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For Immediate Release
January 19, 2007
Contact: Colleen Coffey
202-266-1910
ccoffey@migrationpolicy.org

Migration Policy Institute and the German Presidency of the E.U. Partner on Immigrant Integration Strategy

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As Germany takes the helm of the E.U. Presidency, it will work closely with the Migration Policy Institute, the leading global think tank on migration, to further develop the agenda on immigration and integration in the newly expanded European Union. 

"At a time of unprecedented diversity and mobility throughout the European Union, the Presidency has committed itself to the idea of 'moving forward together,'" said MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou.  "Managing migration well is essential to this advancement -- from attracting the brightest minds from around the world, to giving migrants and their families a stake in the societies in which they live."

Germany’s E.U. Presidency will collaborate with MPI to develop ideas on how to make immigration and integration policies more successful, focusing especially on attracting a highly skilled immigrant workforce, promoting civic citizenship and reinvigorating intercultural dialogue.  As part of this partnership, MPI will draw on the analysis and recommendations of top migration experts, policymakers, and opinion shapers on both sides of the Atlantic to help prepare a ministerial conference on immigration and integration in Potsdam, Germany, from May 10-11, 2007.

Migration Policy Institute experts, who have worked closely with policymakers, academics, and nongovernmental organizations on immigrant and integration issues, include:

Demetrios G. Papademetriou, MPI President
Dr. Papademetriou advises senior government and political party officials in more than 20 countries. He is the co-convener, with Professor Werner Weidenfeld of the Bertelsmann Foundation, of the Transatlantic Task Force on Immigration and Integration, a panel of prominent political and business leaders from both sides of the Atlantic to be launched in March 2007. He is also the convener of the Athens Migration Policy Initiative and co-founder of Metropolis: An International Forum for Research and Policy on Migration and Cities.
Contact: dpapademetriou@migrationpolicy.org

Gregory A. Maniatis, Senior European Policy Fellow
Mr. Maniatis advises European governments, the European Commission, and international organizations on integration policies and migration and development. He leads many of MPI’s projects in Europe and has been advising the United Nations on migration and development issues.
Contact: Please contact through the MPI Communications Department.

William Somerville, Senior Policy Analyst
Mr. Somerville engages in a range of European projects on integration, skilled migration, and intercultural dialogue, as well as work for the Transatlantic Task Force. Prior to joining MPI, he led on asylum and immigration policy at the Commission for Racial Equality in the United Kingdom.
Contact: wsomerville@migrationpolicy.org, 202-266-1941

Joanne van Selm, Nonresident Fellow
A former MPI senior policy analyst, Dr. Van Selm now lives in Skopje, Macedonia.  She will conduct research on European migration issues and international refugee protection for the Transatlantic Task Force on Immigration and Integration.
Contact: Please contact through the MPI Communications Department.

To arrange an interview, please email cccoffey@migrationpolicy.org or call 202-266-1910. 

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The Migration Policy Institute is a nonpartisan think tank
dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide.