MPI Europe

Policy Briefs

April 2024

Supporting Self-Sufficiency: Considerations for Refugees’ Transition out of Sponsorship and Complementary Pathways Programs

Iraqi and Swedish families paired in Sweden's community sponsorship program

As more countries launch refugee sponsorship and complementary pathways programs, planning for and supporting refugees’ transition out of these programs is essential. While often receiving less attention than other elements of program design, a clear transition plan can promote refugees’ self-sufficiency, social cohesion, and overall program sustainability. This MPI Europe issue brief explores common transition challenges as well as promising practices.

Reports

January 2024

Confronting Compassion Fatigue: Understanding the Arc of Public Support for Displaced Populations in Turkey, Colombia, and Europe

Young Syrian man and social worker in Turkey

Muse Mohammed/IOM

Large-scale displacement can trigger instability and feelings of threat in refugee host countries. But in certain cases, it can also uncover deep wells of solidarity that create space for generous policy responses. This report explores factors that can foster and erode public support for forced migrants, drawing examples from attitudes towards Syrians in Turkey, Venezuelans in Colombia, and Ukrainians in Europe.

Commentaries

December 2023

One Phase Closes for the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Now Another Begins

Image of EU and Member State flags flapping in wind

iStock.com/stormwatch153

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum agreed in December 2023 by EU Member States and the European Parliament after lengthy negotiation will, without a doubt, go down in history as a signal political accomplishment. But will it result in better management of migration and asylum systems in a complex era? The outcome will turn on implementation and communication, this MPI Europe commentary explains.

Policy Briefs

December 2023

What Role Could Digital Technologies Play in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum?

European Union flag composed of binary code

iStock.com/BirgitKorber

With EU migration systems under strain, many observers have high hopes that the New Pact on Migration and Asylum will be able to help Europe address pressing challenges. This policy brief explores how digital technologies could support the implementation of the pact, should it be approved, as well as areas where caution is merited.

Policy Briefs

October 2023

Why Matching Matters: Improving Outcomes in Refugee Sponsorship and Complementary Pathways

Syrian refugee family in Argentina who were sponsored by a community group

IOM/Muse Mohammed

In community sponsorship and other programs that directly involve communities and individuals in supporting refugees’ arrival and integration, where and with whom refugees are matched matters a great deal. This policy brief explores the ongoing evolution of approaches taken to matching refugees with sponsors or receiving communities, highlighting innovations and opportunities for further improvements.

Policy Briefs

October 2023

From Safe Homes to Sponsors: Lessons from the Ukraine Hosting Response for Refugee Sponsorship Programs

Ukraine flag hanging from an apartment building in the Netherlands

Gert-Jan van Vliet/iStock.com

As millions of people fled Ukraine and sought safety in countries across Europe after Russia's 2022 invasion, community-led projects emerged to help newcomers find temporary housing in private homes. These hosting initiatives have helped quickly address a pressing housing need, fill gaps in official reception services, and engage communities in welcoming refugees. But they have also posed challenges, as this policy brief discusses.

Recent Activity

Multimedia September 14, 2023 Strengthening Refugee Engagement in Community Sponsorship Programs	Reports September 2023 Attracting, Retaining, and Diversifying Sponsors for Refugees in Community Sponsorship Programs By Maria Belen Zanzuchi, Nadja Dumann, Florian Tissot and Admir Skodo
Multimedia August 24, 2023 Managing Changing Migration Dynamics and Policies in West Africa for Regional Gain	Reports June 2023 Improving Stakeholder Coordination in Refugee Resettlement: A Path to More Effective, Inclusive Programs By Admir Skodo and Maria Belen Zanzuchi
Reports May 2023 Displaced Ukrainians in European Labor Markets: Leveraging Innovations for More Inclusive Integration By Maria Vincenza Desiderio and Kate Hooper	Multimedia April 27, 2023 Toward a Road Map for Digitalization in the EU Humanitarian Protection Space
Multimedia February 14, 2023 Ukrainian Displacement in Europe, One Year Later	Commentaries February 2023 Prolonged Ukrainian Displacement: An Uneasy Marriage of Reception, Integration, and Return Policies By Hanne Beirens, Lucía Salgado and Jasmijn Slootjes

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Reports January 2023 Toolkit for Evidence-Informed Policymaking in Migrant Integration By Jasmijn Slootjes and Maria Belen Zanzuchi	Policy Briefs October 2022 Promoting Evidence-Informed Immigrant Integration Policymaking By Jasmijn Slootjes and Maria Belen Zanzuchi
Reports June 2022 The COVID-19 Catalyst: Learning from Pandemic-Driven Innovations in Immigrant Integration Policy By Jasmijn Slootjes	Policy Briefs June 2022 Embedding Reintegration Assistance for Returning Migrants in the Local Context: The Role of Referrals By Ravenna Sohst and Camille Le Coz
Policy Briefs May 2022 Leveraging Predeparture Counseling to Support Returning Migrants’ Sustainable Reintegration By Lucía Salgado	Reports March 2022 Promoting the Inclusion of Europe’s Migrants and Minorities in Arts and Culture By Lucía Salgado and Liam Patuzzi
Reports January 2022 Putting Migrant Reintegration Programs to the Test: A Road Map to a Monitoring System By Lucía Salgado, Radu-Mihai Triculescu, Camille Le Coz and Hanne Beirens	Policy Briefs December 2021 How Can Europe Deliver on the Potential of Talent Partnerships? By Kate Hooper

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Feature

June 20, 2019

Digital Litter: The Downside of Using Technology to Help Refugees

Several years after a flurry of tech innovations arose to respond to the 2015-16 European migration crisis and assist asylum seekers, "digital litter"—now-dormant websites, broken links, and poor-quality information spread through apps and social media—is floating around. At best, digital litter is a nuisance. At worst, it can place refugees and migrants in harm's way and undermine their decision-making, as this article explores.

Top Ten

December 20, 2016

Dawn of New Migration Reality Brings Focus on Borders, Returns, and Integration

As Europe begins to move beyond the overwhelming flows of asylum seekers and other migrants it experienced starting in 2015, policymakers are paying significant focus to integration coupled with stepped-up enforcement. 2016 saw a wave of policy innovations facilitating integration as well as returns and deterrence, but it remains to be seen whether Europe will be able to continue and scale up this work in 2017 and beyond, as this Top 10 article explores.

Feature

June 22, 2016

Asylum Seeker and Migrant Flows in the Mediterranean Adapt Rapidly to Changing Conditions

Movements of migrants and asylum seekers in the Mediterranean have shown to be highly fluid, adapting quickly to changing conditions at origin, transit, and destination. This article examines the shifts in flows across the three major Mediterranean routes since 2008 and the complex web of often interconnected factors underpinning these movements.

Top Ten

December 18, 2015

Migration Crisis Tests European Consensus and Governance

Europe's defining challenge in 2015 was the exponential growth in the number of asylum seekers and migrants arriving on its shores. The European Union and its Member States were slow to respond, and reactive when they did. As trust among Member States and between national and EU-level authorities began to erode, the European Union has found its ability to implement a comprehensive response severely handicapped.

Top Ten

December 15, 2015

Big Business of Smuggling Enables Mass Movement of People for Enormous Profits

Faced with a flexible, diverse, and seemingly ubiquitous smuggling industry, governments have struggled to respond. Smuggling and trafficking networks, while hardly new phenomena, were put under a harsh spotlight in 2015 for their role as intermediaries in shaping the scale and flow of migrants and asylum seekers around the world.

Pages

Video, Audio

February 14, 2023

Ukrainian Displacement in Europe, One Year Later

Marking one year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting massive displacement crisis, this MPI Europe webinar examines the situation of those fleeing the war who have found refuge in Europe, implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive, integration outcomes and challenges for Ukrainian refugees, and plans for a future that contemplates reintegration for Ukrainians who will

Lviv, Ukraine. Jesuit houses sheltering families

Video, Audio

October 11, 2022

Migrant Integration: Learning from What Works in Times of Uncertainty

With millions fleeing war-torn Ukraine, questions about how to effectively promote migrant integration are again front and center.

Video, Audio

June 30, 2022

Migrant Integration Governance After the Pandemic: Lasting Adaptations?

On this webinar, speakers examine how government strategies, practices, and instruments of integration policymaking have adapted during the pandemic both in Europe and North America, and what lessons there are for the future.

A food and goods distribution to returned migrants in Burkina Faso

Video, Audio

June 27, 2022

Forging Partnerships to Make the Reintegration of Migrants More Effective and Sustainable

This MPI Europe webinar examines how referral mechanisms can be designed so that returnees receive the core services they need, while also ensuring support is embedded within the local community.

Video

March 28, 2022

A Tribute to Demetrios G. Papademetriou

Colleagues from around the world gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Demetrios G. Papademetriou, who was MPI's first president and the founder of MPI Europe.

Recent Activity

Video, Audio, Webinars

October 22, 2020

COVID-19, the Withdrawal Agreement and Citizens' Rights: No Time to Waste

This webinar explores how governments’ implementation plans for the Brexit withdrawal agreement have been affected by COVID-19, and the potential implications for citizens’ rights at the end of the transition period and beyond. Among the topics covered: which mobile populations are most at risk at the intersection between Brexit and the pandemic, and what contingency measures might mitigate these vulnerabilities and keep timelines on track.

Commentaries

October 2020

The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum—A Bold Move to Avoid the Abyss?

The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum represents a last-gasp effort by European leaders to devise a plan that keeps all 27 countries at the table, at a time when growing numbers are refusing to accept asylum seekers under the existing redistribution mechanism. Can the pact’s concept of solidarity à la carte work? The pact may well be the last step before an abyss in which each country determines the fate of migrants and refugees, practically guaranteeing future conflict.

Reports

September 2020

Driving Migrant Inclusion through Social Innovation: Lessons for Cities in a Pandemic

Since COVID-19 hit cities across Europe, many have struggled with how to sustain support for migrant inclusion in a time of social-distancing orders and likely budget cuts. This report explores how municipalities and their partners used social innovation to meet the challenges of the 2015–16 spike in arrivals of asylum seekers and migrants, and how those experiences can help localities weather the pandemic and put communities at the center of recovery efforts.

Policy Briefs

September 2020

Brexit on the Backburner: Citizens’ Rights and the Implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement in a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic hit just weeks after the United Kingdom formally left the European Union, delaying plans to implement the withdrawal agreement’s provisions on citizens’ rights. This policy brief assesses the progress countries have made in setting up systems to adjust the status of mobile EU and UK nationals, as well as steps countries can take to make up for lost time.

Commentaries

September 2020

Greece’s Moria Tragedy: The Crash Test for the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum

The fires that devastated the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos have further raised the stakes for the soon-to-be unveiled EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. If Moria persists as a concept—with asylum seekers prevented from onward movement elsewhere in Europe—this becomes an integral pillar of future EU asylum practice, whatever is written on paper, as this commentary explores.

Articles

August 6, 2020

Once a Destination for Migrants, Post-Gaddafi Libya Has Gone from Transit Route to Containment

Libya was once a prized destination for workers from around the world. But after Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow in 2011, the country became the transit point for hundreds of thousands of Europe-bound asylum seekers and other migrants. Following Libya's 2017 deal with Italy to detain and return migrants caught at sea—which was renewed in February 2020—migrants became trapped in an unstable country, facing harrowing realities, as this article explores.

Commentaries

August 2020

When Emergency Measures Become the Norm: Post-Coronavirus Prospects for the Schengen Zone

Most EU Member States closed their borders to travel from neighboring countries in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. While internal borders in the Schengen zone largely reopened in time for summer holidays, there is a lingering sense they could snap shut anew. Though the reflexive introduction of border controls speaks to an inherent lack of trust between states, the 2015-16 migration crisis offers lessons on how to begin to rebuild trust, as this commentary explores.

Video, Audio, Webinars

July 10, 2020

Enhancing the Social and Economic Inclusion of Refugees through Local Development Strategies

This discussion explores how development and humanitarian actors in low- and middle-income countries can engage with local institutions to promote the social and economic inclusion of refugees and how this inclusion can enhance engagement with other traditionally marginalized groups.

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