News

The project ‘Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa (FMM West Africa) aims to boost the development potential of free movement and migration in West Africa.

What impact is the Syrian war and refugee crisis having on trafficking in persons in the region? ICMPD is carrying out a research assessment to form the basis for well-informed responses, to reduce the likelihood of trafficking cases in the future.

New publication analyses current policies, practices and trends in the area of migration in the fifteen ECOWAS Member States, and makes recommendations aimed at overcoming the obstacles faced in promoting free movement in West Africa.

The European Agenda on Migration presented last month went beyond ‘business as usual’ and demonstrated the will of the Juncker Commission to set the course for migration and asylum issues within the EU and for its relations with countries outside the EU.

Co-organised by the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and ICMPD, hosted by the Turkish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, a high-level virtual meeting took place entitled "The Situation of Refugees and Other Displaced Persons during the Pandemic: The Need for International Cooperation".

The international regime governing displacement shows a number of gaps, most notably with regard to (internally) displaced people who are not covered by the definition of refugee of the Refugee Convention. These protection gaps translate into solution gaps for displaced people.

ICMPD delivered the first digital training programme to officers of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan to support the FIA’s Training Academy maintain its operational training in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic to combat trafficking in human beings, prevent irregular migration and efficiently manage Pakistan’s national borders.

The country has a promising new government under Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi but faces a range of challenges connected to its large refugee and irregular migrant population.

The project "Improving Entrepreneurial Capacity for Sustaniable Socio-Economic Integration" (ENHANCER) is an EU-funded action, aimed at fostering opportunities for entrepreneurs by giving them access to national and global markets.

ICMPD’s new study finds that Syrian refugees are often trafficked or exploited because they are not able to meet their basic needs. To prevent this, investment in infrastructure and humanitarian aid in the main hosting countries is essential.

Within the framework of the Integrated Border Management (IBM) in the Silk Routes Countries project, funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by ICMPD, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan was given 100 books on Basic Knowledge Document Recognition and 100 magnifiers for FIA’s front line Immigration Officers. FIA and ICMPD jointly organised a handover ceremony on Wednesday, 10 March 2021.

The Handbook on Reporting Migration has been developed within the framework of the MOMENTA 2 (Migration Media Training Academy) project, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by ICMPD in 2020.

The fourth session of the Talking Migration Webinar Series was conducted on the 25th of February by ICMPD Türkiye, discussing the impact of COVID-19 on asylum management. The session contributed to discussions on how the Turkish asylum system coped with COVID-19, and the increased use of new technologies in asylum management that stem from the needs identified during the pandemic.

ICMPD in conjunction with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and our local partner, the India Centre for Migration, launched a study on Indians in Ireland with a virtual event on 26 February, 2021.

February 2018, The Land Border Regiments’ Training School (CTS), a small, unassuming unit of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is established with a simple yet ambitious goal: to become an integrated border management training centre of excellence. Against all the odds, but with the continuous support of ICMPD’s Netherlands’ Assistance to Lebanese Border Agencies (IBM) Project, the School has grown to become one of Lebanon’s most sought–after and trusted training institutions.

In the framework of its monthly missions to Libya, ICMPD representatives visited Tripoli in January 2021 to meet with Libyan counterparts to discuss ICMPD activities in Libya to finalise the contracting for the ICMPD Libya office. The activity took place under the framework of the EU-funded project "Strategic and Institutional Management of Migration in Libya".

In the framework of the EU funded project EU Support for the Effective Management of Green and Blue Borders in Albania (EU4SAFEALB) implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the first Project Steering Committee meeting took place on 12 January 2021.

ENHANCER Project Expanded to Include Employment Activities - Final contracts under FRIT II funds have been officially signed on December 17, 2020, including the expansion of ENHANCER Project to cover job creation activities.

Under the guidance of ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger, the organisation saw a significant growth in staff, projects and financing. ICMPD was also able to gain three new member states and increase its presence in the field.

The joint EU-ICMPD Migration EU eXpertise Initiative has released a new publication ‘Building Bridges – Capacity Building on Migration and the MIgration EU eXpertise (MIEUX) 2009 – 2019’ offering concrete examples of the impact and value of capacity building on migration during its first ten years of implementation. The publication is available in English, French and Spanish.

The project is the first-ever aviation security action funded by the EU in Lebanon. The funding started on 1 September 2018 and is part of an EU commitment to support the Lebanese security sector and its longstanding engagement to stability and security in Lebanon covering the areas of rule of law, enhancement of security and counter terrorism. A step forward to combat terrorism is to bolster airport security at Rafic Hariri International Airport and the EU is providing 3.5 million EUR for this purpose.

In December 2020, ICMPD within the framework of the "Strategic and institutional management of migration in Libya" project held fruitful meetings in Tripoli with Mr Al-Shaibani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Directors for European Affairs, International Organisations and International Cooperation; the Ministry of Labour; the Prime Minister’s Office; and the National Team for Border Security and Management.

On 3 December 2020, representatives from forced-return monitoring bodies and return enforcing institutions from 21 European countries, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) gathered during a remote Thematic Workshop on Children in Forced-Return Operations. ICMPD and FRA jointly organised the workshop within the framework of the Forced-Return Monitoring III (FReM III) project. The aim was to enhance the monitors’ knowledge and capacities in monitoring forced-return operations where children are present.

The African Union Commission on Thursday, signed a MoU with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) to enhance existing cooperation on Migration and mobility governance between the two organisations. The MoU was signed by H.E. Mrs Amira ElFadil, Commissioner for Social Affairs on behalf of the Chairperson of the AU Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mohamet, while Director General, Mr. Michael Spindelegger, signed on behalf of ICMPD.

On 20 November 2020, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) and State Customs Service (SCS) of Ukraine completed two-day training on "Monitoring, evaluation and quality management" organized under the EU-funded project "EU Support to Strengthening Integrated Border Management (IBM) in Ukraine (EU4IBM)" implemented by ICMPD.