Global Program
The Global Program acts as a policy laboratory for innovative, evidence-based, and politically feasible solutions to migration policy challenges. From direct policy advice to deep comparative research, its work interrogates policy design and effectiveness, helps countries newer to immigration learn from innovation and evidence in other regions, and anticipates how demographic, economic, and technological shifts will reshape migration in the years ahead. It supports governments in responding to crises with greater coordination and foresight, and provides a trusted off-the-record space for engaging with sensitive topics. Its main geographical focus is Europe, the Americas, and Australia, but it increasingly works with governments and other partners worldwide, including in East Africa and Asia. For more on the Global Program, click here.
Featured
Population Aging Is Here. Immigration Can Offer Half an Answer.
Immigration on its own cannot solve population aging, but five policy principles can help it play a more effective role in a broader demographic…
Creating Inclusive Urban Economies for Migrants and Refugees
Cities hold powerful levers to turn migrants' and refugees' underused talent into economic growth—but doing so requires moving beyond first…
More Featured Work
Key Statistics
International migrants comprise 3.7 percent of the global population. Learn more about them
304.0 million
The number of migrants globally in 2024
50.6 million
The number who as of 2025 were refugees or asylum seekers
94.0 million
The number of international migrants in Europe—the top destination globally
Showing 191–200 of 696 results
Making Migration Policy in an Ever More Complex World
Two decades into MPI's existence, the same immigration debates that seemed intractable in 2001 remain unsolved—so what will it take to move the needle?
Impacts of Extreme Heat: Global Warming and Migration
As extreme heat becomes one of the defining consequences of global warming, what does rising temperature mean for the health and survival of people on the move?
Revisiting the Role of COVID-19 Travel Restrictions in Light of Delta and Other Variants
When novel pathogens spread faster than scientific consensus, what kind of risk-assessment framework would give policymakers a fighting chance at the border?
Labour 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.
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.
African Migration through the Americas: Drivers, Routes, and Policy Responses
African migrants increasingly transit the Americas via the Darién Gap, though COVID-19 disrupted flows in 2020. Coordinated regional policy responses are needed.
Migración africana a través del continente americano: impulsores, rutas y respuestas normativas
Las detenciones de migrantes africanos en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México alcanzaron 5,000 en 2019; se requieren respuestas regionales coordinadas.
How We Talk about Migration: The Link between Migration Narratives, Policy, and Power
Migration narratives shape public attitudes towards immigrants and policy. Framing, word choice, and messenger credibility each influence the politics of immigration.
s, M, l, xl ¿Cómo es la bienvenida de los migrantes en las ciudades de tamaño mediano en la región?
En esta conversación, líderes de ciudades medianas examinan las respuestas sociales de la region que han resultado en la integración de nuevos migrantes en comunidades locales.
Opening More Avenues for Protection for Refugees
From a global review of refugee resettlement and complementary pathway programs, experts offered recommendations on how stakeholders can most effectively support the growth of resettlement and complementary pathways.
