News

Vienna, 17 January 2025 – ICMPD selects a new Director General this year. This follows the end of the second and final five-year term of the incumbent, Director General Michael Spindelegger, in December 2025.

The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) has released its annual forecast of the 10 migration issues that can shape international migration in 2025. For the first time in years, irregular migration and asylum figures in Europe have decoupled from global trends on displacement. Much suggests that this trend is the result of more restrictive migration policies globally, but it is still too early to speak of a sustainable development. The downward trend, however, will reinforce political debates in Europe that primarily focus on control, externalisation and return. 

In December 2024, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) reached a significant milestone with the successful conclusion of the Modernising the Nigeria Immigration Service Workforce (MoNIS) Project. Supported by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the Government of Denmark, this initiative has redefined standards for institutional efficiency, inclusivity, and innovation within the NIS.

Today is the International Migrants Day. On this occasion we reflect on our work in another year of continued or escalating wars and conflicts, rising climate change, and socio-economic deprivations that have displaced 120 million¹ people in their own countries or forced them to cross borders for their safety.

Strengthening the local economy while enhancing entrepreneurship capacities of migrants to contribute more productively with their skills and business ideas, as well as creating jobs enriches the host communities. This is the main thrust of the ENHANCER (Entrepreneurship Capacities for Sustainable Socio-Economic Integration) Project, launched in 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that saw enterprises and workers losing their businesses and jobs.

On 20 November 2024, the conference "Migration and Border Cooperation in Central Asia - State and Civil Society Approach" took place in Brussels within the framework of the EU’s International Partnerships InfoPoint. The event, organised by the BOMCA and PROTECT projects - both implemented by ICMPD’s Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia - highlighted two key European Union-funded initiatives aimed at strengthening cooperation between civil society organisations and state migration authorities in Central Asia.

In the framework of the ICMPD EMLINK project Compact Acceleration Course, 10 Georgian startups participated in a comprehensive 10-day tour to Belgium from 14-24 October 2024, designed to immerse them in the country’s dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem and startup infrastructure. The tour offered a strategic platform for Georgian startups to broaden their networks and establish connections with investors, accelerators, incubators, and research institutes. Furthermore, they gained invaluable insights into EU projects and available support for startups operating in both Belgium and Georgia.

The research project “Re-thinking approaches to labour migration. Potential and gaps in EU Member States’ Migration Infrastructures”, mapped labour market needs and analysed the national migration systems of all 27 member states between early 2023 and early 2024. After an initial presentation in late November during the annual conference of the Labour Migration Practitioners’ Network, ICMPD makes available a mapping of labour migration pathways across the EU countries.

ICMPD’s EU-funded Project PROTECT hosted a training on “The Role of Media in Forming Migration Questions” last November in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, as a part of a monthly training series on migration themes organised for the country’s Migration Service.

Migration has become more central to political and policy discourse in Europe, particularly in recent years. Political parties that use migration as a rallying piece in their platforms have become more prominent, building on the narrative of increasing irregular migration. Often, such discourse draws on data in an inflammatory way, suggesting ever mounting numbers. But a new Policy Brief, which accompanies a more detailed working paper and a new public database, suggests there has been no definitive change in the number and share of irregular migrant population in the region since the estimates made in the Clandestino Project in 2008.

ICMPD and the Ministry of Interior of Tunisia hosted the seventh International Border Management Conference (IBMC) in Tunis, on 27-28 November 2024 with the theme, “Border Management and Capacity Partnerships: Joint Leadership and Shared Responsibilities to govern and partner in the present to adapt to or shape uncertain futures."

Three years since the Taliban took over, Afghans are now farther cut off from the rest of the world. While Afghanistan has been aid-dependent, post-Takeover sanctions slashed [aid] for the country practically overnight. Sanctions weakened the banking sector. With the de facto authorities unable to produce passports, people cannot travel – let alone seek refuge in and migrate to a different country. 

ICMPD hosted the first training on Reintegration for Migration Policy Makers and Programme Professionals in Baghdad, for senior officials from the Federal Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government. Under the Danish-funded Capacity Partnerships and Access to Information for Sustainable Reintegration of Returnees in Iraq (CAIR-II) Project, the training was hosted on 24-28 November at the Migration Training Centre at the Ministry of Migration and Displaced (MoMD).

From 01 to 03 December 2024, a three-day training on 'Counselling and Communication Skills' took place in Istanbul, Türkiye under the Sweden-Iraq Cooperation on Migration Governance (SI-COM) project.

The European Union Global Diaspora Facility (EUDiF) launched a new funding opportunity for diaspora organications based in Europe to implement development projects in the country of origin. The deadline to apply is 15 January 2025.