News

Vienna: The Budapest Process hosted its second virtual meeting after the major restrictions on mobility in light of the declared COVID-19 pandemic. 10 countries as well as the European Commission, FRONTEX, ICMPD and UNODC were invited to discuss what have been the immediate impacts of COVID-19 on irregular migration, border management, smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings.

Islamabad: ICMPD is delivering a digital training programme to officers of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan that will support the FIA’s Training Academy maintain its operational training in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic to combat trafficking in human beings, prevent irregular migration and efficiently manage Pakistan’s national borders.

Vienna: After two months of major restrictions on mobility in light of the declared Covid19 pandemic the Budapest Process hosted its first virtual meeting with selected countries. Representatives of 14 countries as well as the European Commission, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) discussed the immediate impacts of Covid19 on labour migration, and how to address them.

Budapest: The implementation of the Call for Action endorsed in December 2019 kicked off in 2020 with the first dialogue activity addressing Priority Goal 1 of the Call for Action. The Call for Action, which was adopted at the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Budapest Process provides the direction of activities for the next 5 years in six priority areas related to migration including Priority Goal 1 related to countering irregular migration. Experts on return and reintegration gathered for two days  in Budapest, hosted by the Co-Chair of the dialogue, Hungary. The meeting included a panel discussion amongst representatives from Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Pakistan, ERRIN, FRONTEX and the Bali Process. Break-out group discussions followed in three sessions focusing on structural constraints to return and reintegration.

Istanbul: As part of the ongoing activity to expand the labour migration rules and regulations of Iraq, ICMPD and Iraq’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA) conducted a training for 19 MOLSA officials and three representatives from the Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) based in Baghdad. The participating MOLSA officials came from different departments in charge of skills and vocational training, international relations, labour inspection, planning, information management and licensing.

Istanbul: Seventeen officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan met for three days with experts from ICMPD in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss and learn about labour migration management. A representative from the Migrant Resource Centre MRC in Kabul also participated in the training.

Istanbul: Good migration reporting requires migration knowledge. To help ensure such migration coverage in Iraq and Pakistan, ICMPD organised a “Media & Migration workshop” from 13-16 December 2019 in Istanbul, Turkey. After a competitive selection process with over 120 applications in total, fifteen journalists from Pakistan and ten journalists from Iraq had been selected to attend the three-day workshop.

Istanbul: Over 80 senior officials from 37 countries gathered for the annual Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the Budapest Process to jointly finalise the Budapest Process Strategic Document and Implementation Plan ( based on the Call for Action – a five year plan for 2020-2024). This document  provides a direction and framework for the next years of activities and remains a living document, which will be updated as needed.

Skopje: More than 90 delegates from 37 countries gathered in Skopje for the Joint Meeting of three Regional Working Groups to strategically prepare for the next five years. Deputy Minister of Interior of North Macedonia, Agim Nuhiu, officially opened the meeting and welcomed all participants, followed by State Secretary Magdalena Nestorovska who highlighted the importance of this meeting as the first gathering since the 6th Ministerial Conference in February 2019 in Istanbul. 

Kabul: How can a government address a broad variety of more than sixty challenges identified in the area of migration? Which migration governance and management issues need to be tackled first, and how are they linked to each other? What governance structures and legal frameworks are in place, and how can they be improved?

Islamabad: Legal and labour migration are central topics for Pakistan and have been identified as a priority by the current government. As part of the overall support structure for intending and outgoing migrants, and with support of ICMPD, Pakistan’s Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (MOPHRD) and the Department of Labour Punjab host and run the Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) in Islamabad and Lahore. They provide counselling, community awareness raising, pre-departure orientation and information on education and work opportunities abroad to students. This shall help empower people to take informed decisions on their migration trajectory. 

Istanbul: The Budapest Process held its 6th Ministerial Conference in Istanbul on 19-20 February 2019, gathering 46 participating countries, the European Commission, European institutions and 10 regional and international organisations. The event was hosted by Turkey and chaired by H.E. Süleyman Soylu, Turkish Minister of Interior.

20 Ministers as well as the European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Mr. Dimitris Avramopoulos, and 15 Deputy Ministers and States Secretaries took part in the conference.