specialized Agencies, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), etc. in close cooperation with the Austrian Government.

As a forum for dialogue and cooperation that transcends personal outlooks and political agendas, the VMG offers a platform to further the migration management dialogue between Vienna-based international and regional organizations at the national and EU levels. A variety of topical issues surrounding foreign, security and migration policy, labour migration, trafficking of human beings (THB), and questions of European integration have been dealt with.

Furthermore, our main activities include Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) and Reintegration, research in the framework of the European Migration Network (EMN), Operations Activities (e.g. resettlement, AVR, family reunification), Counter-Trafficking and the migration-development nexus. IOM Vienna used to be active in the field of administrative capacity building, particularly on the EU Acquis on migration.

Finally, our Technical Cooperation Centre (TCC) offers support to countries in Europe and Central Asia to assist governments and other relevant actors in developing and implementing comprehensive and self reliant systems for managing migration processes.

Mr. Andreas Halbach, Chief of Mission