Refugee & Asylum Policy

Tens of millions of people around the globe have been forcibly displaced by conflict, natural disaster, or persecution, seeking refuge either within or beyond the borders of their country. Humanitarian protection, whether for refugees, asylum seekers, or internally displaced persons (IDPs), represents a key policy area for many major immigrant-receiving countries as well as nations bordering locations where war, political upheaval, or natural disaster have disrupted daily life. The research offered here relates to the law and practice of protecting refugees and IDPs in areas of conflict as well as in industrialized nations, with a focus on secure solutions and effective institutional arrangements for comprehensive protection.

Recent Activity

Reports January 2024 Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Challenge Decades in the Making By Alan D. Bersin, Nate Bruggeman and Ben Rohrbaugh	Reports January 2024 Expanding Protection Options? Flexible Approaches to Status for Displaced Syrians, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians By Andrew Selee, Susan Fratzke, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Luisa Feline Freier
Articles January 19, 2024 Biden at the Three-Year Mark: The Most Active Immigration Presidency Yet Is Mired in Border Crisis Narrative By Muzaffar Chishti, Kathleen Bush-Joseph, and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh	Reports January 2024 Shifting Realities at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Immigration Enforcement and Control in a Fast-Evolving Landscape By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh and Doris Meissner
Reports January 2024 Confronting Compassion Fatigue: Understanding the Arc of Public Support for Displaced Populations in Turkey, Colombia, and Europe By Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, M. Murat Erdoğan and Lucía Salgado	Commentaries December 2023 One Phase Closes for the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Now Another Begins By Hanne Beirens and Camille Le Coz
Multimedia November 16, 2023 Migration, Integration, and Development in Secondary Cities	Policy Briefs December 2023 What Role Could Digital Technologies Play in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum? By Lucía Salgado and Hanne Beirens

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Policy Briefs October 2023 From Safe Homes to Sponsors: Lessons from the Ukraine Hosting Response for Refugee Sponsorship Programs By Susan Fratzke, Viola Pulkkinen and Emma Ugolini	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
Reports July 2023 At the Breaking Point: Rethinking the U.S. Immigration Court System By Muzaffar Chishti, Doris Meissner, Stephen Yale-Loehr, Kathleen Bush-Joseph and Christopher Levesque	Reports June 2023 Improving Stakeholder Coordination in Refugee Resettlement: A Path to More Effective, Inclusive Programs By Admir Skodo and Maria Belen Zanzuchi
Reports June 2023 Building Meaningful Refugee Participation into Protection Policymaking By Uwezo Ramazani	Reports June 2023 Migration Narratives in Northern Central America: How Competing Stories Shape Policy and Public Opinion in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Alejandra Lopez and Alejandro Vélez Salas
Reports May 2023 Apuesta por la regularidad migratoria: Respuestas de América Latina y el Caribe frente a la crisis del desplazamiento venezolano By Luciana Gandini and Andrew Selee	Reports May 2023 Betting on Legality: Latin American and Caribbean Responses to the Venezuelan Displacement Crisis By Luciana Gandini and Andrew Selee

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Feature

November 16, 2023

Climate Migration 101: An Explainer

Is climate change a major driver of migration and displacement? From where are people leaving, and where are they going? This informative primer, a Climate Migration 101 of sorts, provides answers to basic questions about climate change and migration, starting with how and where climate change triggers human movement.

Profile

November 1, 2023

The World’s Leading Refugee Host, Turkey Has a Complex Migration History

Turkey is home to the world’s largest refugee population, a fact that has been a source of pride, a geopolitical tool, and a logistical challenge. This article shows how the millions of Syrians who have arrived since 2011 comprise just one aspect of Turkey’s rich and complex migration history. The country has been a significant host, a transit point for individuals heading to Europe, and a source of migrant laborers.

The U.S. Coast Guard interdicts a vessel with Cuban migrants.

Policy Beat

October 25, 2023

Can the Biden Immigration Playbook Be Effective for Managing Arrivals via Sea?

Amid the highest Caribbean maritime migration levels in a generation, the Biden administration is relying on a carrot-and-stick strategy it honed amid record unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The approach, combining limits on asylum, expanded legal pathways, and international enforcement partnerships, could be increasingly important if maritime migration rises, as this article explains.

Spotlight

October 11, 2023

Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States

The more than 1.3 million Vietnamese immigrants in the United States are the result of nearly 50 years of migration that began with the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. While early generations of Vietnamese immigrants tended to arrive as refugees, the vast majority of recent green-card holders obtained their status through family reunification channels. This article takes a look at the sixth-largest U.S. immigrant population.

Migrantes en la aldea de Canaán Membrillo, en el Tapón del Darién, Panamá.

Feature

October 9, 2023

Cómo el peligroso Tapón del Darién se convirtió en la encrucijada migratoria de las Américas

El paso por el Tapón del Darién ha transformado la migración en las Américas. Cada día, más de 1.000 personas cruzan lo que no hace mucho era un tramo de selva poco transitado entre Colombia y Panamá, la mayoría con la esperanza de llegar a Estados Unidos o Canadá. Es un viaje increíblemente arriesgado. Los gobiernos se han esforzado por responder al creciente movimiento, que se espera que supere los 500.000 cruces en 2023.

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Expert Q&A, Audio

August 24, 2023

Managing Changing Migration Dynamics and Policies in West Africa for Regional Gain

MPI Europe Associate Director Camille Le Coz discusses migration dynamics in West Africa and and how African leaders are responding to these trends with Leander Kandilige, a senior lecturer at the Centre for Migration Studies at the University of Ghana.

Expert Q&A, Audio

July 27, 2023

Displacement in the Sahel: Exploring Rising Migration and Responses in West Africa

MPI Europe Associate Director Camille Le Coz discusses rising displacement in the Sahel, which is experiencing multiple crises, with development economist Alexandra Tapsoba.

Video

July 20, 2023

Straining under the Backlog: Fixing a U.S. Immigration Court System in Crisis

As the U.S. immigration court system struggles with record case backlogs, decisions take years, immigration enforcement is delayed, and wait times incentivize unauthorized arrivals. This discussion examines the factors that have driven the system to the point of crisis and possible fixes.

Expert Q&A, Audio

July 12, 2023

Climate Migration 101

Climate migration sounds simple. It is not. MPI’s Lawrence Huang answers some of the most common questions around one of the least understood dynamics in human movement.

Expert Q&A, Audio

June 27, 2023

A Mixed Welcome: Haitian Migration within the Caribbean

MPI Senior Policy Analyst Valerie Lacarte speaks with experts Bridget Wooding and Louby George about migration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

Recent Activity

Expert Q&A, Audio

June 27, 2023

A Mixed Welcome: Haitian Migration within the Caribbean

MPI Senior Policy Analyst Valerie Lacarte speaks with experts Bridget Wooding and Louby George about migration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

Video, Webinars

June 14, 2023

Making Refugee Participation in Protection Community Dialogues Meaningful

In the run-up to the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, this discussion examines efforts at facilitating refugee participation and meaningful engagement in policy conversations at global and other levels. It also marks the release of a publication Building Meaningful Refugee Participation into Protection Policymaking from the Beyond Territorial Asylum: Making Protection Work in a Bordered World initiative.

Articles

June 15, 2023

Refugees and Asylees in the United States

U.S. refugee resettlement is slowly increasing after hitting a historic low, rebounding from the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce humanitarian migration as well as pandemic-era restrictions on movement and processing slowdowns. This article offers recent and historical data about refugees resettled in the United States, as well as asylum seekers and asylees.

Reports

June 2023

Building Meaningful Refugee Participation into Protection Policymaking

One promising—but often underutilized—element of addressing the world’s urgent humanitarian protection needs is meaningfully engaging refugees in policymaking processes. As this report highlights, consultations, advisory roles, and leadership and staff positions can help ensure refugees’ knowledge and expertise are reflected in policy responses to displacement. The study also examines common limitations and ways to make engagement more impactful.

Articles

June 6, 2023

In Canada’s French-Speaking Quebec, Immigration Sparks Anxieties about Language and Identity

Canada's ambitions to dramatically increase immigration have met resistance in Quebec, the country's only majority-French province, where many worry their identity is under threat. Provincial officials have sought to fortify the role of the French language in society through academic, immigration, and linguistic policies, but the language nonetheless faces demographic threats, as this article explains.

Reports

June 2023

Migration Narratives in Northern Central America: How Competing Stories Shape Policy and Public Opinion in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador

El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have long histories of emigration, but are seeing increasing transit and return migration as well. This report explores the stories told within these three countries about migration in all its forms, how these narratives intersect with (and at times, contradict) each other, and how they influence policy decisions and public opinion.

Articles

June 2, 2023

Inmigrantes centroamericanos en los Estados Unidos

Los centroamericanos representan menos de una décima parte de la población de inmigrantes en Estados Unidos. Pero su número se ha multiplicado por diez desde 1980. Este artículo proporciona una mirada integral a esta población.

Articles

May 31, 2023

Global Spending on Immigration Enforcement Is Higher than Ever and Rising

Budgets for border security and interior immigration enforcement have been on the rise in places including the United States and the European Union. The spending is a result of the heightened focus on securitization by the Global North and has led to a ballooning private industry. This article explains the trend.

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