News

In September 2022, the EU-funded MOBILAZE 2 and Prague Process projects organised the International Summer School on Migration. Participants of the event were young graduates and professionals from Azerbaijan and Ukraine who attended lectures and workshops by professors of renowned EU universities.

On 19-23 September 2022, the MOBILAZE 2 project organised a study visit to Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia for Azerbaijani Border Control Officials. They exchanged on good practices in education, methodology and tools, used in trainings to border service agencies on document security, border management/integrated border management and risk analyses between EU and Azerbaijani colleagues.

The Strengthening Border Security in Ghana (SBS Ghana) project, funded by European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), in collaboration with the Ghana Integrity Initiative, held a two-day roundtable discussion and workshop on “The Role of CSOs in Ghana’s Border Security Management.”

During a visit to Uzbekistan, ICMPD Director General signed a Memorandum of Understanding between ICMPD and the Agency for External Labor Migration under the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

With this delivery of surveillance equipment, the EU assistance to IBM agencies under the EU4IBM project has reached a total value of more than EUR 1.5 million, and includes a wide range of critically needed supplies. These supplies help enable the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine to better fulfil border security tasks and respond to newly emerging risks.

On 14 September 2022, ICMPD held a workshop on the role of communities of practice and cooperation networks in contributing to more inclusive and evidence-informed integration policy and practice. The event featured a diverse range of experts and practitioners working in the field of integration.

Amidst the humanitarian crisis caused by the protracted war in neighbouring Ukraine, the displaced people fleeing to Moldova are in continuous need of assistance. In cooperation with the National Congress of Ukrainians in Moldova, the CareFor project supports the work of one of the Temporary Reception Centres in Chisinau.

Between the 5^th and 7^th of September 2022, under the scope of the KOMPLEKS project, ICMPD organized a study visit for representatives of Polish local authorities and project partners to Norway.

On 5-6 September 2022, in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, the EU-funded Border Management Programme in Central Asia – Phase 10 (BOMCA 10) started its first of a series of National Project Steering Group Meetings (NSGMs) in Central Asia. During September – October 2022, the leadership of the project, representatives of the European Union and implementing partners will meet with the key partners, such as state agencies and international organisations in all countries across the region to review the Programme’s progress in the current year and to define upcoming plans.

The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) has recently become the target of an external cyber-attack. The attackers managed to gain limited access to individual servers and to get hold of some of our data.

Immediately after discovering the attack ICMPD has taken all measures to limit the impact of this attack. In parallel, ICMPD reported the issue to the Austrian Data Protection Authorities in accordance with the regulations. The criminal investigation of this case is currently ongoing and ICMPD is cooperating with the authorities.

ICMPD and international organisations call on states to harness the opportunities presented by technology to counter trafficking in persons. On the occasion of 30 July, the International Day against Trafficking in Persons, a joint statement was published by the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), that ICMPD is co-chairing this year.

On 25-26 July, the project “Supporting the Implementation and further Strengthening of Turkey’s National Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration System” (NAVRR) held an expert workshop in Ankara on developing visibility and outreach plans for Türkiye’s National Assisted Voluntary Return & Reintegration Programme.

On 28 July 2022, the Federal Minister for Women, Family, Integration and Media of the Republic of Austria, organised a conference on ministerial and state levels to address current trends and challenges for integration in Europe. ICMPD’s Director General Michael Spindelegger, attended the conference and pointed out that both, refugee hosting countries as well as refugees need continued international support. 

Under the title ‘Migration and Society – A whole of government process with a whole-of society participation ‘representatives of ICMPD, the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) and the University College of Teacher Education Lower Austria (PH NÖ) met to discuss the results of the joint project ‘MIGRATION.DIGITAL.PEDAGOGY‘ (MiDiP). External experts were invited to join the discussion on social peace, diversity and public safety to provide an additional perspective.

During its first mission to Kenya and Ghana, the Inspire project team introduced the project to a variety of stakeholders in Mombasa, Nairobi and Accra.