At this year’s Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling, ICMPD cited political and technical dialogues, whole-of-route cooperation, and state capacity as vital pillars in countering migrant smuggling. On 1 July 2026, high-level representatives of government, EU and UN agencies, and international organisations highlighted the need for operational cooperation and political commitment; and reflected on strengthening situational awareness and cooperation with countries of origin and transit, and supporting joint responses to migrant smuggling.
Countering migrant smuggling requires more than political commitment. We need trusted regional dialogues, route-based operational cooperation, reliable information for migrants, and strong national systems and capacities that can deliver results over time.said Malin Frankenhaeuser, ICMPD Director for Policy, Research and Strategy, at the panel discussion on political engagement and partnership-building.
Ms Frankenhaeuser joined the panel discussion with Johannes Luchner, European Commission’s Deputy Director-General for Migration and Home Affairs; and Ilias Chatzis, UNODC’s Chief of the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section. Other panel members with Ms Frankenhaeuser were Ahmet Küçükikiz, Türkiye’s Director General for Combating Irregular Migration and Removal Affairs; Silva Caka, Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs of Albania; Ziauddin Ahmed, Additional Secretary for the Ministry of Home Affairs of Bangladesh; and Aleksandra Suska-Mentel, Deputy Director of the Department of International Affairs and Migration of Poland.
Also in the panel were Dayana Mercedes Diaz Vargas, Director of Naturalization at the Ministry of Interior and Police for the Dominican Republic; Modou Diagne, Permanent Secretary of the Interministerial Committee for the Fight against Irregular Migration (CILMI) of Senegal; and Adam Gardner, Deputy Director for Africa, Middle East and Asia of the UK Home Office.
Joining Ms Frankenhaeuser were ICMPD Deputy Director for Migration Dialogues and Cooperation Nicola Graviano; and Head of Global Initiatives Oleg Chirita, who emphasised: “As senior officials gather to map out the Global Alliance’s Work Plan, ICMPD contributes to translate commitments into operational impact. Through ICMPD’s Global Initiatives we actively support all three pillars of the Plan, by strengthening prevention through communication interventions in the framework of the Global Alliance Rapid Response Initiatives (GARRI); and helping build operational responses in partner countries and EU Member States through the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF). Thanks to the MPF we are also facilitating legal pathways as alternative to irregular journeys. A whole-of-route challenge requires a dynamic, rapid-response framework, and that is exactly what we are delivering.”
In 2025, ICMPD convened the Khartoum, Rabat, and Niamey Process countries in interregional cooperation to enhance policies and cooperation to align with realities on the ground, ensuring that responses to human trafficking and migrant smuggling remain fit for purpose. The initiative highlighted the value of cross-regional dialogue in addressing shared operational challenges and directly supports the goals of the Global Alliance by building trust, facilitating exchange of good practices and generating the partnerships needed for joint action along key migration routes.
This reflects ICMPD's broader routes-based approach, which links political dialogue, operational cooperation, state capacity and migrant-facing services across countries of origin, transit and destination. From border management and law enforcement cooperation, to Migrant Resource Centres (MRC), labour mobility partnerships, and research on evolving smuggling trends and online recruitment fraud, ICMPD works to connect policy, capacity and operations across entire migration routes.
Another example is the Community of Law Enforcement Practitioners (COLEP), anchored in the Budapest Process and entering a new phase following last week's meeting in Antalya, translates dialogue into operational cooperation. It provides law enforcement officials with a route-based framework to strengthen information exchange, risk analysis, origin–transit–destination cooperation, and links between enforcement, protection, identification and referral.
ICMPD fully supports the Global Alliance Work Plan for 2026-2028 and stands ready to work with the European Commission, UNODC, partner countries, EU Member States, agencies and other relevant actors to turn these shared commitments into action.Ms Frankenhäuser concluded.
From left to right: Oleg Chirita, ICMPD Head of Programme - Global Initiatives and Deputy Head of Brussels Mission; Malin Frankenhaeuser, ICMPD Director of Policy, Research and Strategy; and Nicola Graviano, ICMPD Deputy Director, Migration Dialogues and Cooperation Directorate.