News

The CADRE project, implemented by ICMPD within the framework of the European Return and Reintegration Network (ERRIN programme), organised its 3rd “Train-the-Trainers” session for return counsellors in Austria. The face-to-face training took place on 29-31 March, 2022

The sixth edition of the Vienna Migration Conference (VMC) took place on 19-20 October 2021. It provided an indispensable opportunity for thought leaders, decision-makers and practitioners in the migration sphere to convene, connect and engage in strategic discussions on migration. 

On 05 April 2022 in Warsaw, Poland, The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) in collaboration with the Polish Office for Foreigners (UdsC), the Association for Legal Intervention (SIP), and the Polish Migration Forum Foundation (PFM) launched a two-year project titled Comprehensive Support for People in a Vulnerable Situation in the Polish Migration Management System (KOMPLEKS). 

EUROMED Migration V and Euromesco, the main network of research centres and think tanks in the Euro-Mediterranean area, release a survey of migration experts in the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood titled “Towards sustainable and mutually beneficial migration partnerships in the South Mediterranean”

The ICMPD/ERRIN implemented CADRE project organised its last training session on Return Counselling with a special focus on counselling vulnerable people, namely victims of trafficking.  The face-to-face training took place on 3-5 May in Brussels, Belgium.

A new study by EUROMED Migration V examines expert knowledge and survey data on the aspirations of young people in Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia to find out how EU talent partnerships can be used to increase the employment and mobility of young people in and from these countries.

Michael Spindelegger, ICMPD Director General, talks about the regions most affected by migration movements, how Europe can and should prepare for potential consequences and how ICMPD can help to build a well-functioning European migration system. The interview was first published in the ICMPD Annual Report for 2021. 

On 13 May 2022 in Warsaw, Poland, ICMPD, in collaboration with the Polish Office for Foreigners (UdsC), the Association for Legal Intervention (SIP), and the Polish Migration Forum Foundation (PFM), launched the first public discussion kicking off the project on Comprehensive Support for People in a Vulnerable Situation in the Polish Migration Management System (KOMPLEKS).

On 19 May 2022 in Brussels, Belgium, an information session on “EU Solidarity with Ukraine: protecting people fleeing the war” was held by the Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs and the Mission of Ukraine to the EU. ICMPD, represented by Lukas Gehrke, is honoured to have been a part of it.

Complementary pathways to protection have been gaining increasing interest from policymakers and civil society as a way to enhance international responses to rising, and in many cases long-lasting, displacement. Complementary pathways to protection provide alternative routes for refugees to access protection, alongside the three traditional durable solutions (repatriation, local integration, and resettlement). Despite their considerable promise, complementary pathways remain small in scale.

The GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum 2022 focuses on the essential challenges of today’s divided world and takes place on 2 – 4 June 2022. On this occasion, ICMPD’s Director General Michael Spindelegger points out the link between the war in Ukraine, wheat supply and possible migration movements.

On 24 – 26 May 2022, South Sudan hosted a Regional training for officials of border management agencies on international cooperation to combat cross-border crime. The event was the first as part of South Sudan’s workplan as Chair of the Khartoum Process.

In May 2022, the EUROMED Migration V project in cooperation with the Training Institute for Migration Capacity Partnerships organised its first Training for Young Migration Professionals in Malta: a 5-day course for students from Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Tunisia, Libya, and Palestine.

On 29 March 2022, ICMPD, as part of the TRAFIG and SPRING projects, held a webinar focused on the labour market inclusion of people fleeing war in Ukraine. The panel featured a diverse range of experts and practitioners working in the field of the EU and ICMPD Member States.

On 2 June 2022, ICMPD, as part of the SPRING project, held a webinar on entrepreneurship as a driver of economic inclusion, focusing on good practices, challenges, and opportunities for (female) beneficiaries of Temporary Protection from Ukraine. The panel featured a diverse range of experts and practitioners working in the field of the EU and ICMPD Member States.

On 2 June 2022, in Budva, Montenegro, the Network of the Anti-Trafficking Coordinators of South-Eastern Europe met for their annual meeting. The rationale of the meeting was a discussion of the effects of the Ukrainian crisis on the trafficking in human beings in the region based on the network countries’ experience in the past months.

Denmark supports Pakistan to strengthen rights based border management capacities of Federal Investigation Agency

The Anti-Trafficking Programme (ATP) of ICMPD held the final event of the regional project “Developing Approaches for Enhancing the Functionality of the National Referral Mechanisms in the MARRI Participants”. The team presented three practical guidelines developed in the framework of the project.

To support the volatile border regions, Akkar and Baalbeck, restore stability and establish stronger relations with border security agencies, the EU-funded Strengthening Capability for Integrated Border Management in Lebanon (EU IBM Lebanon Phase 3) Project signed a partnership agreement in the first quarter of 2021 with the NATO affiliate Multinational CIMIC Group (MNCG).

The Strengthening Border Security in Ghana (SBS Ghana)  project, funded by European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), organised a welcome ceremony, for four beneficiary organisations. They received a four hundred thousand Euro (€400,000) grant to implement activities that will support and contribute to innovative approaches on mobility issues and border management, in Ghana. This grant follows the first grant of € 300,000 awarded to three Ghanaian CSOs in August 2021.

The Strengthening Border Security in Ghana project (SBS Ghana) together with the Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana (SMMIG) supported the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) at a four day workshop in Koforidua-Ghana, to evaluate the implementation status of the 2018-2022 strategic plan of the Service. 

The “Strengthening Border Security in Ghana” (SBS Ghana) project, funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), donated 100 books and 20 bookshelves to furnish the library of the Ghana Immigration Service Training School and Academy, at Assin Fosu. 
The books donated comprise a comprehensive list of books on some crosscutting issues on immigration, international border management, borders security leadership, teamwork, international law and management. 

In collaboration with the SBS Ghana project, the Gender Mainstreaming Unit of the Management of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) organised a sensitisation and awareness creation workshop in Accra, Ghana, to mark the 2022 International Women’s Day Celebration.  

On 5 July 2022, a ceremony took place to officially hand over five patrol vessels and two surveillance vehicles to the Border and Migration Police of the Albanian State Police of the Ministry of Interior of Albania. The vehicles were procured within the framework of the project “EU Support for the Effective Management of Green and Blue Borders in Albania, (EU4SAFEALB). 

Representatives of the Albanian Ministry of Interior, the Delegation of the European Union, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and other national and international counterparts gathered for the Handover Ceremony. After the opening speeches guests were invited to visit the boats for plaque reveal and partake in the traditional ‘baptism’. 
 

On 13 July 2022, ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger went on mission to Niger and met HE Hassoumi Massoudou, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Niger. They signed a Seat Agreement for ICMPD. Niger is the third country in West Africa in ICMPD’s expanding portfolio, and follows Nigeria and Ghana.