The number of member states of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) has increased by one as of May 2018. Turkey has become the 17th state to join ICMPD, an international migration policy organisation founded 25 years ago with Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. ICMPD already enjoys long-lasting cooperation with Turkey and runs several projects and activities from its office in Ankara.
“We are pleased to have gained yet another member state that is unquestionably a key stakeholder in the field of migration,” said ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger. “At the present time, no other country in the world is hosting as many refugees as Turkey. We are pleased to welcome Turkey as a reliable partner to our family of member states.”
ICMPD was founded in 1993, on the initiative of Austria and Switzerland, at a time when the migration reality in Europe saw dramatic changes following the political changes in Eastern Europe and the Balkan conflicts. The ranks of its member states saw their first growth in the 1990s with the addition of Hungary (in 1995) and Slovenia (in 1998). The Czech Republic then followed (in 2001), as did Sweden and Portugal (both in 2002) and Bulgaria (in 2003). Croatia and Poland joined next (both in 2004) as well as Slovakia (in 2006). Romania and Serbia were the next to join (in 2011) as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina (in 2012), the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (in 2015).