The Netherlands becomes the 20th Member State of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).
Vienna 25th April 2023— The number of ICMPD Member States has increased: The Netherlands has become the 20th member to join ICMPD, an international organisation working to find innovative solutions to regional migration challenges. This accession takes place after Greece (2021) and Germany (2020) joined ICMPD in recent years.
The Netherlands and ICMPD have been working together for the past 20 years, successfully collaborating on a number of migration governance projects. Presently, the Netherlands is working together with ICMPD on six projects spread out across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. This cooperation allows ICMPD to implement activities such as strengthening the coordination of anti-trafficking response, supporting partner governments in their voluntary return mechanisms, and improving the detection of fraudulent use of travel and identity documents in partner countries.
Furthermore, the Netherlands has an active role in migration dialogues supported by ICMPD, such as the Budapest Process, Khartoum Process, and Prague Process. Providing a valuable platform to develop partnerships, shape agendas, and inform bilateral and EU-level discussions on developments, which offer an avenue for the Netherlands to advance their transnational cooperation.
“As migration movements to the Netherlands and the EU continue to grow, we urgently need to strengthen and implement an effective and humane migration policy. Mutually beneficial agreements with third countries, cooperation in the EU, and knowledge and data of migration phenomena are indispensable for this. ICMPD can contribute in all three of these areas and thus provide a valuable addition to the development and implementation of Dutch migration policy.” said State Secretary for Justice and Security Mr. Eric van der Burg of the Netherlands Ministry of Justice and Security.
“We are delighted to have gained the Netherlands as a new member state. Our members represent a unique group of countries highly relevant to migration – the Netherlands is an essential part of this group. Having it as a member will further strengthen the strategic dimension of our organisation.” said ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger, “Netherlands has a key role to play in European migration dynamics. The membership will strengthen our possibilities to respond jointly to migration opportunities and challenges and work towards functioning migration systems at the regional level”.
ICMPD was founded on the initiative of Austria and Switzerland in 1993, a time when the migration reality in Europe was dramatically altered by 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, Poland and Bulgaria in 2003, Portugal and Croatia in 2004 as well as Slovakia in 2006. Romania and Serbia were the next to join in 2011 followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2012 and North Macedonia in 2015. Malta and Türkiye both joined in 2018 followed by Germany in 2020 and Greece in 2021.