The Presidency of the Regional Government, through the Regional Directorate for the Communities, is organising the first Azorean Migration Forum on the islands of Faial and Pico on October 26 and 27.

This initiative aims to promote and stimulate reflection and debate on the integration policies for third-country nationals (TCN) in the Region at an economic, social and cultural level while contributing to an exchange of experiences and good practices at an organisational and business level in the regional context.

The meeting brings together diplomatic representatives of foreign citizens in the Azores, immigrant support associations as well as public and private organisations directly or indirectly involved in regional migration issues. The programme also includes testimonials from immigrants living in the Azores.

The Forum, which is free to attend, kicks off in Faial on Thursday 26 October. The opening session, chaired by the Regional Director for the Communities, José Andrade, is scheduled for 9.30 am and the plenary sessions of the thematic panels will take place throughout the day at the auditorium of the João José da Graça Public Library and Regional Archive in the city of Horta.

The Opening Conference, scheduled for 9:45 am, will be delivered by Sónia Pereira, former High Commissioner for Migrations and current member of the Board of Directors of the new Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA).

The first panel, scheduled for 10:15 am, is entitled “Policies for the reception and integration of immigrants in the Azores.” It features interventions by Cristina Casas, a member of the office of the High Commission for Migrations, and by representatives of the Association of Municipalities of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, José António Soares, and of the Regional Directorate for the Communities, Nuno Cardoso Dias, under the moderation of Roberto Morais, head of the Faial office of RTP/Açores.

The second panel, scheduled for 11:15 am, will discuss “Strategies for the Social Integration of Immigrants in the Azores,” featuring presentations by Leoter Viegas, from the Association of Immigrants in the Azores (AIPA), Nélia Viveiros, from CRESAÇOR’s Migrant Support Office, and Sílvia Branco, from APAV’s Support Network for Migrant and Discrimination Victims. This session will be moderated by Jorge Costa Pereira, editor of the Tribuna das Ilhas newspaper.

The event will continue at 2:30 pm with the third panel entitled “Social and labour integration of immigrants in the Azores.” It will feature the Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Similar Services of Portugal – Azores Office, represented by António Cardoso, the Azores Building Industry and Public Works Association, represented by Francisco Morais, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Azores, represented by Francisco Rosa, and the Regional Directorate for Vocational Training and Employment, represented by Nuno Gomes. The panel will be moderated by Manuel Tomás, editor of the Ilha Maior newspaper.

Dedicated to the theme “Perspectives on foreign citizens in the Azores,” the last panel of the day, scheduled for 3:30 pm, will feature diplomatic representatives from third countries in the Region, namely the Honorary Consuls of Cape Verde, Guilherme Bettencourt, Canada, Melinda Stokreef, and Turkey, Francisco Teves. It will be moderated by the Regional Director for the Communities.

The programme will end with an intercultural performance by Brazilian actress Eleonora Marino Duarte at 4:30 pm.

On the second day, October 27, the programme starts at 9:30 am with the last panel of the Forum on the theme of “Immigrant integration paths in the Azores.” This session, moderated by the Regional Director for Communities, will be attended by third-country nationals living on the nine islands of the Region: Mirella Lima (Corvo), Cláudia Madeira (Flores), Cristiano Fonseca (Graciosa), David Callus (Terceira), Gabriele Nogueira (São Jorge), Admilson Pina (Pico), Sorangel Veliz (Faial), Jessica Ferrary (São Miguel) and Liliana Oliveira (Santa Maria).

The President of the Regional Government, José Manuel Bolieiro, will preside over the closing session of the Migration Forum, scheduled for 11 am. The Mayor of Horta, Carlos Ferreira, and the Regional Director for the Communities, José Andrade, will also attend the session.

In the afternoon, the programme will take place in Madalena do Pico with a visit to the Local Support Centre for the Integration of Migrants on the island of Pico (CLAIM) at 3:15 pm.

At 4 pm, the Forum participants will meet with the immigrant communities on the island of Pico at the Madalena Town Hall. The session will include some brief presentations by the Mayor of Madalena, José António Soares, the Regional Director for the Communities, José Andrade, and the President of the Association of Immigrants in the Azores (AIPA), Leoter Viegas.

The meeting will end with an intercultural moment featuring music by Tânia Monteiro (Cape Verde) and poetry by Eleonora Marino Duarte (Brazil).

The organisation of this initiative in Faial and Pico acknowledges that around 27% of third-country nationals residing in the Region currently live on these two islands.

The Migration Forum is part of the Intercultural Islands project, a joint organisation of the Regional Directorate for the Communities and AIPA – Association of Immigrants in the Azores, funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (FAMI) and the High Commission for Migrations (ACM).