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ICMPD DG Michael Spindelegger was a panellist at the High-Level Policy Forum on Migration and Integration, which took place on 16 January at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, France. The Forum was organised back to back with the first-ever OECD Ministerial Meeting on Migration and Integration, taking place the day after the Forum.

On 22 February 2023, the EU Support to Strengthening IBM in Ukraine (EU4IBM) project trained State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS) officers on the use of mobile mini-scanners for the inspection of light vehicles in order to prevent smuggling of illicit objects, including small arms and drugs. 12 scanners for non-destructive inspection, worth EUR 420,000, were procured, and delivered to Ukraine a week earlier.

On 13 July, ICMPD organised a workshop for Moldovan stakeholders as part of the project “Development of a Forced-Return Monitoring System in the Republic of Moldova” (FReMM) to discuss the key elements of a management framework for the country’s emerging system of forced-return monitoring. The workshop gathered management-level representatives from the Moldovan Bureau for Migration and Asylum, People’s Advocates Office of Moldova, the NGO Law Centre of Advocates, as well as ICMPD project and expert team.

On 23 June 2021, a webinar was convened within the framework of the C2CMMD to launch the study on Return, Readmission and Reintegration (RRR) Programmes in Africa. In their opening remarks, the AU Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, HE Amira El Fadil, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ms. Ylva Johansson, and ICMPD’s Director General, Mr. Michael Spindelegger reiterated the importance of strengthening cooperation in line with respective agendas and priorities, reinforced by contributions from Managing Director at the European External Action Service, Ms. Rita Laranjinha, and Mme. Mariama Cisse, Director for  Social Affairs of the African Union Commission.

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.

On 5th November, the State Secretariat for Migration of Switzerland and ICMPD held a meeting on recent approaches in addressing radicalisation. This was the latest in a series of virtual meetings as part of ICMPD’s Annual Policy Initiative 2020 (API).

On 27 May, representatives of the European Union Delegation to Lebanon, Lebanese and international academics in the field of maritime governance, local practitioners in the shipping industry, and representatives of ICMPD held a 2-hour webinar as a first activity in a series of webinars on Lebanon’s maritime domain.

On 7 of May 2020 in Kyiv, ICMPD organized a kick-off meeting on business processes analysis and re-engineering thus launching the optimization process of partners’ functionalities. Expert support to national agencies has been rendered through the European Union Project "EU Support to Strengthening Integrated Border Management (IBM) in Ukraine".

During 21-23 September, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) delivered a Train of Trainers (ToT) on forced return monitoring for a number of interested professionals selected from among relevant Moldovan stakeholders. As part of the same FReMM project, on 24 September ICMPD held a workshop for developing the Guidelines for forced return monitoring, based on the best European practices. Both events gathered a mixed audience from the Moldovan Bureau for Migration and Asylum, the People's Advocates Office of Moldova, and the NGO Law Centre of Advocates. In light of on-going pandemic situation and given the highly interactive nature of the events, on-the spot rapid antigen testing has been arranged for all participants as additional safety measure.

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.

The "Migration.Communication.Schools" (MIKS) project partners from ICMPD, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the University of Education of Lower Austria met in Vienna on 17 September 2020 to record the interim status of the migration communication project within the initiative "MAKING A CHANGE.TOGETHER" after three years.

In order to better understand, and thereby, enhance the Western Balkans diasporas’ contribution to socioeconomic development in their respective countries of origin, the study identified and analysed existing diaspora engagement frameworks in the research countries. 

This annual flagship event, which was supported by the Government of the Netherlands, the European Union, Austria, the Czech Republic, Kingdom of  Denmark, Germany, Swiss Confederation, organised in close collaboration with ICMPD's esteemed partners, has become a vital platform for practitioners, policy makers, donors, and experts to engage in dialogue on cutting-edge developments, good practices, and the latest trends in the field of border management.

This study is issued by the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies on behalf of EUROMED Migration IV, a programme committed to establishing a constructive framework for dialogue and technical exchange on migration policy in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

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.

On 8 July 2021, ICMPD held a virtual senior expert roundtable to discuss how migrants and policymakers can make better use of information in the context of irregular migration. The meeting brought together a diverse range of senior experts from EU and ICMPD Member States, international organisations, research centres and other relevant bodies for a lively conversation on this evolving and increasingly popular topic within migration management. Participants discussed the role of ICT and social media in particular for migrants’ decision-making as well as for governments’ monitoring and forecasting.