News

Switzerland takes on the 2026 Chairmanship of the Rabat Process, with a commitment to fostering constructive dialogue among countries of origin, transit, and destination, while actively engaging civil society, non-governmental and international organisations, the private sector, and youth. The handover of the Chairmanship from Nigeria took place at the Senior Officials Meeting in Abuja on 28-29 January 2026.

ICMPD Director General Susanne Raab met with Poland’s Secretary of State, Mr Czesław Mroczek, on 27 January 2026 in Warsaw. The meetings focused on current national and regional migration dynamics, including external EU border and security-linked pressures; the situation of Ukrainians in Poland; and ways to elevate ICMPD–Poland cooperation. This was also Ms Raab’s first visit to an ICMPD Member State, since assuming office as new Director General this month. 

European Union and international partners, government representatives, civil society organisations, gathered in Dushanbe in December for a high-level briefing to strengthen long-term reintegration support systems for returning migrants in Tajikistan. Discussions centred on the multifaceted reintegration landscape in Tajikistan, highlighting the need for more coherent, predictable, and sustainable support for returning Tajik nationals.

The fraudulent use of identity and travel documents can facilitate transnational criminal activities, including human trafficking and migrant smuggling – particularly when people move across borders undetected. This has been endemic and poses a persistent threat to regional security across West Africa.

In 2025, EU Member States recorded a 26% decrease in irregular arrivals and a 21% decrease in asylum applications. It is the first marked decline in these figures in many years, and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development’s (ICMPD) Migration Outlook report, released today, says that this should provide momentum to the EU’s Asylum and Migration Pact implementation.

ICMPD Director General Susanne Raab met with HE Mr Vincenzo Mascioli, State Secretary for Migration of Switzerland on 13 January 2026. The meeting reaffirmed the strong partnership with Switzerland, a founding ICMPD Member State and long-standing strategic partner, and provided an opportunity to exchange views on key migration challenges in Europe and beyond. Discussions focused on Switzerland’s migration priorities and ICMPD’s strategic direction for 2026; and key areas of cooperation including Ukraine, the expansion of the Migration Resource Centres, and the Swiss Chairmanship of the Rabat Process in 2026.

ICMPD Director General Susanne Raab met with HE Minister of Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Mr Rebar Ahmad, to sign a Cooperation Agreement in strengthening strategic engagement in the areas of migration management, reintegration, and capacity building.

Susanne Raab joins the International Centre for Migration Policy Development as Director General, effective 1 January 2026.

Migrant smuggling and human trafficking are among the most complex and urgent challenges shaping mobility between Africa and Europe. Both crimes are highly adaptive, continuously evolving in response to political, economic, and technological shifts. They thrive on structural inequalities and systemic vulnerabilities fuelled by conflict, socio-economic disparities, discrimination, human rights violations, governance gaps, political instability, and climate shocks. As these conditions intensify globally, they expand both the number of people at risk and the geographic scope where victimization and exploitation can occur.

ICMPD commemorates this year’s International Migrants Day, ten years after the so-called migration crisis of 2015, an event that has left profound marks on the political and social landscape of Europe and its neighbouring regions. The crisis and a series of subsequent events shifted discourses and posed growing challenges that called for agility and innovation in policy responses.

Three regional migration Dialogues are further strengthening the responses to human trafficking and migrant smuggling across African and European routes. The Khartoum, Rabat, and Niamey Processes marked an important milestone in interregional cooperation to enhance policies and cooperation to align with realities on the ground, ensuring that responses to these crimes remain fit for purpose.

Director General elect Susanne Raab stressed the need for genuine alternatives for migrants to ensure access to legal pathways, to protect them from human traffickers and migrant smugglers. Ms Raab emphasised this at the second International Conference of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling in Brussels on 10 December; which opened with a Keynote Speech by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Officials and delegates from 39 Budapest Process countries and 12 organisations met in Istanbul on 26–27 November 2025, hosted by Türkiye as Chair. The 37th Senior Officials Meeting, since the dialogue’s launch in 1993, called for prioritising return and reintegration, legal pathways, and stronger law-enforcement cooperation.

The Network of Anti-Trafficking Coordinators of South-East Europe (NATC-SEE)¹ gathered to develop and exchange solutions on human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and labour exploitation including of foreign nationals in the region. At the meeting in Sarajevo on 13-14 November 2025, members of the network provided updates on their recent and upcoming regional collaborations to support victims of human trafficking; as well as case studies on identifying and prosecuting trafficking cases.

Two high-level side events held in Addis Ababa highlight African-led efforts to operationalise migration frameworks and promote regional integration.