E.g., 04/16/2024
E.g., 04/16/2024
International Program

International Program

Border Security
Immigrant Profiles & Demographics
Employment & the Economy
Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement
Immigration Policy & Law
International Governance
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Commentaries
March 2024

As Europe and the United States Face Similar Migration Challenges, Spain Can Act as a Bridge

Image of female worker at the Boqueria market in Barcelona making a crepe
Marcel Crozet/ILO

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.

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Policy Briefs
March 2024

Lessons from COVID-19: Managing Borders in the Next Global Public-Health Crisis

Volunteer hands out food to migrant workers returning to their hometowns in Vietnam
IOM/Red Cross Vietnam

The COVID-19 pandemic both shocked the global mobility system and reaffirmed the centrality and resiliency of human mobility. Four years on, public and political attention to COVID-19’s unprecedented consequences for cross-border movement has waned. Yet if countries are to manage mobility more effectively in future public-health crises, this is an important moment for reflection and learning, as this issue brief explores.

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Reports
February 2024

Leaving No One Behind: Inclusive Fintech for Remittances

A woman in Nigeria smiles while using her mobile phone
iStock.com/Wirestock

Remittances are a vital lifeline for migrants’ families around the world and an important source of revenue for many low- and middle-income countries, especially in times of crisis. As more people turn to digital financial technologies for these money transfers, this shift holds the potential to shake up the rigid remittance industry and boost development benefits. But it also brings new challenges, as this report explores.

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Policy Briefs
February 2024

The Mobility Key: Realizing the Potential of Refugee Travel Documents

Three refugee students at airport security check
© UNHCR/Alessandro Penso

Travel documents are critical facilitators of mobility. But for refugees, who cannot safely use a passport issued by their origin country, the lack of a usable travel document can shut them out of work, study, or other opportunities beyond their first country of asylum. This policy brief examines alternative documents that can facilitate refugees’ movement, key barriers to acquiring them, and strategies for overcoming these challenges.

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Reports
January 2024

Expanding Protection Options? Flexible Approaches to Status for Displaced Syrians, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians

Ukrainian adults and children arrive at a train station in Hungary
IOM/Muse Mohammed

The massive and rapid displacement of Syrians, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians presented neighboring countries with an impossible task: providing legal status and assistance, even though their asylum systems lacked the capacity to handle such a large influx. This report examines the costs and benefits of the flexible approaches taken to providing status in these three cases, identifying lessons for future crises.

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Policy Briefs
December 2023

Consolidating Gains: Lessons and Priorities for Promoting Fair and Ethical Recruitment

A migrant worker cuts through a metal rod at a construction site in Qatar
Apex Image/ILO

With more people moving abroad for work and events such as the 2022 World Cup in Qatar highlighting the risks migrant workers can face, questions about how international recruitment occurs have received increased scrutiny. This policy brief explores the notable progress that has been made in establishing fair and ethical recruitment standards, and identifies key areas for future attention by governments, employers, and recruiters.

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A Haitian child looks over his mother's shoulder in Panama
Commentaries

Addressing the Next Displacement Crisis in the Making in the Americas

The next major displacement of people in the Americas is in the making, and it is going unnoticed. The response to the steady emigration from Haiti seen since a devastating 2010 earthquake has been largely haphazard and may not stand the test of new spikes as the country unravels further. This commentary suggests a way forward, based on a model used for the Venezuelan displacement crisis.

Image of passport page with variety of stamps
Articles

Top Statistics on Global Migration and Migrants

Looking for some of the most often-sought information on global migration? This statistics-rich article draws on the most current data sources to offer a primer on international migration, highlighting its types, the size of the migrant population and growth over time, and major sending and receiving countries and regions. Beyond looking at labor and humanitarian migrants and international students, the article examines remittances and more.

Recent Activity

Event PH 2016.10.27 EU in UN summit follow up flickr European Parliament
Multimedia
October 26, 2016
Cooperation on Migration: The Role of the European Union in the Follow-Up to the UN Summit
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Reports
November 2016
Beyond Care and Maintenance: Rebuilding Hope and Opportunity for Refugees (Transatlantic Council Statement)
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Susan Fratzke
Event PH 2016.10.27 Kate Hooper and Kathleen Newland
Multimedia
October 27, 2016
Taming the Seas: Safety, Protection, and Attempts to Create Order in Maritime Migration Corridors
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Policy Briefs
October 2016
New Approaches to Refugee Crises in the 21st Century: The Role of the International Community
By  Kathleen Newland
HKDomesticWorkers IDWF Flickr
Articles
October 20, 2016
Maid in Hong Kong: Protecting Foreign Domestic Workers
By Chenyu Liang
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Reports
October 2016
Digital Humanitarianism: How Tech Entrepreneurs Are Supporting Refugee Integration
By  Meghan Benton and Alex Glennie
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Reports
October 2016
Moving Beyond Crisis: Germany’s New Approaches to Integrating Refugees into the Labor Market
By  Victoria Rietig
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Books
October 2016
All at Sea: The Policy Challenges of Rescue, Interception, and Long-Term Response to Maritime Migration
By  Kathleen Newland, Elizabeth Collett, Kate Hooper and Sarah Flamm

Pages

Recent Activity

Audio
October 26, 2016

Cooperation on Migration: The Role of the European Union in the Follow-Up to the UN Summit

One month ago, world leaders gathered at the United Nations for a summit to discuss movements of refugees and migrants, however the absence of concrete commitments in the resulting New York Declaration disappointed many observers and the slow progress on multilateral cooperation around migration has particular salience for the European Union, since the arrival of more than 1 million asylum seekers to Europe in 2015. This panel brings officials together from a range of institutions mandated to consider the future of cooperation, whether bilaterally, regionally, or at the global level, and asks: What is possible, what is desirable, and what is likely?

Reports
November 2016

Beyond Care and Maintenance: Rebuilding Hope and Opportunity for Refugees (Transatlantic Council Statement)

Possibilities for many refugees to return to their country of origin are limited, yet conditions for the displaced in many first-asylum countries are bleak and resettlement places few. This Transatlantic Council Statement outlines new approaches that could gradually move the international community away from a choice between resettlement for a tiny proportion of refugees and basic protection from physical harm for the rest.

Video, Audio
October 27, 2016

Taming the Seas: Safety, Protection, and Attempts to Create Order in Maritime Migration Corridors

Marking the release of All at Sea: The Policy Challenges of Rescue, Interception, and Long-Term Response to Maritime Migration, this book discussion explores the different facets of maritime migration and the challenges governments, civil society, the private sector, and international organizations face in tackling this issue together. Presenters discuss the overwhelming Mediterranean crisis and movements across the Bay of Bengal/Andaman Sea, the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden, in the Caribbean, and the waters around Australia; and the particular challenges for policymakers in each of these cases.

Policy Briefs
October 2016

New Approaches to Refugee Crises in the 21st Century: The Role of the International Community

The movement of more than 1 million refugees across the Mediterranean in 2015 brought much-needed attention to the inadequacy of the global humanitarian system and starkly underlined the need for new approaches to protection. This policy brief examines the extraordinary series of refugee-related international summits and meetings convened in 2016, their accomplishments and limitations, and outlook for future action.

Articles
October 20, 2016

Maid in Hong Kong: Protecting Foreign Domestic Workers

Hong Kong is home to more than 340,000 foreign domestic workers, who can be found in one of every seven households. Despite efforts by the governments of Hong Kong and top sending countries, these workers remain uniquely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. This article examines the conditions foreign domestic workers face, the policies governing their employment, and the challenges in protecting their rights.

Reports
October 2016

Digital Humanitarianism: How Tech Entrepreneurs Are Supporting Refugee Integration

Tech communities in Europe and North America have been spurred into action by the refugee crisis, developing apps and other tools that can be used along the journey, immediately upon arrival, and for longer-term integration into the host society. This report maps several types of emerging tools and considers how policymakers responsible for refugee integration might play a more active role in supporting the most promising.

Reports
October 2016

Moving Beyond Crisis: Germany’s New Approaches to Integrating Refugees into the Labor Market

A key question confronting German policymakers has been how to successfully integrate asylum seekers into the labor market after record numbers arrived in 2015. This report examines the challenges newcomers face in getting jobs at their skill level as well as accessing language and training courses. The report outlines the many integration initiatives created in Germany, and offers recommendations for greater effectiveness.

Books
October, 2016

All at Sea: The Policy Challenges of Rescue, Interception, and Long-Term Response to Maritime Migration

With maritime migration the subject of significant policy and public focus in Europe, Australia, and beyond, this timely volume reviews the policy responses to irregular maritime arrivals at regional, national, and international levels. The book includes case studies of the major global hotspots—the Mediterranean, Gulf of Aden, Bay of Bengal/Andaman Sea, Australia, and the Caribbean—and examines trends and policy responses.

Pages