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 41–50 of 696 results
International Student Mobility: A Post-Pandemic Reset or a Broader Challenge?
International student enrollment has tripled since 2000, but post-pandemic surges in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom have strained housing and policy systems.
Migration Governance in Unsettled Times: How Policymakers Can Plan for Population Change
Aging economies are growing more reliant on immigrants, but populist backlash and short-term firefighting are crowding out long-term, whole-of-government migration planning.
Can Innovation Help Blunt the Impact of Foreign Aid Cuts on Migration Management Programs?
The termination of what MPI estimates is up to $2.3 billion in yearly U.S. foreign aid earmarked for migration and displacement projects leaves a vast gap that other international donors are unlikely to fill, particularly as European countries are themselves cutting their assistance. This short read posits three scenarios that may emerge, including one in which these funding shocks unleash long-discussed innovations and efficiencies in migration management and displacement programming.
Funding Climate Mobility Projects: Key Players and Strategies for Growth
Climate mobility funding has expanded since 2017 but still falls short of need; bilateral donors lead while multilateral funders hold untapped potential to finance at scale.
Amid Tariff Threats, Migration Management Is Key to the Evolving Trump-Sheinbaum Relationship
The Trump administration is threatening tariffs on Mexico to achieve migration management aims, as it did in 2019. The landscape is far different in 2025, though. Mexican cooperation is at far higher levels than in 2019 and Mexico is essential to many of the Trump border goals—giving it greater leverage than before. Negotiations that recognize both countries' goals, capacities, and legal frameworks are essential to effective outcomes, this short read argues.
Entre amenazas arancelarias, la gestión de la migración es clave para la evolución de la relación Trump-Sheinbaum
La administración Trump amenaza con imponer aranceles a México para lograr sus objetivos de gestión migratoria, como lo hizo en 2019. Sin embargo, el panorama es muy diferente en 2025. La cooperación mexicana para el control migratorio alcanza niveles mucho más altos que en 2019, lo que le otorga mayor influencia que antes. Este Foco analítico sostiene que las negociaciones que reconozcan los objetivos y las capacidades de ambos países son esenciales para lograr resultados efectivos.
Understanding the Impact of Immigration on Demography: A Canadian Case Study
All of Canada’s labor force growth now comes from immigration, yet even high admission rates cannot halt population aging or significantly lower the old-age dependency ratio.
Legal Pathways and Enforcement: What the U.S. Safe Mobility Strategy Can Teach Europe about Migration Management
The Biden administration's ambitious migration management strategy, which combined increased regional cooperation and expanded lawful pathways with a more orderly system for border arrivals, eventually led to a significant drop in irregular migration to the U.S.-Mexico border. The strategy holds promise for governments in Europe also tackling mixed migration flows—however sequencing matters, among other lessons.
The Complicated Reality of Syrians’ Return
While the fall of the al-Assad regime is a seismic moment, it may be premature for sizable numbers of Syrians to return after years abroad—as some host countries want. Conditions remain unstable and returnees would face major housing shortages and limited access to jobs. Instead of returns, host countries would do well to focus for now on other priorities as regards Syria and Syrian refugees, this short read argues.
Charting a Smart Agenda for Managing Climate Migration
Experts offered concrete examples of how governments across the globe can respond to the nexus of climate change and migration and manage climate mobility.
