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During his visit to Bulgaria, ICMPD's Director General Michael Spindelegger met with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and spoke at the parliament.

In 2015, about 1 million migrants arrived in Europe, with more than 2000 migrants losing their lives in the process. West African migrants featured in the top 5 countries of origin, which crossed the Mediterranean to arrive in Europe.

Michael Spindelegger has taken office as the Director General of ICMPD on 1 January 2016. His goals in his new position are to further strengthen ICMPD’s role as a member-driven international organisation and as a think tank developing tools for effective migration management.

Newly-elected Director General of the Vienna-based International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Michael Spindelegger, met yesterday Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Austria / Permanent Representative to the International Organisations in Vienna, Austria, Mr. Khaled Abdel-Rahman Shamaa. The meeting, which was held at the Egyptian embassy in Vienna, tackled various key issues of relevance to ICMPD and Egypt, including the prospects of cooperation in the immediate future on several subfields of migration.

During a visit of the minister, ICMPD's new Director General presented his goal to strengthen positioning of the organisation as a platform for dialogue and mediation on migration.

During his debut visit to Brussels, the newly-appointed Director General of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), Michael Spindelegger, met key European decision makers including Commissioners and addressed press for the first time. He points to four issues that Europe and its partners need to address to solve the current migration crisis. Spindelegger also outlined plans for his organisation, ICMPD. 

ICMPD’s new study finds that Syrian refugees are often trafficked or exploited because they are not able to meet their basic needs. To prevent this, investment in infrastructure and humanitarian aid in the main hosting countries is essential.

A new study, the first of its kind, casts light on how the conflict in Syria is making children, women and men more vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking in persons. Often people are trafficked or exploited simply because they are not able to meet their basic needs, according to research by ICMPD, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development. To prevent this, investment in infrastructure and humanitarian aid in the main hosting countries is essential.

New ICMPD study on the impact of the Syrian war and refugee situation on trafficking in persons in the region makes recommendations on how to address vulnerability.

Addressing the vulnerability of people affected by the Syrian crisis is necessary to prevent their exploitation at the hands of human traffickers. In Syria and the surrounding countries, this means providing access to basic needs and services in the short term. It means providing more resettlement and other safe travel options to safe countries outside the region to address the current reliance on migrant smugglers.

Former Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Minister will take office at ICMPD in January 

This new publication presents good practices and lessons learnt from the initiative 'MIgration EU eXpertise - MIEUX', an innovative and pioneering migration experts’ facility with the aim of enhancing the capacities of authorities from EU partner countries.

The relatively recent upsurge in projects, meetings and other activities to support diaspora engagement has resulted in a number of lessons learnt for ICMPD, which we analyse in a new Working Paper: "Promoting Diaspora Engagement: What Have We Learned?"

The project ‘Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa (FMM West Africa) aims to boost the development potential of free movement and migration in West Africa.

What impact is the Syrian war and refugee crisis having on trafficking in persons in the region? ICMPD is carrying out a research assessment to form the basis for well-informed responses, to reduce the likelihood of trafficking cases in the future.