Only days after Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union activated the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD). It effectively provided more than four million displaced Ukrainians protection from the war; legal rights to stay, work, and benefit from social services; as well as support for integration. As its name suggests however, it was always meant to be temporary.

ICMPD hosted a workshop in Chișinău for Moldova’s Joint Risk Analysis Working Group, bringing together key national agencies to assess border security challenges, share institutional updates, and explore the integration of CIRAM into national practices. 

ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger met with Ireland’s Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan, and Minister of State for Migration Colm Brophy to discuss strengthening work together on the country’s migration priorities. On 14-15 May 2025, Mr Spindelegger and Deputy Director General Sedef Dearing were joined by senior ICMPD staff as part of their first official visit to Dublin, following Ireland’s accession as ICMPD Member State last year.

Cabo Verde is situated about 570 kilometres off the coast of West Africa, and 1,500 km to Spain’s Canary Islands – the closest and first entry of potential migrants into Europe. That route along the Western Atlantic is treacherous. But given its geostrategic location between Africa, the Americas and Europe, Cabo Verde may have become a transit point for organised criminal groups and their activities and a transit route for migrants from West Africa en route to Europe.

Moldova’s IBM Council met on 27 May to review progress and kick off the 2026–2030 border management program. The new policy document will be developed with SCOP project support, aligning with EU standards for smarter and safer borders.

High-level delegates from Bangladesh, Iraq and Pakistan, along with Türkiye and Hungary, and the European Commission, are strengthening efforts for sustainable reintegration for returning migrants in the Silk Routes region. At the Thematic Working Group of Budapest Process countries last week, delegates and representatives called for reintegration efforts to be embedded in broader national development frameworks, and that these must target the structural and community-level drivers of migration that often reflect the challenges returnees face on their return.