MAGNET – Job placement assistance for voluntary returnees from Austria, Belgium, France and the Netherlands returning to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

The MAGNET project was implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with the support of the Bureau of Migration and Displacement (BMD) and in coordination with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government. The project aimed to enhance the job placement process of beneficiaries of Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programmes in Austria, Belgium, France and the Netherlands returning to the governorates of Erbil, Dahuk or Sulaymaniyah.

The objective was to foster long-term socioeconomic reintegration of Iraqi voluntary returnees by linking them to potential employers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and vice versa.

MAGNET:

• provided information to voluntary returnees from Austria, Belgium, France and the Netherlands on reintegration services and respective service providers present in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (informational booklet);
• reinforced the network of employers as partners in Iraq;
• set up a job matching database allowing to efficiently and rapidly identify possible employment opportunities for voluntary returnees;
• provided job counselling and referral to potential employers for voluntary returnees from Austria, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

The project, which ran from 1 January 2012 until 30 June 2013, was implemented by the International Organization for Migration with the support of the Bureau of Migration and Displacement and in coordination with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Further information, including contact details of the involved IOM missions, can be found on the MAGNET website (https://www.magnet-project.eu/home/) and in the MAGNET information leaflet.

For further information, please contact Ms. Andrea Götzelmann-Rosado (email: avrr.vienna@iom.int, tel: 01/ 585 33 22 24).

MAGNET was funded by the European Return Fund and co-funded by the French Ministry of Interior and the Dutch Repatriation and Departure Service. The project was also supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Kurdistan Regional Government.