Participants are expected to include representatives of NGOs, Member States' officials, EU institutions, international organizations and other relevant agencies, each of whom will present practices and modes of identifying and referring people in need of assistance and protection at the borders. The need for transparent procedures, together with adequate cooperation for responses mechanisms to boat arrivals, has gained particular importance in the context of the mass displacement in North Africa, and its consequences on southern Europe.

Led by ICMC in partnership with seven other non-governmental organizations, the DRIVE project was  carried out from March 2010 to September 2011 with a focus on studying the actual procedures and practices used when responding to boat people at points of arrival in Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain. The project further provided the opportunity to identify good responses and important gaps, formulate related policy and programming recommendations, and initiate and strengthen networking and capacity-building among NGOs, local service providers, international and national institutions engaged with boat people.

To read more about the content of the DRIVE conference, please see the pdf programme below.

Conference programme: Responding to boat arrivals in the Mediterranean and mixed migration flows (413.23 KB)