Phase 1: Readmission Case Management for Pakistan (2016-2019)

In Pakistan, the EURCAP Facility digitalized and improved the flow of information between EU Member States and Pakistan through development and implementation of an electronic Readmission Case Management System, as well as by building capacity of all relevant stakeholders, within the framework of the EU-Pakistan Readmission Agreement which entered into force in December 2010. The RCMS in Pakistan was the first such platform developed under the EURCAP Facility, and in fact, the Government of Pakistan’s request to digitalize readmission case processing brought forward the idea of creating a flexible mechanism to facilitate dialogue on readmission and hence the establishment of the EURCAP Facility. The RCMS in Pakistan was launched in 2018 and co-funded by the Government of Denmark.

The platform was developed for nine months by the Pakistan National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), a semi-private entity within the Ministry of Interior, with the guidance of
a Georgian expert, following as a benchmark the design of a platform developed by IOM for Georgia that had been singled out as an example of best practice by DG HOME. The RCMS digitalizes the flow of information, increases the capacity in managing the volume of readmission applications within the agreed timelines, and improves the transparency and accountability of the procedure. Belgium, Germany, Greece and France were the pilot EU Member States involved in testing the Pakistani platform.

Alongside system development, IOM carried out capacity building activities for stakeholders to familiarize themselves with and use the system:

  • study-visit to Georgia to introduce officials of the Government of Pakistan to the model readmission case management system set up in Georgia;
  • Two mentorship workshops in Islamabad and Lahore to introduce staff of national agencies in Pakistan to the system (focused on key features of the RCMS software related to submission of cases, processing and extracting reports);
  • workshop in Brussels to wrap up the testing phase and plan the full roll-out of the system.

Phase 1

Phase 2: Sustaining progress on RCMS in Pakistan through capacity building (RCMS II) (September 2018-2022)

Under this project, IOM Pakistan, together with the government partners, is extending access to the RCMS to interested EU Member States and 14 Pakistani Diplomatic Missions in the EU. A Service Agreement between IOM and NADRA, the main implementing partner, was signed in July 2020. Besides the extension of the RCMS to additional EU Member States, NADRA also officially approved RCMS deployment at 7 international airports in Pakistan (Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad and Sialkot) under this project.

IOM Pakistan has also initiated and/or delivered the following complementary activities to further strengthen readmission case processing between the EU and Pakistan, institutionalize the RCMS as an implementing tool of the readmission and reintegration policy, and build capacities of relevant government authorities to use the readmission data for improved policymaking:

  • An informal needs assessment based on experience of end-users in Pakistan and conducted by IOM, in collaboration with NADRA;
  • Two mentoring workshops for end-users organized by IOM in September 2020, in coordination with NADRA and the Ministry of Interior. Adopting an interactive delivery approach, the workshops provided a live demonstration of the RCMS followed by hands-on training using a beta version of the RCMS. All input gathered from end-users was used to update the RCMS software and make it more user-friendly.
  • Video Tutorials for the RCMS, a self-paced learning programme, which will be instrumental in training additional EU Member States interested in using the RCMS at a later stage.
  • An assessment of existing Migration Data Management practices carried out in close collaboration with the Government of Pakistan, with a follow-up workshop on  Migration Data Management;
  • Coordination Committee for Reintegration of Returnees set up to create linkages between the returnee data in RCMS and reintegration support structures.

On the occasion of the German presidency of the Council of the EU (July–December 2020), EURCAP collaborated with Germany in providing workshops and training to Pakistani RCMS end-users.

Phase 2