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As displacement continues to rise globally, more and more people are ‘stuck’ in situations of protracted displacement, where they find themselves in a long-term situation of vulnerability, dependency and legal insecurity, lacking or actively denied opportunities to rebuild their lives. While the protracted nature of many conflicts is a critical contributing factor, there is considerable room for improvement in policies and practices to more effectively address protracted displacement—and an urgent need to strengthen responses. The complicated ‘maze’ of international, national and local laws, policies and practices often backfires, exacerbating precarity and preventing many displaced persons from finding sustainable solutions for themselves and from contributing to receiving communities. 

It is not only the widening gap between the scale of displacement and the solutions offered but also the diversity of individual profiles and experiences that underscores the urgent need to expand the range of solutions so that more displaced persons can find long-term prospects. A paradigm shift that places people at the heart of solutions, meaning that countries enable displaced persons to make use of their own capacities, would open new doors for people to become ‘self-reliant’. Such an approach is not only vital for addressing existing protracted situations—but it can also help prevent those more recently displaced from finding themselves in protracted situations in the future. This policy brief highlights entry points for European stakeholders seeking solutions for (protracted) displacement.
 

Migration information campaigns have become a popular policy mechanism amongst donors and implementers to deter irregular migration. With the increasing number of information campaigns introduced in countries of origin, attention is also being focused towards the design of these campaigns, including considerations on engaging people that can act as “credible messengers” or “key influencers” to convey the content of the campaign. It is in this line that campaign funders and designers are exploring the potential of involving diaspora members as messengers in information campaigns. Backed by a dedicated research study on diaspora engagement in information campaigns under the PARIM project, this policy brief questions the assumptions behind engaging diaspora members as “credible messengers”. One major assumption is that since potential migrants rely on friends and family abroad for their migration process, following the same principle, they would be more receptive to information received through diaspora members in campaigns. However, this policy brief argues that diaspora members engaged in campaigns are imperfect proxies for potential migrants’ friends and family abroad. With this caveat, it presents certain considerations to take into account when designing a migration information campaign that involves diaspora members as messengers.

More than 82 million people – equal to the population of Germany – are forcibly displaced across the globe. An increasing number of refugees and internally displaced persons are living in long-term situations of vulnerability, dependency, and legal insecurity. This is despite the fact that every displaced person has the capacity and resources to build a new future in displacement, but is rarely given the chance to do so by current aid, development, and migration policies. This policy brief makes the case for a paradigm shift towards a people-centred approach to displacement policy that 1) considers the human capital and social networks of displaced people and 2) enables them to use and further develop their potential, including through mobility. As the world’s most powerful countries, the G7 are well positioned to play a game-changing role in reducing the scale of global displacement. This brief suggests ways that G7 countries can take a global leadership role in reframing the search for solutions by:

• promoting displaced people’s professional expertise so they can make better use of their skills;
• strengthening human capital by promoting education and apprenticeship opportunities;
• leveraging the power of family networks so that its easier for them to support one another; and
• scaling up support for the most vulnerable individuals.

Authors: Andrea Salvini and Georg Bolits

The policy brief reflects on the criteria a Prague Process country of origin (CoO) can use to orient out-migration in a manner that maximises outcomes for its migrants, its society and its strategic governance goals.
These criteria consider the labour shortages in countries of destination (CoDs) and their immigration regimes and, consequently, economic and social payoffs for migrant workers. Furthermore, authorities in CoOs are interested in minimising risks linked to the recruitment process and favour corridors that help them reduce labour surpluses in their internal labour market, and in tandem limit the incidence of brain drain and maximise that of brain gain. The choice of migration corridors to incentivise regular migration, often through bilateral agreements, is also influenced by capability considerations. Which countries can value the skills and competences of their nationals best? Finally, evidence shows that corridors are also built between countries with linguistic, geographic and cultural proximity.
How these parameters characterize corridors is illustrated through case studies to distil lessons on how to choose better partners for cooperation agreements, and select tools to set up joint governance of migration across the two ends of a corridor. A labour demand approach first identifies potential CoDs with attractive vacancies and visa regimes that allow in-migration of migrant workers from a certain skills tier. In a final step, the paper addresses “filters” applied by employers and policy makers in CoDs, before concluding with a discussion on suitable recruitment channels.

Data show that trafficking in human beings (THB) for sexual exploitation continues to be the most prevalent form of trafficking. Moreover, women continue to constitute the great majority of victims identified in Europe. Much fewer trafficking victims are identified in agriculture, construction, hospitality, domestic work, or begging. This Policy Brief provides a statistical overview of the victims identified across the EU (2017-2018) and aims to assess why identification programmes struggle to identify and assist male victims and those facing exploitation outside the sex industry. The key question raised is whether identification efforts are biased towards trafficking for sexual exploitation and female victims.

In August 2021, the radical Taliban movement took control of almost the entire territory of Afghanistan. Fearing for their lives, many Afghan citizens want to flee the country. The prospect of a migrant influx from Afghanistan greatly concerns the Central Asian countries, since radical Islamists may also cross the border along with the displaced population. To effectively counter and be prepared for different scenarios, the Central Asian countries have been strengthening their borders and enlisting the support of fellow member states of regional associations, such as the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). This publication describes the situation in Afghanistan and the related policies of the Central Asian countries in terms of possible forced displacements.

This Policy Brief will focus on one of the widely recognized global processes: the decline of human populations. Rapid population growth accompanied development during the second half of the previous century. Demographic decline or the potential for decline will underlie development over the first half of the present century. This Policy Brief will draw attention to some of the inherent tensions created by this process and specifically its linkages with migration, both internal and international. It will flag up the overall demographic trends across the Prague Process countries, identify differences across the countries, and highlight policy issues that will need to be addressed.

Discussions on how to increase the number of returns (including voluntary ones), while conducting them in a humane way, and achieving sustainable reintegration are high on the agenda of  both Türkiyeand the European Union (EU). In April 2021, the European Commission took a step toward with the creation of a common EU return system, releasing its first Strategy on Voluntary Return and Reintegration. This Strategy aims to increase the number of voluntary returns, but also to improve EU Member States’ coordination on their respective Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programmes and make reintegration in origin countries more sustainable. To achieve these objectives, the EU needs to secure cooperation with countries of origin and transit, such as Türkiye. Voluntary return and reintegration may be one area where there are tangible opportunities for Türkiye and EU/EU Member States to build on some converging goals.