An interministerial delegation from Germany travelled to Colombia for talks led by Dr Joachim Stamp, Federal Government Special Commissioner for Migration Agreements. During the visit, Germany and Colombia agreed to cooperate on issues of migration management. The two countries agreed to set up a joint steering group for this purpose. During her talks in Colombia on Friday, Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser will also discuss the continued cooperation between the two countries.

Federal Minister Faeser said: "I am delighted that we have now been able to establish a new partnership with Colombia and joint working mechanisms to reduce irregular migration and strengthen legal labour migration. This is in our shared interest. We want to rigorously enforce the return of people who have no right to remain in our country. At the same time, we want to attract the skilled workers that we urgently need in many sectors of our economy. My talks in Colombia on Friday will focus not only on the fight against organised drug crime, which is the main concern of my South America tour, but also on this new partnership to manage migration."

Federal Government Special Commissioner for Migration Agreements Joachim Stamp said: "We share the same goals as our Colombian partners when it comes to migration policy. We want to promote migration for work and education purposes and clamp down on irregular migration. We have agreed to set up a joint steering group for this purpose. Colombia has many young professionals who want to work in Germany, either on a temporary or permanent basis. This is an excellent opportunity to attract productive and skilled workers to Germany, especially for occupations with labour shortages. At the same time, experts in both countries will work on concrete measures to increase the success rate of asylum applications from Colombia."

Source: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Colombia

The visit was comprised of numerous discussions in the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Coy. Talks were also held in the Colombian Ministry of Justice, the Colombian immigration authority, the German chamber of commerce and the Colombian labour authority, as well as with various stakeholders in the education and training sector, such as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Goethe-Institut.

Alongside Federal Government Special Commissioner Joachim Stamp, the delegation was made up of representatives from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Federal Employment Agency (BA) and the German Embassy in Bogotá.

In December 2023, Federal Minister Faeser signed a migration agreement with Georgia. In January 2024, an agreement was reached on closer cooperation with Morocco. Additional agreements and arrangements for managing migration will follow.