The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) hosts its annual Vienna Migration Conference (VMC) on 22-23 October 2024. This year’s discussions take place during a pivotal election year and will feature diverse topics that are set to shape the European migration agenda. These include strategies for safer routes, handling irregular arrivals, and labour migration. The public sentiment on migration in light of socio-economic and geopolitical volatility, and ways forward to implement the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, will also be prominently discussed.
This year’s VMC comes at a crucial time as the EU prepares to move its asylum and migration policy reforms from paper to practice in the coming years, in light of recent and current geopolitical realities in the region and beyond. With these most pressing issues in mind, the Conference also serves as the most strategic gathering of leaders and implementors in the migration fieldsays Michael Spindelegger, ICMPD Director General, who will be opening the event.
Speakers at this year’s Conference will reflect on lessons learnt in the past year of migration policy, and opportunities to strengthen global migration responses. They include Gerhard Karner, Austria’s Federal Minister of the Interior; Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum; Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Pakistan’s Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development; Nicole de Moor, Belgium’s State Secretary for Asylum and Migration; and Wael Badawi, Egypt’s Assistant-Minister of Foreign Affairs for Migration, Refugees and Combating Human Trafficking. Joining them are:
- Ruven Menikdiwela, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at UNHCR
- Daniel Delgado, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Border and Immigration Policy, US Department of Homeland Security
- Nina Gregori, Executive Director, European Union Asylum Agency
- Catherine Woollard, Director, European Council on Refugees and Exiles
- Sirpa Rautio, Director, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
- Hanne Beirens, Director, Migration Policy Institute Europe
Political scientist and European and trans-Atlantic affairs analyst Ivan Krastev will also deliver a keynote on the challenges the EU is set to face in the upcoming months, including divisions over the war in Ukraine, climate change and migration, and whether the EU has what it takes to overcome them.
VMC not only reflects on recent achievements in the field of migration; it also provides a platform to prepare for future challenges and opportunities, including the role of new technologies, and opportunities for collaboration with the private sector in attracting talent.
A detailed agenda of the event and list of speakers are available here.
For more information, please contact:
Bernhard Schragl
Head of Media and Communications
media@icmpd.org
Follow the event on social media:
#ViennaMigrationConference
The event will also be livestreamed, please register here.
About the VMC
Every autumn the Vienna Migration Conference, ICMPD’s annual flagship event offers an indispensable opportunity to discuss unfolding geopolitical dynamics, global trends and the current EU migration agenda. It is the premier international platform for high-level discussions on migration in Europe and beyond, where debates put the spotlight firmly on the state of play in migration diplomacy and where real progress among key partners can be made.
About ICMPD
The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) is an international organisation, with 21 Member States and working in more than 90 countries worldwide. Contributing to the development of better and safer migration policies and programmes, ICMPD takes a holistic approach to migration: structurally linking policy and research, cooperation, community outreach, and capacity development. With over 500 staff members, it takes a regional approach in its work towards efficient cooperation and partnerships along key migration routes, with a focus on Africa, Central and South Asia, Europe, Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
Founded in 1993 with headquarters in Vienna and liaison office in Brussels, ICMPD holds UN observer status and cooperates with more than 200 partners including EU institutions, UN agencies, Member States, and several countries. ICMPD receives contributions from its Member States and bilateral donors, the European Commission, UN partners, and other multilateral institutions.