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Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programmes have emerged as a migration governance tool used by many national governments and supranational organisations in the 21st century. They fund—typically irregular or stranded—migrants to return to their origin countries whereafter they provide support aimed at “sustainable reintegration”. AVRR reintegration support is classified by the International Organization for Migration, which administers around 95% of AVRR programmes globally, as “economic”, “social”, and “psycho-social”. However, AVRR programmes have received several criticisms from academics and activists. The academic literature on measuring reintegration, identifying the causes of reintegration success, and identifying the causes of AVRR participation are nascent but provide a basis by which policymakers can understand how to improve AVRR outcomes. Therefore, this study identifies how communication can contribute to AVRR objectives.

The Ukrainian diaspora emerged as a crucial and proactive force in responding to the crisis following the Russian military attack on Ukraine in February 2022, playing a pivotal role in various aspects of humanitarian aid and support efforts. The Ukrainian diaspora was quick and efficient, mobilising resources, both financial and organisational, to provide immediate assistance to Ukrainian refugees who sought shelter in different parts of the world, particularly in European countries. Through establishing numerous organisations and collaborations with international entities, the diaspora engaged in activities such as humanitarian aid, legal assistance, healthcare provisions, educational support and social integration initiatives for displaced Ukrainians. The report on the Role of Ukrainian Diaspora in Crisis Response, Future Return and Reconstruction of Ukraine: Case Study from Germany, Czech Republic and Poland aims to analyse the activities of Ukrainian diaspora organisations and migrant communities in the three destination countries as well as demonstrate the diaspora’s role as a cornerstone for shaping a hopeful and prosperous future for Ukraine. The report was completed by Dr. Valeria Lazarenko (PhD) and edited by the project implementation team. 

This work was designed to shed light on past and current dynamics that influence international migration (from and within the region), gather the perspectives and analyse the narratives of Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC) in an attempt to understand the reasons that underpin the mobility of unaccompanied and separated children from and within the region, also with a view to provide recommendations on how to better provide for their specific needs in different contexts. The study placed a special emphasis on 3 selected countries in the MENA region (Morocco, Jordan and Lebanon) while valuable information and data gathered in 2 European Union (EU) countries, Greece and Spain, were also used.

This report set out to unpack dynamics and characteristics of diaspora engagement policies in the MENA region, drawing on an in-depth review of six countries’ frameworks and Gamlen’s typology of diaspora engagement policies. 

This document has been created following the discussions among - and inputs from - participants of the Prague Process Workshop held in Tbilisi in October 2023, highlighting best practices, key success factors and stumbling blocks to digitalising the various aspects of the migration management cycle, as well as providing some recommendations for next steps. The Workshop focused on the increased role of digitalisation, and how this can be deployed to assist in migration management.

This policy brief considers the displacement and forced migration inside and outside Ukraine’s international border, the dynamics of these movements, the individuals’ aspirations and the possible future developments in migration trends while reassessing scenarios developed in 2022.

In a year full of European, national, and regional elections, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) expects migration to be a pivotal topic. While many governments implement quick fixes ahead of their electoral cycles, opposition parties are tying their campaigns to migration-related promises. ICMPD’s 2024 Migration Outlook report forecasts record displacement levels resulting from war and conflict, leading to a further securitization of migration and offshoring of asylum procedures, as well as a rise in secondary movements. These developments are taking place while labour migration is ‘coming of age’ in Europe.

ICMPD’s Migration Outlook presents a brief analysis of recent migration and policy trends and provides an outlook on developments and events to watch out for in 2024.

This publication aims at contributing to the debate on preparedness in the area of international migration, to present a number of factors that shape the size and structure of migration flows, and to discuss how these drivers might develop in the coming years. 

Public communication has the potential to do enormous good for humanity. Regarding migration, public communication can be used to meet widely agreed-upon policy objectives such as safe, orderly, and regular migration. Moreover, it can help governments uphold democratic legal- and rights-based policy frameworks against nefarious forces and contribute to maximising the potential benefits and minimising the potential costs of migration to origin, transit, and host country populations, as well as to migrants themselves. In line with ongoing research from the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the EUROMED Migration programme on how to use public communication to re-balance migration narratives and protect the rights, safety, and opportunities of migrants, this report asks how we can use persuasive communication to achieve policy goals regarding irregular migration. It gathers lessons learned and provides practical recommendations, with a particular focus on the Euro-Mediterranean region and the activities of the European Union.