E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
MPI Europe

MPI Europe

Iraqi and Swedish families paired in Sweden's community sponsorship program
© UNHCR/Mikael Bjuremalm

As more countries launch refugee sponsorship and complementary pathways programs, planning for and supporting refugees’ transition out of these programs is essential. While often receiving less attention than other elements of program design, a clear transition plan can promote refugees’ self-sufficiency, social cohesion, and overall program sustainability. This MPI Europe issue brief explores common transition challenges as well as promising practices.

Young Syrian man and social worker in Turkey
Muse Mohammed/IOM

Large-scale displacement can trigger instability and feelings of threat in refugee host countries. But in certain cases, it can also uncover deep wells of solidarity that create space for generous policy responses. This report explores factors that can foster and erode public support for forced migrants, drawing examples from attitudes towards Syrians in Turkey, Venezuelans in Colombia, and Ukrainians in Europe.

Image of EU and Member State flags flapping in wind
iStock.com/stormwatch153

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum agreed in December 2023 by EU Member States and the European Parliament after lengthy negotiation will, without a doubt, go down in history as a signal political accomplishment. But will it result in better management of migration and asylum systems in a complex era? The outcome will turn on implementation and communication, this MPI Europe commentary explains.

European Union flag composed of binary code
iStock.com/BirgitKorber

With EU migration systems under strain, many observers have high hopes that the New Pact on Migration and Asylum will be able to help Europe address pressing challenges. This policy brief explores how digital technologies could support the implementation of the pact, should it be approved, as well as areas where caution is merited.

Syrian refugee family in Argentina who were sponsored by a community group
IOM/Muse Mohammed

In community sponsorship and other programs that directly involve communities and individuals in supporting refugees’ arrival and integration, where and with whom refugees are matched matters a great deal. This policy brief explores the ongoing evolution of approaches taken to matching refugees with sponsors or receiving communities, highlighting innovations and opportunities for further improvements.

Ukraine flag hanging from an apartment building in the Netherlands
Gert-Jan van Vliet/iStock.com

As millions of people fled Ukraine and sought safety in countries across Europe after Russia's 2022 invasion, community-led projects emerged to help newcomers find temporary housing in private homes. These hosting initiatives have helped quickly address a pressing housing need, fill gaps in official reception services, and engage communities in welcoming refugees. But they have also posed challenges, as this policy brief discusses.

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Cover image for Refugee Resettlement and Complementary Pathways: Opportunities for Growth
Reports
September 2021
By  Susan Fratzke, Maria Belen Zanzuchi, Kate Hooper, Hanne Beirens, Lena Kainz, Nathan Benson, Eliza Bateman and Jessica Bolter
Cover image for Solidarity in Isolation? Social Cohesion at a Time of Physical Distance
Reports
July 2021
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan and Aliyyah Ahad
Building Welcome from the Ground up: European Small and Rural Communities Engaging in Refugee Resettlement
Reports
November 2020
By  Liam Patuzzi, Monica Andriescu and Antonio Pietropolli

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The European Court of Human Right's ruling on the transfer of a family of Afghan asylum seekers from Switzerland to Italy has struck a potentially fatal blow to the European Union's Dublin asylum system. Against a backdrop of pressures on EU Member States in the humanitarian protection realm, this article assesses the impact of the ruling and reevaluates the viability of the Dublin Regulation as a key tool in the Common European Asylum System.

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Commentaries
October 2018
By  Susan Fratzke and Hanne Beirens
ExternalProcessing EU
Commentaries
June 2018
By  Elizabeth Collett and Susan Fratzke
EUTurkeydeal Commentary2018
Commentaries
March 2018
By  Elizabeth Collett
_Refugees
Commentaries
March 2017
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou
_DutchElections
Commentaries
March 2017
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
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Commentaries
March 2017
By  Elizabeth Collett and Meghan Benton

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Video, Audio
March 8, 2022

Featuring expert views from the European Commission's Asylum Unit Head, along with representatives from the European Union Agency for Asylum, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representation for EU Affairs, and MPI Europe, this webinar explores the implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive, prospects for the integration of the Ukrainian displaced populations,

Video, Audio
October 4, 2021

This virtual conference explores how the diverse landscape of partnerships, social enterprises, participatory models, and community-led initiatives spearheading social innovation for inclusion has fared during COVID-19. It also focuses on how this ecosystem can emerge strengthened from the pandemic, and be a vital force in addressing new humanitarian challenges.

Video, Audio
September 14, 2021

With COVID-19 likely to significantly reshape health-care systems in Europe and worldwide, there is a window of opportunity to test new strategies to tackle longstanding migrant health disparities, and ensure that structural changes accommodate the complex needs of diverse populations.

Video, Audio
September 13, 2021

This MPI Europe webinar marks the launch of a report that maps refugee resettlement and complementary pathway programs around the world and offers recommendations for how UNHCR, national governments, civil society, and others can most effectively support the growth of resettlement and complementary pathways.

Video, Audio
August 24, 2021

In light of the dangers facing millions of Afghans, this discussion focused on what European countries should prioritize to address the immediate needs of displaced populations; how to start planning for longer-term assistance to countries in the region who are hosting Afghan refugees; implications for partnerships with governments in the region; and what safe pathways other countries have open

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Recent Activity

Articles

Faced with a flexible, diverse, and seemingly ubiquitous smuggling industry, governments have struggled to respond. Smuggling and trafficking networks, while hardly new phenomena, were put under a harsh spotlight in 2015 for their role as intermediaries in shaping the scale and flow of migrants and asylum seekers around the world.

Reports
December 2015

Refugee resettlement, typically thought of as a government-led activity, can also be sponsored by private individuals, groups, corporations, and other entities. This report examines the small number of private sponsorship programs that exist in Canada, Argentina, Australia, and elsewhere. It suggests that similar arrangements could enhance refugee resettlement opportunities in the European Union.

Video, Audio, Webinars
October 20, 2015

An MPI Europe video chat with the outgoing head of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) on the current EU refugee crisis, what strategies Europe ought to be pursuing in response, and the growing role of EASO as well as its track record over its first five years.

Audio, Webinars
September 18, 2015

A webinar/call with senior officials from two EU Member States, Austria and Slovenia, to discuss their differing perspectives on the current refugee crisis, and consider what is needed to ensure a unified, practically feasible response to the biggest crisis that has faced the Common European Asylum System since its inception.

Video, Expert Q&A
September 11, 2015

Demetrios Papademetriou, President Emeritus of MPI and President of MPI Europe, explains the origins of the refugee crisis in Europe and discusses actions that Europe and other regions can take in the near and long term to address the flows.

Commentaries
September 2015

The ongoing chaos being seen in Southeast Europe, as countries grapple with massive inflows of asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere have laid bare the unresolved dysfunctions of incomplete European Union systems, as this commentary from MPI Europe's director explains. The proposal for relocation of 160,000 asylum seekers and other announced measures are a necessary stopgap, but far from an enduring solution.

Audio
July 8, 2015

This teleconference, the first in a series from MPI Europe on the future of asylum policy in the European Union, focuses on the politics and mechanics of asylum seeker relocation and whether a recent contentious European Summit represents a new phase of intra-EU cooperation on asylum.

Video, Audio
June 18, 2015

Covering the findings of the UPSTREAM project, this MPI Europe event explores how a coordinated approach to integration may create more effective and inclusive approaches to diversity across the policy-making spectrum.

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