News

On 7 December 2023, ICMPD organised the fourth international seminar in Warsaw as part of the ICMPD-led project “Comprehensive Support for People in a Vulnerable Situation in the Polish Migration Management System (KOMPLEKS)”, in collaboration with the Polish Migration Forum Foundation (PFM), and the Association for Legal Intervention (SIP).

On 2-3 October, ICMPD Director General, Mr. Michael Spindelegger, embarked on a mission to Ankara, Türkiye. This visit involved a series of productive meetings and engagements designed to promote cooperation and tackle key issues.

On 18-19 October, ICMPD's Director General, Michael Spindelegger, concluded his first visit to India, marked by a series of high-level engagements and bilateral meetings aimed at exploring opportunities to deepen ICMPD-India relations on migration and mobility. He had the pleasure of meeting ICMPD’s Member States and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) over the two days.

On 02 November 2023, the third project Steering Group meeting of the EU Support in Strengthening Integrated Border Management in Ukraine – Resilience (EU4IBM-Resilience) project took place in Kyiv. The meeting was moderated by the ICMPD Head of Region Eastern Europe and Central Asia Radim Žák. Among the guests were the EU Delegation to Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the State Customs Service of Ukraine, and other partners and stakeholders.

On 19-20 November 2023, the Inspire project team organised a consultative workshop in Accra, Ghana, to discuss the design of the Ghana-Germany skills partnership scheme. The workshop brought together representatives from various stakeholders, including government agencies, civil society, and development partners, to exchange views and experiences on labour migration governance in Ghana and explore the potential of establishing a skills partnership scheme between the two countries.

On 15 – 17 November 2023, ICMPD Türkiye has successfully organised two consecutive workshops dedicated to advancing reintegration efforts within Türkiye's National Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Mechanism (NAVRR). The workshops held in Ankara were instrumental in fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing among national stakeholders and pertinent Turkish NGOs.

On 15 November, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA) held an official reception in Tashkent marking the 20th anniversary of the EU flagship initiative for the region. The hallmark event gathered over 150 participants representing donor institutions, national counterparts, implementing consortium, and international stakeholders. The occasion provided the opportunity to reflect on achievements and success stories as well as to thank programme partners for their cooperation over the years. The event was held together with the Central Asia Drug Action Programme, the second flagship initiative for the region launched jointly with BOMCA. 

On 13-17 November 2023 in Milan, Italy, the EU and Swiss co-funded Libya’s Migration Technical Assistance Facility (LIBMITAF) project organised a training for Libyan representatives on the topic of “Forensics and Identifying Deceased Persons”, including missing migrants and internally displaced persons.

On 9 November 2023, ICMPD organised the third international seminar in Warsaw as part of the ICMPD-led project “Comprehensive Support for People in a Vulnerable Situation in the Polish Migration Management System (KOMPLEKS)”, in collaboration with the Polish Migration Forum Foundation (PFM) and the Association for Legal Intervention (SIP).

On 5 December 2023, Budapest Process Senior Officials gather in Istanbul to celebrate 30 years of dialogue on migration. Initial discussions on the need for a migration dialogue within wider Europe started in the early 90s including at a Ministerial meeting in 1991 in Berlin. In February 1993, the Budapest Process obtained its name after its successful Ministerial Conference in Budapest. Ministers and delegates from 41 countries and organisations gathered in the capital and agreed upon 32 recommendations to take forward and implement jointly.

ICMPD organised a virtual senior expert roundtable entitled "Building upon the Patchwork of Bilateral and EU Labour Migration Partnerships.” Participants discussed what the EU and its member states can do to better attract talent from outside the EU, and to become more appealing destinations in the global race for talent. 

In a year full of European, national, and regional elections, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) expects migration to be a pivotal topic. While many governments implement quick fixes ahead of their electoral cycles, opposition parties are tying their campaigns to migration-related promises. ICMPD’s 2024 Migration Outlook report forecasts record displacement levels resulting from war and conflict, leading to a further securitization of migration and offshoring of asylum procedures, as well as a rise in secondary movements. These developments are taking place while labour migration is ‘coming of age’ in Europe.

On 20 October 2023, the Government of India (GoI) and the European Union (EU) took a step forward in their cooperation on migration and mobility by launching Phase II of the India-EU Cooperation and Dialogue on Migration and Mobility project, also known as the India-EU CAMM support project. The launch gathered high-level officials from both India and the EU, EU Member States, as well as various stakeholders, including state-level representatives, the private sector and academia at the Chanakya Hall, Sushma Swaraj Bhavan (Ministry of External Affairs) in New Delhi.

On 31 October 2023, the Inspire team organised an online consultative workshop to gather insights for the establishment of an initial framework for the skills partnership scheme between Georgia and France. The event built upon a previous workshop held in November 2022 and the bilateral engagements that followed throughout 2023. 

On 6 November 2023, the ICMPD office in Armenia hosted a roundtable discussion on innovative diaspora investments in Armenia under the EU4IMPACT project. The aim of the event was to discuss and brainstorm potential diaspora investment opportunities beyond those provided by the EU4IMPACT project. This includes gauging interest in investing in Armenian securities and investment funds as well as other passive investment options.

On 28-29 November 2023, the Anti-Trafficking Programme (ATP) of ICMPD organised a training on managing shelters for trafficked persons, case management, and cooperation of shelters. The training took place in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire and participating organisations came from Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Togo.

On 21-22 November 2023, the Inspire project team conducted a consultative meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, aimed at further refining the skills partnership scheme between Georgia and France. Representatives from Georgia’s public sector, as well as the private sector, spent two days providing insights and inputs on the skills partnership scheme being developed.

On 31 May 2024, the Steering Group meeting from the project SCOP 3.1 took place online. The purpose of the event was to report on the project progress so far, as well as to inform the stakeholders about the remaining activities before its completion. 

The Moving the Migration Policy Agenda Forward (MMPAF) taking place online in autumn 2024 has an open call for scholarship applicants. This collaborative effort, is funded by the European Union (EU) through the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF) of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), and implemented by UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University.

Published under the EU-funded and ICMPD-implemented “Support to the Implementation of the Mobility Partnership with Azerbaijan (MOBILAZE 2)” project, the Migration Textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the migration field, exploring its historical roots, current trends, and future prospects. The textbook covers a wide range of migration-related topics, from migration theories to governance, and from migration management in Azerbaijan to integration and security.

On 16th April, ICMPD organised together with the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences a workshop in Warsaw dedicated to enhancing human rights monitoring in the context of forced returns. The workshop took place within the framework of the Horizon Europe project “Finding Agreement in Return” (FAiR) which assesses the legitimacy and effectiveness of the EU’s return policies.

This year constitutes the Prague Process’ 15th anniversary and thereby an opportunity to reflect upon the origins and evolution of the Process since its establishment in 2009.

On 26 April 2024, the Secretary to the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment, Mr R. P. A. Wimalaweera, and Ms Sedef Dearing, Director for Migration Dialogues and Cooperation, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) opened the Migrant Information Centre (MIC) in Sri Lanka. 

On 14-15 April 2024, a workshop on International Cooperation was convened in collaboration with the European Union Advisory Mission to Iraq (EUAM-I) and the National Security Advisory of Iraq within the framework of Iraq's National Integrated Border Management (IBM) Strategy in Baghdad. 

On 25 April 2024, the Athens Thematic Meeting on the “External dimension of migration management - Tools for regular pathways” was held in Athens, Greece as a flagship event under the Greek chairmanship of ICMPD’s Steering Group in 2024.