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 April 20, 2018 Making Every Encounter Count: Using Peer Support to Improve Refugee Resettlement	Articles April 18, 2018 Once Homogenous, Tiny Iceland Opens Its Doors to Immigrants By Timothy Heleniak and Hjördis Rut Sigurjonsdottir
Reports April 2018 Next Steps: Implementing a Brexit Deal for UK Citizens Living in the EU-27 By Meghan Benton, Aliyyah Ahad, Michaela Benson, Katherine Collins, Helen McCarthy and Karen O’Reilly	Multimedia April 12, 2018 Responding to Early Childhood Education and Care Needs of Children of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Europe and North America
Multimedia April 10, 2018 Family Immigration Policy and Trends: How the United States Compares to Other Countries	Reports April 2018 Responding to the ECEC Needs of Children of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Europe and North America By Maki Park, Caitlin Katsiaficas and Margie McHugh
Policy Briefs April 2018 It’s Relative: A Crosscountry Comparison of Family-Migration Policies and Flows By Kate Hooper and Brian Salant	Reports March 2018 Scaling up Refugee Resettlement in Europe: The Role of Institutional Peer Support By Hanne Beirens and Aliyyah Ahad

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Books November 2010 Diasporas: New Partners in Global Development Policy	Books November 2010 Prioritizing Integration
Reports November 2010 Voice After Exit: Diaspora Advocacy By Kathleen Newland	Reports October 2010 Migration and Immigrants Two Years after the Financial Collapse: Where Do We Stand? By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption and Aaron Terrazas
Reports September 2010 Diaspora Philanthropy: Private Giving and Public Policy By Kathleen Newland, Aaron Terrazas and Roberto Munster	Reports September 2010 Heritage Tourism and Nostalgia Trade: A Diaspora Niche in the Development Landscape By Kathleen Newland and Carylanna Taylor
Reports August 2010 Connected through Service: Diaspora Volunteers and Global Development By Aaron Terrazas	Reports May 2010 Immigrant Integration: Priorities for the Next Decade (Transatlantic Council Statement) By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Annette Heuser

Pages

Top Ten

December 2, 2010

Europe, Wary of Immigration and Immigrants, Reaches an Inflection Point

A number of events in 2010 across the continent, and particularly in places long seen as moderate, seem to indicate a larger shift away from openness.

Top Ten

December 2, 2010

When All Else Fails, Leave: Emigration from Europe's New Destinations on the Rise

Although non-Irish nationals, particularly those from Eastern Europe, led the exodus, Irish nationals now make up a sizeable proportion of those leaving, and Greece appears poised to become a net exporter of people as well.

Top Ten

December 2, 2010

Painful Cuts to Integration Budgets - Even in Places Committed to Immigrant Integration

There's no getting around the fact that integrating immigrants costs money. That explains why recession-battered European countries, as well as a number of U.S. states, made cuts to programs affecting immigrants in 2009 and again in 2010.

Feature

October 21, 2010

France's Expulsion of Roma Migrants: A Test Case for Europe

Europe's largest minority group has long faced discrimination, but France's deportation of Roma as part of its security policies has sparked criticism from the European Union and human rights groups. Kristi Severance explains how the situation has evolved in recent months, the relevant EU laws, and how Europe is likely to move forward.

Profile

September 1, 2010

EU Membership Highlights Poland's Migration Challenges

Since joining the European Union in 2004, Poland has experienced one of the largest emigration flows in its postwar history. But the country has also received thousands of immigrants and refugees, mainly from its eastern neighbors, and is just beginning to invest in immigrant integration. Krystyna Iglicka and Magdalena Ziolek-Skrzypczak look at all aspects of migration in Poland in this updated profile.

Recent Activity

Reports

October 2021

How We Talk about Migration: The Link between Migration Narratives, Policy, and Power

As migration levels rise, societies are facing competing narratives about immigration. Often, there is dissonance between top-down narratives from political leaders and bottom-up narratives spread through personal and media engagement. This report explores positive and negative narratives around migration in Colombia, Lebanon, Morocco, Sweden, and the United States to determine the contexts in which some stick while others fail.

Commentaries

October 2021

As the United States Lifts Travel Restrictions, Its New Vaccination Requirements Could Shape the Future of Global Mobility

The U.S. decision to lift border restrictions for fully vaccinated international travelers represents the latest move by governments around the world to loosen COVID-19-era travel restrictions. Yet it underscores a major policy shift that has gone almost unnoticed: with vaccination moving from being a fast track to travel to becoming a required ticket. This raises significant equity and technical considerations, as this commentary explores.

Expert Q&A, Audio

October 13, 2021

Making Migration Policy in an Ever More Complex World

MPI co-founder Demetrios G. Papademetriou takes on many questions, including whether the role of think tanks has evolved over the last two decades, in this World of Migration conversation with MPI’s Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan. They also look ahead to the challenges that will dominate immigration policymaking in the years ahead.

Commentaries

October 2021

Labor Shortages during the Pandemic and Beyond: What Role Can Immigration Policy Play?

As European countries seek to revive their economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, acute labor shortages in a variety of sectors risk stopping the recovery in its tracks. This commentary explores why these shortages are emerging and how immigration policy can form one part of the broader strategy to meet labor market needs.

Video, Audio, Webinars

October 4, 2021

Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion (SI4RI): Sowing Innovation in the Cracks of Crisis

This virtual conference explores how the diverse landscape of partnerships, social enterprises, participatory models, and community-led initiatives spearheading social innovation for inclusion has fared during COVID-19. It also focuses on how this ecosystem can emerge strengthened from the pandemic, and be a vital force in addressing new humanitarian challenges.

Reports

September 2021

"Diversifying" Social Investment: European Welfare States and Immigrant Integration in the Wake of the COVID-19 Crisis

European countries’ responses to the pandemic have been extraordinary in scope and volume, and strengthened appreciation for the role of robust welfare programs in helping individuals and communities weather challenges. This report explores the case for using the crisis to more permanently rethink European welfare states and whether the social-investment approach could serve as a tool for post-pandemic recovery in diverse, immigrant-receiving societies.

Video, Audio, Webinars

September 14, 2021

How Will the Pandemic Reshape Public Health for Migrants?

With COVID-19 likely to significantly reshape health-care systems in Europe and worldwide, there is a window of opportunity to test new strategies to tackle longstanding migrant health disparities, and ensure that structural changes accommodate the complex needs of diverse populations.

Reports

September 2021

Healing the Gap: Building Inclusive Public-Health and Migrant Integration Systems in Europe

While the pandemic has had broad impacts across European societies, these have not been evenly felt. Many migrants and refugees have long faced health challenges, such as limited health-care eligibility and accessibility, and COVID-19 has threatened to deepen health disparities. This report explores how European countries have responded and what opportunities have emerged to tackle disparities in migrant health.

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