Susan Fratzke
Senior Policy Analyst
Susan Fratzke is a Senior Policy Analyst with MPI's International Program, where she primarily works with the Transatlantic Council on Migration. Her research areas include forced migration, asylum, and resettlement policy, with a particular focus on Europe.
Before joining MPI, Ms. Fratzke worked for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Prior to that, she worked with an adult literacy program serving immigrant and refugee students in Minnesota.
Ms. Fratzke holds an MA in German and European studies, with a concentration in European migration policy, from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where she received the 2012 Jill A. Hopper Award for Excellence. She has also earned a certificate in refugees and humanitarian emergencies from Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of International Migration and holds a BA in political science (with honors) from Iowa State University.
Bio Page Tabs
Marking the launch of the MPI and Robert Bosch Stiftung initiative--Beyond Territorial Asylum: Making Protection Work in a Bordered World--this event examines how the accessibility of asylum and protection globally has changed since the EU-Turkey deal, other similar policies deployed by countries of asylum, the impacts of t
This event organized by MPI and CWS, one of nine U.S. refugee resettlement agencies, examined the refugee resettlement system and complementary pathways that represent untapped opportunities for refugees to improve their lives through migration.
MPI and MPI Europe experts discuss the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on asylum systems in Europe and North America, as well as in developing regions, where 85 percent of refugees live. During this freeform conversation, our analysts also assess the implications for the principle of asylum and the future for a post-World War II humanitarian protection system that is under threat.
This MPI Europe webinar examines innovative ways to better design and implement predeparture orientation programs for resetttling refugees. The discussion features observations from a refugee who went through an orientation program before being resettled in the Netherlands, and a resettlement agency official in Norway.
The refugee and migration crisis in Europe thrust the issue of legal pathways to the top of European Union (EU) and national government agendas, but progress has so far suffered from a lack of strategic thinking on how legal channels can work together and how to overcome design and implementation challenges. This webinar offers insights from EU Member States on how existing, new, and untapped legal pathways—such as resettlement, community-based sponsorship, and family reunification—can interact with other humanitarian policies and fit into a larger protection strategy. The discussion also highlights two MPI Europe publications, Tracing the Channels Refugees Use to Seek Protection in Europe and Engaging Communities in Refugee Protection: The Potential of Private Sponsorship in Europe.
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Recent Activity
Marking the launch of the MPI and Robert Bosch Stiftung initiative--Beyond Territorial Asylum: Making Protection Work in a Bordered World--this event examines how the accessibility of asylum and protection globally has changed since the EU-Turkey deal, other similar policies deployed by countries of asylum, the impacts of these policies on asylum seekers and host and transit countries, and what can be done to ensure refugees continue to have access to protection and asylum procedures.
Ten years into Syria's conflict, Syrians remain the largest refugee population worldwide. As they face limited prospects for resettlement or safe return, how can host countries and donors promote resilience for refugees and host communities alike? This report offers examples of creative policy solutions in the areas of protection, social protection, education, livelihoods, and health care from displacement contexts in 16 countries.
This event organized by MPI and CWS, one of nine U.S. refugee resettlement agencies, examined the refugee resettlement system and complementary pathways that represent untapped opportunities for refugees to improve their lives through migration. Speakers also explored opportunities for international cooperation on resettlement and considerations for implementing complementary pathways at an international level.
In recent years, the European Union and some of its Member States have taken on a greater role in global refugee resettlement, expanding or launching new programs and experimenting with creative approaches to providing protection to those in need. This report looks ahead to how these efforts, investments, and lessons learned can be built upon, even in the face of the uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
MPI and MPI Europe experts discuss the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on asylum systems in Europe and North America, as well as in developing regions, where 85 percent of refugees live. During this freeform conversation, our analysts also assess the implications for the principle of asylum and the future for a post-World War II humanitarian protection system that is under threat.
Travel bans, border closures, and other migration management tools did not prove effective at blocking COVID-19 from spreading across international borders. Yet as governments have shifted from containment to mitigation with the coronavirus now in community transmission in many countries, these restrictions are a logical part of the policy toolkit in the context of social distancing and restricting all forms of human movement, as this commentary explores.
Europe's refugee resettlement capacity has grown dramatically, with resettlement places more than doubling since 2014, even as European countries have become an emerging center for innovation. As Europe accounts for a rising share of resettlement worldwide, will European policymakers claim a leadership role in shaping the global resettlement agenda or fall into this position by default?
When Emergency Measures Become the Norm: Post-Coronavirus Prospects for the Schengen Zone
Coronavirus Is Spreading across Borders, But It Is Not a Migration Problem
The Future of Refugee Resettlement: Made in Europe?
International Experience Suggests Safe Third-Country Agreement Would Not Solve the U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis
Three Things the European Union Can Do to Support Private Sponsorship for Refugees
Europe Pushes to Outsource Asylum, Again
Global Refugee Summits Offer Reasons for Both Disappointment and Hope