News

ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger met with a high-level delegation from the Republic of Uzbekistan led by Mr Bekhzod Musaev, Director of the Migration Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Olimjon Abdullaev.

In commemoration of International Women’s Day, ICMPD hosted a webinar titled Women on the Move: Advancing Gender Mainstreaming in Immigration Services Across West Africa. The session focused on the importance of gender equity in immigration services, particularly in Ghana and Nigeria, and brought together key stakeholders to share insights, challenges, and best practices in fostering a more gender-balanced workforce.

BOMCA 10 has launched a Call for applications for Central Asian CSOs to participate in the Boot Camp on the Project Management Cycle, set to take place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in May 2025. Applications are accepted until 4 April 2025. 

On the occasion of the Kingdom of Sweden taking on the Chairmanship of International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) Steering Group for 2025, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner outlined the EU’s migration priorities such as improving return policies, promoting labour mobility, and combatting migrant smuggling. Mr Brunner also called for a “flexible, responsive and pragmatic” approach, and commended ICMPD’s work along key migratory routes, and its multi-dimensional way of thinking.

The year 2024 was another of key milestones for ICMPD. Amidst elections dominated by migration in key regions, developments in the migration discourse including returns, conflicts, and the continuing challenges for both Europe and the migratory routes, ICMPD’s efforts remained on-course as relevant and as necessary.

ICMPD has opened the second Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) in Baghdad, in collaboration with the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displaced (MoMD). The new MRC expands the efforts to promote safe and regular migration processes for prospective migrants, combat trafficking and people-smuggling through information, pre-departure counselling and post-arrival briefings for migrant workers, and re-integration support for returnees and internally displaced populations.

The Bridging small and medium-sized enterprises with international talent (BRIDGE) research project launched in April 2025. Running until March 2026, the project will provide targeted support to SMEs by identifying and strengthening the role of bridging actors.

On 9 April 2025, ICMPD’s CORE-UA project team hosted an online event to present its latest report, Diaspora Engagement – Case Studies and Best Practices for Ukraine, published within the framework of the CORE-UA project. The event brought together a diverse group of international experts, policymakers, international organisations, NGOs and members of the global Ukrainian community to explore effective strategies for engaging the diaspora in Ukraine’s development and post-war recovery efforts.

High-level delegates from Bangladesh, Iraq and Pakistan, along with Türkiye and Hungary, and the European Commission, are strengthening efforts for sustainable reintegration for returning migrants in the Silk Routes region. At the Thematic Working Group of Budapest Process countries last week, delegates and representatives called for reintegration efforts to be embedded in broader national development frameworks, and that these must target the structural and community-level drivers of migration that often reflect the challenges returnees face on their return.

From 29 April to 2 May 2025, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) held meetings with representatives of the Georgian diaspora in Rome, Italy. The discussions took place under the EU-funded STREAMinG Phase 2 project. The aim was to strengthen the capacities of Georgian diaspora organisations in the areas of reintegration, investment opportunities, and legal frameworks in both Italy and Georgia, with a special focus on women’s empowerment.

An integrated border management (IBM) strategy remains top priority for the Iraqi government, in tackling human trafficking and irregular migration, and strengthening border security. This was the focus of the discussions in Iraq between ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger and Dr Ali Al-Yasery, Director General of Iraq’s National Joint Planning Centre.

From 29 June to 5 July 2025 the 12th International Summer School on Migration will take place in Armenia. The ICMPD Summer School is a collaborative effort among the EU-funded “Strengthening Development Impact of Migration in Georgia” (STREAMinG 2) project, and the Prague Process, with all two initiatives led by ICMPD.

An impact-driven initiative in Ogun State, Nigeria, is placing local school communities at the forefront of efforts to combat human trafficking—a pressing threat to children across the country. The School Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project (STEAP), funded by the Government of the Netherlands and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), is positioning School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) as key agents of change in the fight against trafficking.

A new initiative is equipping secondary schools across Ogun, Benue, Enugu, Delta, and Edo states to take an active role in preventing human trafficking. Through the School Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project (STEAP), in collaboration with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), young leaders are being trained to raise awareness, educate peers and strengthen resilience within their schools and communities.

After Russia’s invasion in February 2022, millions of Ukrainians made the painful decision to leave everything behind. With their entire towns destroyed, and uncertain of what was ahead of them, crossing borders also did not bring immediate relief. How would one navigate a foreign country where the language, laws and systems are unfamiliar? Many of those forced to leave faced new struggles not only for survival, but also to regain a sense of stability.

Ministers and representatives from 40 countries¹ along with the African Union, the European Union and international organisations², jointly agreed on implementing the Cairo Action Plan. The plan includes addressing irregular migration, promoting skills mobility and pathways for regular migration, protecting refugees and displaced persons, fight against migrant smuggling and human trafficking, and safe, timely, dignified and effective return.

The 4th Antalya Diplomacy Forum hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, took place on 11-13 April in Antalya. With the theme “Reclaiming Diplomacy in a Fragmented World,” this year’s Forum gathered more than 6,000 participants including 21 Heads of State and Government, and 67 Ministers from 155 countries.

Marking World Refugee Day and ten years since the so-called 2015 refugee crisis, ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger reflected on Europe’s migration journey — a decade marked by real progress towards refugee integration, yet strained by the continued inflow and growing political tensions.

Director-General Michael Spindelegger sits for an in-depth, reflective, and introspective interview on the situation in Europe 10 years since the start of what was dubbed the “migration crisis.”

ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger and Deputy Director General Sedef Dearing met with His Excellency Rachid Meddah, Director General of Migration Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria on 17 June 2025.

ICMPD hosted a workshop in Chișinău for Moldova’s Joint Risk Analysis Working Group, bringing together key national agencies to assess border security challenges, share institutional updates, and explore the integration of CIRAM into national practices. 

Only days after Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union activated the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD). It effectively provided more than four million displaced Ukrainians protection from the war; legal rights to stay, work, and benefit from social services; as well as support for integration. As its name suggests however, it was always meant to be temporary.

ICMPD convened government counterparts of its Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) to advance cooperation and coordinated responses to emerging migration trends and challenges; including legal migration pathways, reducing irregular migration, and supporting the integration of returnees. At the meetings, the European Union called on participating governments to ensure long-term sustainability for their MRCs, in the service of migrants and returnees.

Former Austrian Minister for Women, Family, Integration and Media will take office at ICMPD as of 1 January 2026

Over 60 officials from 16 countries and eight international organisations held the Budapest Process Thematic Meeting on Legal Pathways for Migration in Pakistan. The meeting specifically focused on strengthening the existing policies and pathways for legal migration and labour mobility, setting the strategic foundation for the dialogue's work in the coming years.