ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger and Deputy Director General Sedef Dearing met with His Excellency Rachid Meddah, Director General of Migration Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria on 17 June 2025.
They discussed ICMPD’s Training Institute on Migration Capacity Partnership for the Mediterranean (MCP Med TI); with all parties recognising its strong potential to serve as a regional hub for capacity development in migration management. The Algerian Delegation also expressed commitment to support the operational development and sustainability of the training institute.
The meeting took place during ICMPD’s mission to Malta, and on the margins of the first Project Steering Committee of the Algeria-ICMPD cooperation on strengthening capacities in the field of migration. This project is co-funded by the governments of Denmark, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
Representatives of the project donors were also present, including Victor Cramer, Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Asylum and Migration of the Netherlands and Kim Sitzler, Migration Delegate for North Africa at the Swiss Embassy in Tunis. Both Mr Cramer and Mr Sitzler reiterated their strong support for this strategic partnership and its long-term objectives.
The meeting reaffirmed the shared commitment to deepening cooperation on migration governance — which is a pioneering form of international collaboration in the Algerian context, built on mutual trust, institutional ownership, and a forward-looking strategic vision. Concluding the meeting was a forward-looking discussion of the upcoming official project launch event in Algiers, where all partners will reconvene to mark the next milestone in the cooperation and reaffirm their engagement.
ICMPD acknowledges Algeria’s leadership and the active involvement of both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, and the Ministry of the Interior, Local Authorities and Territorial Planning.
In the group photo, from right to left: Ms. Ana Feder: Head of Region for the Mediterranean a.i - ICMPD; Mr. Toufik Rata. Deputy Director of Migration Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, Algeria; Ms. Sedef Dearing: Deputy Director General, ICMPD; Mr. Michael Spindelegger: Director General, ICMPD; Mr. Rachid Meddah: Director General of Migration Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, Algeria; Mr. Victor Cramer: Deputy Director General, Ministry of Asylum and Migration, Netherlands; Mr. Abdelkader Zerguerras: Chair of the Interministerial Committee / Responsible for the Study and Monitoring of Migration Issues, Ministry of Interior, Local Authorities and Spatial Planning, Algeria; Mr. Kim Sitzler: Migration Delegate for North Africa, Swiss Embassy in Tunisia, Switzerland