News

On 6-8 March 2023, ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger visited Türkiye, where he met Mr. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Interior, Mr. Savaş Ünlü, the President of the Presidency of Migration Management and other high-level officials. The aim of the visit was to express ICMPD’s condolences following the catastrophe and its commitment to support Turkish authorities in the relief efforts in the affected regions, as well as to exchange updates and ideas for mid and long term support efforts.

On 16 March, ICMPD organised a workshop for Moldovan stakeholders as part of the project “Capacity for a Rights-Based Reception System for Moldova” (CareFor) to exchange experience on rendering psychological services to the residents of the two temporary accommodation centres managed by the Inspectorate-General for Migration. The workshop gathered representatives of relevant public authorities, NGOs, project partners, ICMPD expert and project team.

On 14-16 March, a workshop on protecting personal data in migration area with a  focus on information and communication technologies was organised for the representatives of the Inspectorate General for Migration (IGM) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova.

On 7–10 March 2023, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the ICMPD Anti-Trafficking Programme held a validation workshop on the newly developed Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) of the National referral mechanism for victims of trafficking.

On 14 and 15 February 2023, the Inspire project team held three information sessions in Tirana, Albania as a follow-up to their bilateral exchanges with ICT and Construction companies in November 2021.

In October 2022, ICMPD launched the new project titled Resilience, Reinforcement and Recovery of Ukrainian Migration and Consular Services (RRR MFA/SMS) to support the State Migration Service as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to protect and provide state services and assistance to the citizens of Ukraine fleeing the war. The project prioritises actions in the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland, the three countries currently hosting the majority of Ukrainian nationals under temporary protection. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is currently under preparation and awaiting signature.

On 20-23 February, the SCOP project organised a study visit on migration and digitalisation for the representatives of the Inspectorate General for Migration (IGM) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova, in Tallinn, Estonia.

On 28^th February, 2023, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), with support from ICMPD and funding from the Government of Denmark, organised a stakeholder consultation workshop on the next 7-year strategic plan of the GIS. The workshop was organised as part of the Strengthening Border and Migration Management (SMMIG) project.

As of 24 February, the State Customs Service of Ukraine officials received an unlimited access to the functionality of the analytical and legal system “ZakonOnline”, and can also work fulltime with the analytical system on compliance, market analysis, business intelligence and investigations "YouControl". This was made possible in the framework of the "EU Support in Strengthening IBM in Ukraine –Resilience (“EU4IBM - Resilience") project funded by the European Union.

On 22 February 2023, the EU Support to Strengthening IBM in Ukraine (EU4IBM) project trained State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS) officers on the use of mobile mini-scanners for the inspection of light vehicles in order to prevent smuggling of illicit objects, including small arms and drugs. 12 scanners for non-destructive inspection, worth EUR 420,000, were procured, and delivered to Ukraine a week earlier.

In the framework of the EU-funded “Support to the Implementation of the Mobility Partnership with Azerbaijan (MOBILAZE 2)" implemented by International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), ICMPD and State Migration Service (SMS), is announcing an Integration Programme for migrants and refugees living in Azerbaijan.

2023 set off as a year of reforms in the area of migration. With the support of the CareFor project, the newly established Inspectorate-General for Migration initiated the revision of the legislative framework pertaining to migrants’ custody, among others.

On 7 February 2023, a meeting to kick off the Civil Society Facility on Migration (CSO facility) was organised, in the framework of the STREAMinG project. The CSO Facility foresees bettering the engagement of Civil Society Organisations in Migration Policy Dialogue and Policy Implementation, as well as strengthening CSO capacities through the financial support of the European Union and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). 

On 23-27 January 2023, the MOBILAZE 2 project organised a study visit on migration policy sectors – development and implementation for the Azerbaijani delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population and State Migration Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan and ICMPD in Azerbaijan in Stockholm, the Kingdom of Sweden.  The purpose of the visit was mainly focused on increasing the capacities of the Azerbaijani state institutions to introduce and practically adopt all relevant steps of the migration policy cycle, based on the relevant experience of the EU MSs, in particular, to learn about the Swedish experience in migration policies development and implementation.