Europe

Europe faces an interesting set of immigration challenges and opportunities: Demographic pressures as many European societies age, a lively and at times tense policy and political debate over questions of identity and immigrant integration, and a unique policy environment that has knit many European countries together with regards to free movement, the management of outer borders, asylum, and other immigration-related topics. MPI has long conducted research and analysis of European policy on topics ranging from labor mobility and border security to immigrant integration, citizenship, and foreign qualifications recognition, which can be found below.

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

Policy Briefs

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

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.

Image of female worker at the Boqueria market in Barcelona making a crepe

Commentaries

As Europe and the United States Face Similar Migration Challenges, Spain Can Act as a Bridge

Spain and the United States both receive their greatest number of immigrants from Latin America, and have worked collaboratively together on displacement crises and other migration issues. As shared immigration challenges dominate debate on both sides of the Atlantic, Spain can serve as a vital bridge in the policy conversation, this commentary notes.

Passengers wearing face masks at a UK airport

Reports

Coordination Breakdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Europe

The story of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe is chiefly one of challenges to solidarity and coordination. Cross-border movement—even within Europe’s Schengen Area—ground to a halt, and countries took varied approaches to using travel measures in an attempt to slow the virus’s spread. This report explores the pandemic’s impacts on mobility to and within Europe, its challenges to European solidarity, and lessons for future public-health crises.

Recent Activity

Multimedia May 17, 2019 "Merit-Based" Immigration: Designing Successful Selection Systems	Articles May 8, 2019 Can Return Migration Revitalize the Baltics? Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Engage Their Diasporas, with Mixed Results By Ieva Birka
Articles May 1, 2019 Migration in the Netherlands: Rhetoric and Perceived Reality Challenge Dutch Tolerance By Joanne van Selm	Reports May 2019 Preparing for the Unknown: Designing Effective Predeparture Orientation for Resettling Refugees By Susan Fratzke and Lena Kainz
Articles April 18, 2019 “Us” or “Them”? How Policies, Public Opinion, and Political Rhetoric Affect Immigrants’ Sense of Belonging By Kristina Bakkær Simonsen	Multimedia April 10, 2019 International vs. National Protection for Refugees: Diverging Trends?
Reports April 2019 Spain’s Labor Migration Policies in the Aftermath of Economic Crisis By Kate Hooper	Reports April 2019 Competing Approaches to Selecting Economic Immigrants: Points-Based vs. Demand-Driven Systems By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Kate Hooper

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Policy Briefs September 2013 What Do We Know About Skilled Migration and Development? By Michael Clemens	Policy Briefs September 2013 What We Know About Diasporas and Economic Development By Kathleen Newland and Sonia Plaza
Policy Briefs September 2013 What We Know: Regulating the Recruitment of Migrant Workers By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza	Policy Briefs September 2013 What We Know About Circular Migration and Enhanced Mobility By Graeme Hugo
Reports July 2013 Skills, Professional Regulation, and International Mobility in the Engineering Workforce By Matthew Dixon	Reports July 2013 Recognizing Foreign Qualifications: Emerging Global Trends By Lesleyanne Hawthorne
Reports July 2013 Tackling Brain Waste: Strategies to Improve the Recognition of Immigrants’ Foreign Qualifications By Madeleine Sumption	Books July 2013 How Can Talent Abroad Induce Development at Home? Towards a Pragmatic Diaspora Agenda

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Feature

October 16, 2014

Pushing Out the Boundaries of Humanitarian Screening with In-Country and Offshore Processing

Recent surges in the arrival of unauthorized migrants with possible humanitarian claims have prompted the United States and the European Union to consider in-country and offshore processing for some refugee and asylum applications. As this article explores, some of the questions raised about the feasibility of such programs include their consistency with humanitarian law and their effectiveness in reducing unwanted entries.

Feature

September 30, 2014

Belonging: The Resettlement Experiences of Hmong Refugees in Texas and Germany

Drawing on a case study of two Hmong refugee populations from Laos that were resettled in a major Texas city and a German village, this article explores the different approaches to immigrant integration found in the United States and Germany as well as the outcomes for the Hmong and their sense of belonging in their new communities.

Feature

July 24, 2014

Turkey’s Evolving Migration Identity

Turkey’s migration identity has shifted from being principally a country of emigration and transit to becoming a destination for immigrants and people fleeing conflict. In response, Turkish policymakers recently enacted a comprehensive migration and asylum law that took effect in April 2014. This article examines the new law, which is intended as a significant step toward managing both legal and irregular migration to Turkey, including humanitarian migration.

Feature

January 16, 2014

Assessing Immigrant Integration in Sweden after the May 2013 Riots

This article explores the underlying causes of the May 2013 riots across several Stockholm suburbs that have high proportions of foreign-born residents, and asks whether rapid increases in the size of Sweden's immigrant population or the government's integration efforts played a central role.

Top Ten

December 17, 2013

Is Europe Faltering in Addressing its Multiple Migration Challenges?

A number of interlocking concerns have emerged in recent months regarding the rights of mobile EU citizens, fueled in part by euroskeptic parties (such as the UK Independence Party), and more hard-line anti-immigration parties such as the Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands.

Recent Activity

Commentaries

February 2022

Is Europe Prepared for a Possible Large-Scale Ukrainian Displacement Crisis?

Tested by the 2015-16 refugee crisis, are EU Member States better prepared for large-scale displacement of Ukrainians? This MPI Europe commentary examines preparedness for the possible inflow of Ukrainians, who already have visa-free access to the bloc.

Expert Q&A, Audio

February 7, 2022

A Note of Caution about Exaggerating the Climate-Migration Link

This episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration checks in with migration scholar Hein de Haas about the predictions that vast numbers of people will be displaced by climate change and head to wealthy countries in North America and Europe—views he deems often misplaced.

Articles

February 2, 2022

The Increasing Use of Artificial Intelligence in Border Zones Prompts Privacy Questions

Artificial intelligence systems that promise speedier travel and improved tools to halt smuggling and detect illegal entry have been embraced by border officials across the globe. But critics contend they also pose serious privacy concerns, which may become more pronounced as technologies evolve. This article examines the challenges and promises.

Reports

January 2022

The Winding Road to Marrakech: Lessons from the European Negotiations of the Global Compact for Migration

In the months leading up to the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration in 2018, what had been a quiet negotiation process suddenly became front-page news, drawing unprecedented public attention and sparking protests across Europe. This report explores how the compact negotiations triggered a multilayered institutional and political crisis in the European Union, and how this breakdown continues to affect EU external migration policy.

Reports

January 2022

Putting Migrant Reintegration Programs to the Test: A Road Map to a Monitoring System

The European push to increase migrant returns has led to new investments in assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) programs. Yet it is hard to tell whether these investments are paying off. This report explores what is and is not known about returnee reintegration, and how improved monitoring and evaluation would help bridge knowledge gaps and inform future decisions about programming, funding, and strategy.

Policy Briefs

December 2021

How Can Europe Deliver on the Potential of Talent Partnerships?

Europe has announced it will launch a set of Talent Partnerships, combining new mobility schemes for workers or students with related investments in capacity-building in partner countries. As the details are being hammered out, this MPI Europe policy brief explores how and under what conditions these partnerships could help meet European labor market needs and provide tangible benefits for partner countries and migrants themselves.

Expert Q&A, Audio

December 9, 2021

The Corporate World’s Response to COVID-19 Pandemic, its Omicron Variant, Digital Nomad Visas & More

How has the business world responded to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic? In this episode of Moving Beyond Pandemic, we speak with two former government officials who are now in the private sector—Ian Robinson of the immigration law firm Fragomen and Brendan Ryan, CEO of Nomadic, about the trends and policy environment shaping business mobility decisions.

Expert Q&A, Audio

November 5, 2021

Immigrant Integration: Essential to the Success of Immigration Policy

In this World of Migration podcast episode, Margie McHugh, director of MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, chats with Ivana Tú Nhi Giang about the important role of integration, for immigrants themselves and the broader society, and the varying degrees of intentionality in integration policy design around the world.

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