E.g., 09/19/2020
E.g., 09/19/2020

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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Policy Briefs
September 2020

Venezuelan Migration, Crime, and Misperceptions: A Review of Data from Colombia, Peru, and Chile

Venezuelan migrants and refugees at the border between Colombia and Ecuador
Angela Wells/IOM

More than 4 million Venezuelans have moved to other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, raising concerns about how these arrivals are affecting receiving communities. Some politicians and pundits have asserted that migration is leading to an increase in crime—a claim this issue brief finds misplaced based on examination of official data from Chile, Colombia, and Peru.

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Fact Sheets
August 2020

Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Regional Profile

Venezuelans waiting at the Peru border for their documents to be processed
Muse Mohammed/IOM

As Latin American and Caribbean countries face a dual challenge—managing large-scale Venezuelan arrivals alongside the COVID-19 pandemic—reliable data on the characteristics of newcomers are essential to policymaking. This MPI-IOM fact sheet offers a profile of refugees and migrants in 11 countries in the region, including their demographics, labor market participation, remittance sending, access to health care, trip details, and intention to return to Venezuela.

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Commentaries
August 2020

When Emergency Measures Become the Norm: Post-Coronavirus Prospects for the Schengen Zone

Falk Lademann

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.

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Commentaries
May 2020

The Rocky Road to a Mobile World after COVID-19

Jens-Olaf Walter

COVID-19 has chilled many forms of human movement, from travel to temporary and permanent migration, refugee resettlement, and returns, among them. While a safe restart of travel is a precondition for a return to economic and societal normalcy, restarting mobility will not be like flicking a switch, particularly amid disagreements over the costs societies can and should absorb in the name of protecting public health, as this commentary explains.

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Commentaries
April 2020

The COVID-19 Pandemic Suggests the Lessons Learned by European Asylum Policymakers After the 2015 Migration Crisis Are Fading

Nicolas Vigier

As European asylum systems are tested again by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has injected the need for social distancing during processing and in reception centers, it appears lessons learned during the 2015-16 migration and refugee crisis may be fading. Chief among them: A number of Member States have phased out their buffer capacity. This MPI Europe commentary explores the diametrically different approaches taken to asylum during the pandemic.

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Commentaries
March 2020

A Race Against the Clock: Meeting Seasonal Labor Needs in the Age of COVID-19

Claus Bunks

As governments have reacted to the coronavirus pandemic by closing borders, seasonal workers have been kept out, raising a pressing question: who is going to produce the food amid agricultural labor shortages? Policymakers in the Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America have responded by seeking to recruit residents, lengthen stays for already present seasonal workers, and find ways to continue admitting foreign seasonal labor, as this commentary explores.

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Venezuelan migrants and refugees at the border between Colombia and Ecuador
Policy Briefs

Inmigrantes venezolanos, crimen y percepciones falsas: Un análisis de los datos en Colombia, Perú y Chile

Más de 4 millones de venezolanos han migrado a otros países de América Latina y el Caribe, lo que ha generado preocupación sobre cómo estas llegadas están afectando a las comunidades receptoras. Algunos políticos y expertos han afirmado que la migración está provocando un incremento en la delincuencia, un argumento que este informe examina a través de un análisis detallado de los datos de Chile, Colombia y Perú.

Venezuelans waiting at the Peru border for their documents to be processed
Fact Sheets

Un perfil regional de los migrantes y refugiados venezolanos en América Latina y el Caribe

Los países de América Latina y del Caribe se están enfrentando a un desafío doble. Por un lado, deben manejar un flujo masivo de venezolanos entrando a sus países, mientras que, al mismo tiempo, deben enfocar sus esfuerzos en controlar el virus del COVID-19. Esta ficha técnica presenta un perfil regional de los migrantes y refugiados venezolanos que viajaron a través de 11 países.

Grape pickers in France
Articles

Under Lockdown Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Europe Feels the Pinch from Slowed Intra-EU Labor Mobility

Border closures and lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic have put a chill on intra-EU labor mobility, most immediately with the difficulty for European farmers to gain access to much-needed seasonal workers and for health-care institutions to get care workers. This article explores how these workers, who often face difficult situations, may be more vulnerable now. It also takes on implications for intra-EU labor mobility post-pandemic.

Featured

The Migration Portal is the first comprehensive website that tracks developments on immigration policy in Latin America and the Caribbean, presenting authoritative research, data, and analysis produced by MPI, governments, international organizations, researchers, and civil society.

Recent Activity

Reports
April 2015
Syrian Refugees in Turkey: The Long Road Ahead
By Ahmet İçduygu
Reports
April 2015
Unaccompanied Child Migration to the United States: The Tension between Protection and Prevention
By Marc R. Rosenblum
Articles
April 2, 2015
Assessing the Political Impact of Immigration as the United Kingdom Heads to the Polls
By Will Somerville
Multimedia
March 26, 2015
The Asia-Pacific and Women’s Labour Migration
Policy Briefs
March 2015
Women’s Labour Migration from Asia and the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges
By Bandita Sijapati
Reports
March 2015
Protection in Crisis: Forced Migration and Protection in a Global Era
By Roger Zetter
Policy Briefs
March 2015
The Development of EU Policy on Immigration and Asylum: Rethinking Coordination and Leadership
By Elizabeth Collett
Reports
March 2015
Not Adding Up: The Fading Promise of Europe's Dublin System
By Susan Fratzke

Pages

Reports
October 2008
Demographic Trends in Mexico: The Implications for Skilled Migration
By Elena Zúñiga and Miguel Molina
Reports
October 2008
Emerging Demographic Trends in Asia and the Pacific: Implications for International Migration
By Graeme Hugo
Reports
October 2008
The Demography of China and India: Effects on Migration to High-Income Countries
By Michael J. White and Inku Subedi
Reports
October 2008
Hybrid Immigrant-Selection Systems: The Next Generation of Economic Migration Schemes
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville, and Hiroyuki Tanaka
Books
August 2008
Migration und Integration gestalten
Reports
June 2008
Soft, Scarce, and Super Skills: Sourcing the Next Generation of Migrant Workers in Europe
By Elizabeth Collett and Fabian Zuleeg
Reports
April 2008
Local Voting Rights for Non-Nationals in Europe: What We Know and What We Need to Learn
By Kees Groenendijk
Reports
April 2008
Stakeholder Citizenship: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?
By Rainer Bauböck

Pages

Recent Activity

Reports
April 2015

Syrian Refugees in Turkey: The Long Road Ahead

More than 1.7 million Syrian refugees lived in Turkey as of mid-March 2015, making this the world's largest community of Syrians displaced by the conflict in their country. This report provides an overview of Turkey's changing migration landscape and the position of Syrian refugees in Turkey today, along with policy recommendations given the likelihood of long-term or permanent displacement for Syrians.
Reports
April 2015

Unaccompanied Child Migration to the United States: The Tension between Protection and Prevention

Policymakers, the public, and the media were seemingly caught off-guard in spring 2014 when a surge of child migrants from Central America reached the U.S.-Mexico border in unprecedented numbers. Yet the uptick began in 2011. This report examines the causes of this surge and recommends policy solutions to advance both critical protection and enforcement goals in situations of complex, mixed flows.

Articles
April 2, 2015

Assessing the Political Impact of Immigration as the United Kingdom Heads to the Polls

The United Kingdom has faced changing immigration patterns over the last two decades driven largely by EU migration, and political upheaval caused by the rise of the United Kingdom Independence Party and the Scottish National Party. Upcoming general elections in May 2015 will have a significant impact not only on immigration policies but the United Kingdom's place in the European Union.
Audio
March 26, 2015

The Asia-Pacific and Women’s Labour Migration

Marking the release of the 12th MPI-IOM Issue in Brief, this event in Bangkok examined the emerging trends in women’s labor migration in the Asia-Pacific region, and the related opportunities and challenges. The audio does not include opening remarks and begins with the author's presentation.

Policy Briefs
March 2015

Women’s Labour Migration from Asia and the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges

The number of women migrants in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region is on the rise. While migration can provide unique opportunities for female workers to improve their livelihoods and gain greater autonomy, it also exposes them to new types of vulnerability and discrimination. This brief looks at the trends and patterns in female labor migration in the Asia-Pacific region as well as key policy challenges relating to female migration.
Reports
March 2015

Protection in Crisis: Forced Migration and Protection in a Global Era

More than 51 million people worldwide are forcibly displaced today as refugees, asylum seekers, or internally displaced persons. This report details the increasing mismatch between the legal and normative frameworks that define the existing protection regime and the contemporary patterns of forced displacement.
Policy Briefs
March 2015

The Development of EU Policy on Immigration and Asylum: Rethinking Coordination and Leadership

Despite the European Union's high expectations for effectively resolving migration-related challenges, it has become clear that the policy-making structure in place today does little to support this goal. This policy brief addresses the underlying mechanisms of policy development around migration and asylum and identifies areas where reform to EU institutions is needed.

Reports
March 2015

Not Adding Up: The Fading Promise of Europe's Dublin System

The European Union's Dublin Regulation, the mechanism to assign responsibility to Member States for processing individual asylum claims, has been the subject of intense political debate since its inception. This report examines the key criticisms of the Dublin system on asylum, evaluates the potential of the recently adopted recast, and recommends topics for consideration during the scheduled 2016 review of the system.

Pages