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Experts explore the steps that can be taken to unlock further growth and overcome obstacles to scaling various refugee sponsorship initiatives and complementary pathway schemes, including education and labor-based programs, for those people in need of international protection.

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.

Despite the ongoing war and heavy destruction across Ukraine, an estimated 1 million Ukrainians had returned to their country as of August 2024. On this webinar, experts discuss what shape refugees’ intentions to return or remain abroad.

Drawing from a series of MPI policy briefs that chart an agenda for policymakers to manage climate mobility, this expert discussion offers concrete examples of how governments across the globe can respond to the nexus of climate change and migration.

The European response to displacement from Ukraine has been unprecedented. Yet as the war has stretched on, uncertainty has grown about whether and when refugees will be able to return home. This report examines a wide range of personal, host-country, and origin-country factors that contribute to refugees’ intentions to return or stay abroad, and what this means for the ongoing policy response in European host countries.

BRUSSELS — Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, heavy destruction in many communities and uncertain future, an estimated 1 million Ukrainian refugees had returned as of August, either permanently or temporarily. These trends raise questions for European and Ukrainian policymakers about the likely scale and drivers of future returns, as well as how they should adapt their policies and programs to prepare for these movements.

WASHINGTON, DC — Ensuring that language barriers do not impede access to government information and services is a key concern for advancing the equitable delivery of public services, supporting the successful integration of immigrants into local communities and improving the effectiveness of government programs. Providing language access is also a longstanding federal civil-rights requirement for government agencies, non-profit organizations and other entities that receive federal funding.

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.

Ensuring people with limited proficiency in English can access government services for which they qualify and receive important public information is critical to the effectiveness and accessibility of state programs. This report analyzes the state of language access measures in Colorado state agencies and identifies opportunities to strengthen these efforts.

Many countries need more workers to fill jobs in clean energy and other sectors that are critical in the fight against climate change. In this episode of our podcast Changing Climate, Changing Migration, Migration Policy Institute senior policy analyst Kate Hooper discusses the role immigrants can play.

International migration trends, politics, and policies felt more frenetic perhaps than usual in 2024. They were punctuated by worsening and new displacement crises, faced a relentless public glare, and were enmeshed in the ongoing economic recovery from a global pandemic. The Migration Information Source reviews the Top 10 Migration Issues of 2024 in this annual list.  

WASHINGTON, DC — The Biden administration has advanced 605 immigration-related executive actions during its nearly four years in office, according to a Migration Policy Institute analysis out today, well outpacing the 472 actions undertaken during the first Trump administration, which had been deemed the most activist yet on immigration.

BRUSSELS — Whilst numbers about border crossings or migrant apprehensions are threaded into public conversations, policymaking and operational decisions, in reality data on irregular migration to Europe are often inadequate—either lacking altogether, uneven or difficult to access. This has consequences for policymakers, service providers and other stakeholders that would benefit from better access to reliable data.

Numbers play a major role in European debates and policymaking related to irregular migration. Yet, reliable data and estimates of irregular migrant populations, border crossings, and other relevant topics are often patchy. This policy brief explores factors that contribute to this uneven data landscape, how this affects policymaking, and potential strategies for strengthening the evidence base.

The Biden administration took significantly more executive actions on immigration than its predecessors, including during Donald Trump’s first term, although it has been unable to escape criticism for its response to record irregular arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border. The border overshadowed administration steps to modernize the legal immigration system and rebuild refugee resettlement, as this analysis of Biden’s track record explains.

BRUSSELS — Even as global displacement continues to rise, the political landscape surrounding migration and refugee protection in Europe has shifted amid concerns over reception capacity, housing infrastructure and the pace of irregular arrivals, making access to protection increasingly uncertain. With refugee resettlement places decreasing in many countries, more attention has been given to the creation of complementary pathways, such as sponsorship programs or use of existing work or study channels.