New MPI Europe Report for Project UPSTREAM: "Into the mainstream: Rethinking public services for diverse and mobile populations"

Amidst a backdrop of growing diversity, the concept of ‘mainstreaming’ immigrant integration has proven trendy in European policy circles in recent years even it has been invoked for different purposes and in different contexts. Accurately used to capture the idea that integration policy requires a whole-of-government response across national and local levels, mainstreaming also has been cited as justification for cuts to immigrant-focused programming and to shift away from newcomer-targeted policies in favour of generic, mainstream ones. 

The new MPI Europe Report "Before the boat: Understanding the migrant journey"

As Europe copes with surge of crossings in Mediterranean, new report argues far deeper insight is needed into migrant decision-making and smuggler business model.

Facing unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers and other migrants seeking to gain entry to Europe via the often perilous Central Mediterranean route, European policymakers are drawing upon an incomplete evidence base as they seek to stem the flow of boats that are largely responsible for the inflow of more than 220,000 people in 2014, a new Migration Policy Institute Europe report argues. 

A new Migration Policy Institute Europe policy brief: "The development of EU policy on immigration and asylum: Rethinking coordination and leadership"

A new Migration Policy Institute Europe policy brief, The development of EU policy on immigration and asylum: Rethinking coordination and leadership, makes the case for adjustment to the underlying mechanics of policymaking in the European space, finding that migration and asylum policy debates must expand beyond the home affairs portfolio and become more of a whole-of-government concern. The current structure inhibits debate, coordination, and the identification of policy solutions across portfolios, MPI Europe Director Elizabeth Collett finds. 

A new Migration Policy Institute Europe report: "Not Adding Up: The fading promise of Europe’s Dublin System"

BRUSSELS — The effective functioning of the European Union’s Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is under increased scrutiny, as the rising number of asylum seekers in Europe has thrown existing divergences in national asylum policies and practice into relief.
The Dublin system, once viewed as the cornerstone of the CEAS, has been vilified as a failure of solidarity and burden-sharing among EU Member States, which confront different realities and pressures in coping with rising humanitarian and irregular migration flows. 

New MPI Policy Brief: "Reducing the Risk that Youth with a Migrant Background in Europe Will Leave School Early" by Ward Nouwen, Noel Clycq, and Daniela Uličná

While most young people in the European Union attain at least an upper secondary level of education, a significant number of students leave school early—nearly 12 percent across the 28 EU Member States in 2013. These numbers, however, conceal important differences related to socioeconomic status and migration background. In 2012, the early school leaving rate of young people born outside of the European Union was, on average, more than double that of natives (25.4 percent compared to 11.5 percent). Along with male youth in general, students with a migrant background have become one of two groups targeted by EU policy recommendations to reduce early school leaving.

New MPI Policy Brief: "Improving Migrants' Labour Market Integration in Europe from the Outset: A Cooperative Approach to Predeparture Measures" by Maria Vincenza Desiderio and Kate Hooper

There is a growing consensus on the value of providing immigrants with integration support at the earliest possible moment in the migration process. Integration services provided prior to departure, such as language instruction, training, recognition of foreign credentials, and job skill-matching, can all have positive impacts on the labor market outcomes of immigrants once they reach their destination—and on their capacity to actively contribute to the development of their country of origin. While European policymakers as well as their counterparts in migrant-sending countries have contributed significant political capital and resources to predeparture integration measures over the past decade, these initiatives generally have yet to fully realize their potential as a tool able to durably improve migrants' labor market integration. This is largely due to the lack of cooperation between origin and destination countries in the design and implementation of such measures.

New MPI Policy Brief " Migrant Education and Community Inclusion: Examples of Good Practice" by Rafael Berger Sacramento

Besides teachers and tutors, a number of people will have the chance to play important roles in the social and educational development of young learners. Parents, peers, and other community actors outside the formal educational context can provide direct academic help, as well as offer support in addressing interpersonal issues and serve as role models motivating children in their educational path and furthering their involvement in society. Migrant communities and parents often have high aspirations for their children, and can provide emotional support that will help students in school matters and general life issues. 

Final Report in MPI-ILO Series: Few European Governments Doing Enough to Assist Migrants' Progression Out of Low-Skilled Work

Many immigrants in Europe struggling to move out of low-skilled jobs; European governments have opportunities to prioritize policies to secure upward mobility

WASHINGTON and GENEVA — Against a backdrop of aging populations and persistently low economic growth, few European governments are doing enough to help recent immigrants move from low-skilled precarious jobs and into decent work, says a new report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and International Labour Organization (ILO). 

A new MPI Europe and the SIRIUS Policy Network Policy Brief "Developing School Capacity for Diversity"

Research shows that school quality has a greater impact on the education outcomes of migrant children compared to peers of higher socioeconomic status or ethnic majority background. Thus any comprehensive strategy to improve the educational position of migrant children in European schools must work to improve the quality of the schools themselves. 

A new Migration Policy Institute Europe report "Decentralising Immigrant Integration: Denmark's mainstreaming initiatives in employment, education, and social affairs"

The topic of immigrant integration has been highly politicised in Denmark, and has been decisive for the outcome of elections. Denmark was among the first European countries to develop and implement a comprehensive Act of Integration, in 1998. It was also among the first to centralise the coordination of integration efforts in one ministry, collecting competences from the various ministries and agencies previously responsible for integration efforts. 

New MPI Report "Mainstreaming Immigrant Integration Policy in France: Education, Employment, and Social Cohesion Initiatives"

France is in the midst of reforming its immigrant integration policies, which are directed at new arrivals of immigrants to the country. In addition, the government is making new investments into targeted neighbourhood and workforce programmes that could have a significant, though indirect, benefit for the French population of immigrant background. This is a more significant development than it first appears. 

New MPI Europe Report "Coordinating immigrant integration in Germany: Mainstreaming at the federal and local levels"

'Mainstreaming,' the practice of reaching people with a migration background through social programming and policies that address the needs of the general population, is gaining policy traction in Europe. Interestingly, however, the concept of embedding immigrant integration into mainstream policy areas such as education, employment, housing, and social cohesion has yet to become part of the discourse in Germany. 

A new MPI Policy Brief: "Future EU policy development on immigration and asylum: Understanding the challenge" by Elizabeth Collett

 A new Migration Policy Institute Europe brief highlights the challenges that the European Council faces in the immigration and asylum policy realm, and puts forward a set of broad considerations for post-Stockholm Programme policy development.

A new Migration Policy Institute Europe report: "Supporting immigrant integration in Europe? Developing the governance for diaspora engagement"

A new Migration Policy Institute Europe report, Supporting immigrant integration in Europe? Developing the governance for diaspora engagement, offers an innovative and detailed mapping of the origin-country institutions that participate in the complex and multilayered governance of immigrant integration in the European Union and beyond. The report also assesses the most promising avenues for international cooperation on immigrant integration policies and programs that run the gamut from education and training, employment, social inclusion, access to nationality, civic and political participation and religious practice.

Beyond targeted policies: New MPI Europe report examines the next generation of immigrant integration policymaking

BRUSSELS — Amid ongoing, sometimes fraught, debate over the presumed failure of targeted policies to integrate immigrants linguistically, educationally and professionally into communities across western Europe, a quiet policy transformation is taking place. Governments gradually are realising that while immigrant integration policy is essential, particularly for recent arrivals, it is insufficient in the long run to achieve the full educational and economic potential and societal participation of immigrants and citizens with an immigrant background. 

MPI Launches Research Project Examining the Labor Market Trajectories and Integration of New Immigrants in Europe

WASHINGTON — The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) today launched the first in a series of case studies evaluating the labor market trajectories of new immigrants in Europe and their ability to ascend into middle-skilled jobs, examining the incorporation of foreign-born workers in the Czech Republic. 

Migration Policy Institute Launches Redesign of its Website, Offers Wider Range of User-Friendly Data Visualizations and Improved Navigation

WASHINGTON — The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) today announced the launch of a completely redesigned website for MPI and its online journal, the Migration Information Source. The new website provides a significantly more user-friendly experience with improved navigation, richer visualization of data offerings and the ability to find research, multimedia content and articles by topic, region and other criteria.