News

Few topics have divided Europe as much in recent years as migration and asylum. The new pact on Migration and Asylum puts migration back on the EU agenda, writes Michael Spindelegger.

While Europe is holding its breath in anticipation of another COVID-19 related lockdown, with people still adapting to closed borders and movement restrictions, the people of Afghanistan are all too familiar with this situation. For Afghans, the pandemic is merely one additional threat to health and life to cope with. Taking a holistic approach, this article will look at how COVID-19 might affect the migration patterns of Afghans, and which new threats and opportunities will develop.

ICMPD Director General Mr. Michael Spindelegger and Ms. Gurlu Jabborzoda, Minister of of Labour, Migration and Employment of Population (MoLMEP) of Tajikistan have exchanged views on migration issues and signed a Memorandum on Understanding.

The "Migration.Communication.Schools" (MIKS) project partners from ICMPD, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the University of Education of Lower Austria met in Vienna on 17 September 2020 to record the interim status of the migration communication project within the initiative "MAKING A CHANGE.TOGETHER" after three years.

The Von der Leyen Commission plans to crack down on widespread abuse of Europe’s asylum system whilst doubling down on relocation as the solution to irregular boat arrivals in the Mediterranean. Can the Schengen area learn the lessons of the 2015-2016 crisis?

On 15 September 2020, the European Union-funded Programme on Border Management in Central Asia (BOMCA) gathered more than 100 high-level stakeholders online to summarise the achievements of thematic work from the five years of the project’s 9th Phase. During the final event, BOMCA presented and disseminated project results and tools for the further strengthening of border management, migration governance, and trade facilitation measures in the Central Asian region.

On 10 September, the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Employment of Population of the Republic of Tajikistan informed ICMPD that the government gave its approval to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ICMPD. This was the positive news that ICMPD received at an online meeting with a high-level delegation from Tajikistan, headed by the Labour Minister Ms. Gurlu Jabborzoda.

On the 2nd of September 2020, the Signing Ceremony of the National AVR Cooperation Protocol has taken place between the Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM), the Turkish Red Crescent (TÜRK KIZILAY), the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Climate change and migration are both topics at the forefront of European political and societal debates. At a time when the nexus of the two issues is increasingly visible in international discussions and initiatives, ICMPD is analysing the ways in which they intersect.

On 25 August 2020, the project "Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana" (SMMIG), funded by the Danish Embassy in Accra and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), donated 30 computers, 2 multifunction printers, a 4x4 vehicle, a camera, 2 high-level document verification devices, 3 forensic magnifiers and 320 3-in-1 magnifiers (for examining travel and source documents at the borders) to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).

Kabul: Afghanistan’s capacity to strategically manage its national borders in an effective and efficient manner was bolstered through technical support provided to senior government officials in two events held from 23 – 26 August 2020 in Kabul, with international experts and trainers connecting online

Lack of access to services and information, including changed border processes, repatriations, poor health care, among other factors, place South Asian migrants at risk. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the vulnerability of Afghan, Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants, and rendered accurate information even more necessary. ICMPD’s Migrant Resource Centres reach out and provide reliable information to empower migrants in an effort to address this challenge.

The project "Strengthening Border Security in Ghana" (SBS Ghana), funded by the EU through the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), provided emergency relief equipment to the Ghana Immigration Service, to help curb the spread of COVID-19 and enhance GIS capacity to better respond to future emergencies.

On 3 August 2020, ICMPD handed over two stationary thermal fever screening systems worth around EUR 30,000 to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS) working on the front-line of pandemic, processing travels to and from Ukraine.

The EU-funded Integrated Border Management in the Silk Routes (IBM Silk Routes) project has provided Iraq’s border agencies with personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies to help combat the spread of coronavirus.