POLICY REPORT ON IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM IN LATVIA ...

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In 2010, the Ministry of Justice implemented Project of Programme 2008 "Information
Campaign for the Latvian Society regarding Third-Country Nationals", within the framework
of which the strategy for the resident information 2011-2015 was developed, as well as the plan
for information of residents for 2010, TV and radio broadcasts in Latvian and Russian were
created and broadcasted, short movies were made and broadcasted on television, publications
were made in Latvian, Russian and English in newspapers and on Internet news portals,
outdoor advertising posters were designed and placed on public stands and at public transport
stops, outdoor advertisements were placed on buses in Riga city and on intercity buses, 2,000
information posters have been made and delivered for further dissemination in educational
establishments thus ensuring that the attention of the teaching staff and youth is drawn to
matters related to the project target audience.
Within the framework of the project, the Ministry of Justice organized six interactive
informative events: three of them were organized in Riga and three were organized in the
largest regional cities of Latvia: Liepaja, Daugavpils and Jelgava. Target audience of the
seminars were experts of the state administration, service providers, representatives of
associations and foundations. The aim of the event was to inform the experts and
representatives of the civic society about the main tasks of the European integration policy and
the directions of its development, to introduce with issues identified during the project of the
Fund, and to inform about the main aspects of integration of immigrants. In order to specify
practical matters related to integration of immigrants and to promote a dialogue among
immigrants and experts involved in the integration process, third-country nationals from
Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Algeria participated in the events. Their participation in the
provision of information was an important added value to the event, which encouraged the
exchange of ideas and gave an opportunity to the participants to gain broader view about the
different needs of the target audience. 77
Contribution to the European Integration Forum is ensured in cooperation with nongovernmental
institutions leading integration of immigrants. In compliance with the call of the
European Commission, representatives of two non-governmental organizations that are leading
in the field of the integration of immigrants are delegated to each meeting. The Ministry of
Justice represents Latvia in the European Commission network of National Contact Points on
Integration; the network has been established for better coordination of the European
integration policy. Information for the integration homepage is updated using the network of
77 Information provided by officials of the Ministry of Justice.