News

While the Libyan conflict is just a mere example of the many crises affecting the world, it sheds the light on the suffering and difficulties thousands of migrants live when caught in countries in crisis.

The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) presented the new EU-funded project "Support to the Implementation of the Mobility Partnership with Azerbaijan (MOBILAZE)" in Baku at the kick-off and coordination meeting of the project.

The fifth in a series of workshops on the migration and development nexus, organised by ICMPD for the Directorate General of Migration Management, took place in Istanbul on 31 March – 1 April.

On 19 April, ICMPD presented the new EU-funded project "Support to Migration and Border Management in Armenia" (MIBMA) in Yerevan at the official launch of the project.

Last week, ICMPD’s Director General Michael Spindelegger was on mission to Lebanon, meeting with the Ministers of Labour, of Social Affaires and of Interior as well as the Chief of the General Direcorate of the Security General (DGSG).

The Common European Asylum System is in the process of being reformed. What about the system needs to change and can an agreement of the EU Member States be expected? A review of the Commission’s new policy proposal.

All eyes were on Hungary when it constructed the first border fence on the Western Balkans route in summer 2015 in an attempt to stop migrants and refugees from entering its territory. The fence, however, did not stop the flow, it detoured the people - and so did several other fences built along both the external EU borders as well as within the Schengen area. Despite the limited effect of physically closed borders to stem the flow or solve the migration crisis, countries along the so-called ‘Western Balkans route’ keep on introducing similar measures.

With the increasing mobility of persons and goods in times of fear of terrorism and organised crime, states need to ensure the right balance between open, while at the same time secured and controlled borders. ‘Integrated Border Management’ (IBM) can combine these two objectives.

ICMPD’s Director General Michael Spindelegger went on two missions in the previous week, meeting with the Federal Councillor of Switzerland as well as the Prime Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

This is the second of two articles about Turkey’s approach to migration and the most immediate challenges arising from the ‘refugee crisis’. While the first article analysed EU-Turkey relations, this blog gives and overview of the institutional set-up of migration management in Turkey.

This is the first of two articles about Turkey’s approach to migration and the most immediate challenges arising from the ‘refugee crisis’. While this article analyses EU-Turkey relations, the second part zooms into the institutional set-up of migration management in Turkey.

ICMPD, in collaboration with the Swiss Government, has organised the first expert meeting in the framework of its Annual Policy Initiative 2020. Switzerland, as the chair of ICMPD’s Steering Group in 2020, has dedicated its chairmanship to the topic "Safeguarding human and public security in the new migration agenda" and ICMPD is running the Annual Policy Initiative 2020 under the same heading.

Governments are considering ‘immunity passports’ to allow those with COVID-19 antibodies greater mobility and to provide employers with an increasing pool of people to fill public-facing jobs. This may seem tempting but would lead to mass discrimination in the labour market, and also provide perverse incentives to potential migrants to become infected. There are alternatives.

The joint EU-ICMPD Migration EU eXpertise (MIEUX) Initiative, one of ICMPD’s longest-running projects, initiates a new phase for an initial three-year period. The joint Initiative is a capacity building facility that provides partners in Africa, Asia, the EU Neighbourhood, and Latin America and the Caribbean with short-term, technical assistance through tailored activities that match the expertise required by the requesting partner country.

Governments are seeking the balance between containing the COVID-19 pandemic and saving the economy. Migrant workers are essential in this regard, and the EU and its member states have to find ways to manage labour migration in an era of restricted mobility.

On 22 April 2020, ICMPD organised the third project steering group (PSG) meeting in the framework of the EU-funded project Forced-Return Monitoring III (FReM III).

Millions of people are stranded abroad by COVID-19. The pandemic has triggered the largest repatriation operation in history. As a result, consular services are under tremendous pressure and are forced to work together.

The Mediterranean City to City project (MC2CM) co-organised a webinar on "Leveraging migrants contribution to the emergency and addressing vulnerabilities", on 16 April 2020 in the frame of a series of Live Learning Experiences piloted by UCLG in cooperation with UN Habitat and Metropolis.

The pandemic is teaching border agencies in Europe important lessons about operational preparedness in times of crisis. This has implications for the future in terms of training, staffing, cross-border information sharing and the use of technologies.

ICMPD field operatives track the ramifications of Covid-19 for migration in more than 90 countries. Over the past weeks, they have reported on developments in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. Here are some of the most important.

On 15 April, ICMPD hosted a meeting of the Network of Anti-Trafficking Coordinators of South-East Europe to discuss the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the trafficking in human beings and the anti-trafficking response in the countries of South-East Europe.

As the coronavirus has upended life as we know it around the globe, asylum systems have not been spared. With national governments acting in different ways to stem its spread, the pandemic has resulted in a series of measures that have far-reaching consequences for asylum systems and applicants for international protection.

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.

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.