E.g., 04/16/2024
E.g., 04/16/2024
Europe

Europe

European Union

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.

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.

Young Syrian man and social worker in Turkey
Reports

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

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.

Recent Activity

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Multimedia
October 22, 2020
COVID-19, the Withdrawal Agreement and Citizens' Rights: No Time to Waste
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Articles
October 23, 2020
Climate Impacts as Drivers of Migration
By Alex de Sherbinin
Sailors and marines on the HMS Bulwark help migrants ashore in Italy.
Articles
October 9, 2020
Criminalization of Search-and-Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean Has Been Accompanied by Rising Migrant Death Rate
By Isabella Lloyd-Damnjanovic
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Multimedia
October 6, 2020
Is Airport COVID-19 Testing Ready for Takeoff?
State of the EU 2020
Commentaries
October 2020
The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum—A Bold Move to Avoid the Abyss?
By  Hanne Beirens
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Articles
September 25, 2020
Greece Struggles to Balance Competing Migration Demands
By Joel Hernàndez
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Reports
September 2020
Driving Migrant Inclusion through Social Innovation: Lessons for Cities in a Pandemic
By  Liam Patuzzi
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Policy Briefs
September 2020
Brexit on the Backburner: Citizens’ Rights and the Implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement in a Pandemic
By  Aliyyah Ahad and Monica Andriescu

Pages

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Reports
November 2015
The Re-Emergence of Emigration from Ireland: New Trends in An Old Story
By  Irial Glynn , Tomás Kelly and Piaras Mac Éinrí
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Reports
November 2015
Transatlantic Symposium Report: Improving Instruction for Immigrant and Refugee Students in Secondary Schools
By  Margie McHugh and Julie Sugarman
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Reports
November 2015
Rethinking Emigration: Turning Challenges into Opportunities (Transatlantic Council Statement)
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou
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Reports
June 2015
Into the Mainstream: Rethinking Public Services for Diverse and Mobile Populations
By  Meghan Benton, Helen McCarthy and Elizabeth Collett
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Reports
May 2015
Before the Boat: Understanding the Migrant Journey
By  Jacob Townsend and Christel Oomen
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Reports
April 2015
Syrian Refugees in Turkey: The Long Road Ahead
By  Ahmet İçduygu
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Policy Briefs
March 2015
The Development of EU Policy on Immigration and Asylum: Rethinking Coordination and Leadership
By  Elizabeth Collett
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Reports
March 2015
Not Adding Up: The Fading Promise of Europe's Dublin System
By  Susan Fratzke

Pages

Brexit dgeezer Flickr
Top Ten
December 15, 2016
European Project Dealt a Blow with Brexit Vote and Challenges to Migration Management

The United Kingdom's stunning decision to leave the European Union in June 2016, intertwined with rising concerns over migration, marked a significant setback to key objectives of the European project, including the right to free movement. Amid growing euroskepticism across the continent, it remains to be seen if the European Union will be able to reassert leadership to address migration and other issues in 2017 and beyond.

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Top Ten
December 13, 2016
As Publics Fear Loss of National Identity, Far-Right Populist Movements Gain Strength

The success of populist movements on both sides of the Atlantic in 2016, including Donald Trump's victory in the United States and the United Kingdom's vote to quit the European Union, have sparked an identity crisis in the West. Campaigns effectively tapped into the anxieties of voters who feel left behind by societal change and out-of-touch elites, while normalizing anti-immigrant rhetoric in mainstream discourse, as this Top 10 article explores.

SyrianRefugees JoshZakary Flickr
Top Ten
December 12, 2016
Crises with Links to Immigration Result in Divergent Policy Responses on Either Side of the Atlantic

While Europe and the United States saw terror attacks in 2016 carried out by radicalized immigrants or members of the second generation, policy responses varied on either side of the Atlantic. The perceived security threat posed by refugees was the main concern in the United States. Meanwhile, European debates centered more on concerns over loss of control of migration flows and lack of social cohesion.

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Top Ten
December 8, 2016
Migrants and Smugglers Get Creative to Circumvent Immigration Enforcement

Smugglers and migrants adapted their paths in light of changing conditions in 2016, including the construction of walls and closure of borders. Cuban and Haitian migrants increasingly chose to make their way to the United States through South and Central America rather than by sea. Meanwhile, migrant flows to Europe have splintered into a wider range of routes, seeking new openings through the Western Balkans.

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Top Ten
December 7, 2016
New Actors Step Up to Help Shoulder Growing Refugee Burden, But System Slow to Adapt

2016 saw the emergence of a "whole-of-society" approach to the refugee crisis, with a number of new actors, including many from the private sector, engaging with humanitarian protection issues in creative ways. This engagement and the energy and diversity of these partners, in the tech sector and beyond, creates both opportunities and challenges for governments and more traditional civil-society organizations.

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EventPH 2015.6.18 Rethinking the age of superdiversity flickr street sellars, ferrara
Video, Audio
June 18, 2015

Rethinking Integration for the Age of Superdiversity: How to Adapt Public Services?

Covering the findings of the UPSTREAM project, this MPI Europe event explores how a coordinated approach to integration may create more effective and inclusive approaches to diversity across the policy-making spectrum.

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Video, Audio
November 18, 2014

Better Work for Immigrants: Tackling Joblessness and Stunted Progression in the European Union

A day-long conference in Brussels, co-sponsored by the International Labour Office and the European Commision’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion, where panelists discuss the dynamics by which migrants get stuck in low-skilled work, and the role of training and employment services in helping them progress in their occupations.

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Video
October 28, 2014

The Global Boom in Investor Immigration: What Are the Lessons For Policymakers?

A discussion on the extraordinary boom in investor immigration, including the rapidly expanding EB-5 visa in the United States, Malta’s controversial “cash for citizenship” policy and a host of programs across Europe and the Caribbean.

EVENTPH 2014.9.18 Unpacking the Links between Segregation, Community Cohesion, and Opportunity (YouTube)
Video
September 18, 2014

Unpacking the Links between Segregation, Community Cohesion, and Opportunity: A Transatlantic Discussion

In this webinar, experts and policymakers from Europe and the United States discuss the relationship between immigration, residential segregation, community relations, and economic opportunities.

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Video
August 13, 2014

Giving Cities and Regions a Greater Voice in Immigration Policy

MPI researchers and representatives from London and Detroit discuss the policies and strategies used—at national and local levels—to attract immigrants into local economies.

Pages

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.

Articles
October 23, 2020

Climate Impacts as Drivers of Migration

Climate change is affecting human movement now, causing internal displacement and international migration, and will do so in the future. But the impact is often indirect, and rarely is the process as straightforward as one might think. This article provides an overview of research on how climatic hazards drive and affect migration, reviewing which types of people might migrate and under what conditions.

Articles
October 9, 2020

Criminalization of Search-and-Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean Has Been Accompanied by Rising Migrant Death Rate

Even as the number of people making the dangerous journey through the Central Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe has declined since the migration and refugee crisis of 2015-16, the rate of deaths has increased. This article evaluates the role of Europe's hardening approach to trans-Mediterranean migration and the criminalization of search-and-rescue operations by nongovernmental organizations.

Expert Q&A, Audio
October 6, 2020

Is Airport COVID-19 Testing Ready for Takeoff?

Austria’s Vienna airport was an early adopter for in-airport COVID-19 tests, with results turned around within a few hours, sparing those with medical certificates from a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Can this serve as a model for restarting business travel and tourism? In this episode of our Moving Beyond Pandemic podcast, we talk to Vienna airport official Peter Kleemann to learn more.

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.

 

Articles
September 25, 2020

Greece Struggles to Balance Competing Migration Demands

When he was elected prime minister in 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised what he called “strict but fair” reforms to secure Greece's borders and speed up transfers of asylum seekers crowding Aegean islands. Yet domestic and geopolitical tensions continued to roil the islands, later joined by a global pandemic, culminating in a fire that destroyed most of Lesvos's Moria refugee camp. This article examines Greece's efforts to strike a delicate balance on migration in a complex era.

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.

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