Publication date: 04 September 2025
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, warns that externalised asylum and migration policies must be carefully designed to avoid serious human rights risks. His report highlights how transferring asylum, return, and border control functions to other countries can expose migrants to torture, arbitrary detention, and collective expulsions. Particular risks arise in the external processing of asylum claims, return procedures including “return hubs,” and outsourcing of border control. The Commissioner calls on states to adopt precautionary approaches, safeguard vulnerable people, and ensure transparency and accountability.
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Main theme: External Dimension
Publication Type: Report
Keywords: externalisation, return hub, border management, fundamental right, human rights
Publication date: 15 November 2024
This Inform by the European Migration Network (EMN), in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), sheds light on the role of migration diplomacy in fostering international cooperation for effective migration management. It highlights the diplomatic tools, practices, and challenges involved in migration diplomacy across EMN Member and Observer countries with examples from OECD countries.
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Main theme: External Dimension
Publication Type: Informs
Keywords: migration diplomacy, migration management, bilateral agreements, partnership
Publication date: 12 September 2024
This Inform examines national initiatives in EMN Member Countries and Serbia that implement the migration-development nexus, at strategic and operational/programme level. It highlights initiatives funded and/or implemented through bilateral or multilateral cooperation between these countries and third-country partners, covering activities from 2019 to 2023.
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Publication date: 03 August 2023
Due to the increased need for foreign labour force, Member States are multiplying their negotiations of bilateral agreements and programmes with third countries on labour mobility. In order to have a current state of play and with a view to better coordinate this matter, the European Commission asked EMN Member countries to provide information on any bilateral agreement or programme supporting mobility from third countries.
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Main theme: External Dimension, Economic migration
Publication Type: Ad Hoc Queries
Keywords: labour migration, labour mobility, legal migration, bilateral agreements, bilateral programmes
Publication date: 08 May 2023
As more and more people are affected by climate change, the need to understand and prepare for climate-related migration has increased. This inform aims to complement existing research by providing a broader perspective on how displacement and migration related to disasters, climate change and environmental degradation are being addressed by key national-level initiatives and policies in EMN Member Countries as well as non-EU OECD countries.
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Main theme: External Dimension
Publication Type: Informs
Keywords: climate change, environmental migration
Publication date: 27 February 2023
This Inform explores which national strategies, successful programmes and initiatives have been implemented in the EMN Member Countries to enhance the prospects for displaced persons in non-EU first reception and transit countries, and how these strategies have been integrated within existing EU and international frameworks and agreements.
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Main theme: External Dimension
Publication Type: Informs
Keywords: displaced person, first reception country, transit country
Publication date: 18 December 2020
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the substantial measures taken by EU and OECD countries to prevent the spread of the virus had substantial consequences on remittances and the companies providing remittances services.
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Publication date: 10 July 2019
In this report (which is available in Dutch and French) Myria analyses the broader migration context. It argues against pushbacks and for more legal pathways for people in need of protection.
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Publication date: 31 August 2018
This paper, which is entitled 'The EU’s New Migration Partnership with Mali: Shifting towards a Risky Security-Migration-Development Nexus', seeks to understand why and how the EU has been redefining its migration strategy regarding Mali.
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Publication date: 29 May 2018
This publication takes stock of recent EU developments in the area of asylum, borders and external cooperation on migration.
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Main theme: External Dimension, Asylum, Borders & Visa
Publication Type: Study
Keywords: border management, ECAS, external coorperation
Publication date: 17 May 2018
This new policy brief offers a critical analysis of the reignited trend of externalised EU migration policies that appear to be moving towards a model of offshore processing, as used by Australia. By looking at the proposed CEAS reform, it lays out the fundamental concerns connected with the use of such a model and notes the flaws in the economic and “migration management” justifications for offshoring.
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Publication date: 01 January 2018
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been producing world migration reports since 2000. This year’s edition presents key data and information on migration as well as thematic chapters on highly topical migration issues.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional, External Dimension
Publication Type: Report
Keywords: World Migration Report
Publication date: 18 December 2017
The International Migration Report 2017 reviews the latest migration trends, assesses the demographic contribution of migration, examines the status of ratification of relevant conventions and summarizes recent developments on migration at the United Nations.
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Publication date: 01 July 2017
This study by the Ethical Journalism Network and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) aims to understand the prevailing media narratives on migration in different national contexts. It looks at their strengths and shortcomings, and provides some insight into the interplay between editorial lines, political narratives, journalistic approaches and public discourse.
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Publication date: 19 September 2016
This report provides a broad overview of recent trends in international migration flows and migration policies in OECD countries and some non-OECD countries.
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Main theme: International Protection, Economic migration, External Dimension
Publication Type: Report
Keywords: labour market
Publication date: 01 February 2016
In the context of the current crisis, the Western Balkans is a busy migrant route. It is necessary to work more closely with this region and to come up with a coordinated approach to the crisis.
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Main theme: External Dimension, Asylum, Migration
Keywords: migration crisis, refugee crisis, Western Balkans
Publication date: 13 March 2015
In this new policy brief of the Migration Policy Centre (MPC), Luigi Achilli describes the situation of Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR in Jordan, the European approach and the changing attitude of the government of Jordan.
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Main theme: External Dimension, International Protection
Publication Type: Report
Keywords: Jordan, resettlement, Syria, UNHCR
Publication date: 09 September 2013
Migration and the United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda gathers together recent research findings outlining the links between migration and development and proposing how migration can best be factored into the future development framework.
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Main theme: External Dimension
Keywords: development, migration-development nexus, remittances, social remittances
Publication date: 03 July 2013
This very first edition of the IOM Brussels Country Office (CO) Year Report will give you a brief overview of activities undertaken in 2012 allowing a focus on specific areas of interest linked to the Belgian and Luxembourg migration context and more broadly to the European and global context.
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Main theme: External Dimension, Family reunification, Return & Readmission
Publication Type: Report
Keywords: voluntary return, development, reintegration
Publication date: 03 January 2013
This EMN Inform provides a short overview of the main developments that took place in the EU in 2011 in response to increasing migratory pressure and specifically in relation to the six strategic priority areas of the EU Action on Migratory Pressure.
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Main theme: Borders & Visa, Irregular Migration, Return & Readmission, External Dimension
Publication Type: Informs
Keywords: border management, migration management, mobility partnership, readmission agreement
Publication date: 03 January 2013
This EMN Inform provides an overview of the main developments that took place in 2011 within the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM) objective of maximising the development impact of migration and mobility.
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Main theme: External Dimension
Publication Type: Informs
Keywords: diaspora, Global Approach on Migration and Mobility, remittances
Publication date: 03 January 2013
This EMN Inform presents the main developments that took place in 2011 with regard to international protection comprising statistics, the Common European Asylum System, intra-EU Solidarity , external dimension and unaccompanied minors.
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Main theme: Asylum, Vulnerable groups, External Dimension
Publication Type: Informs
Keywords: CEAS, resettlement, solidarity, unaccompanied minors
Publication date: 07 December 2012
The edition provides a summary of IOM's regional strategies and presents IOM's responses and funding needs according to key thematic areas which all aim to enhance migration's positive impact on development.
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Main theme: Migration, External Dimension
Keywords: human developpement, high-level dialogue en migration and development
Publication date: 31 October 2012
This publication focuses on Brazilian migrants who have resided in Belgium and who
returned to Brazil through the system of voluntary return. The thesis investigates if and how
these returnees become actors of development in their home region in Brazil.
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Publication date: 03 August 2012
This study provides an insight into the variety of transnational practices developed by people of Chinese, Congolese, Moroccan and Turkish origin residing in Belgium.