Vienna, 31 July 2024 — The ICMPD is growing with another member: Ireland is the 21st Member State to join ICMPD’s work in finding innovative solutions to regional migration challenges. Ireland’s accession is the latest after Germany (2020), Greece (2021), and the Netherlands (2023) joined the ICMPD in recent years.
“Global migration is increasingly complex and multifaceted. Ireland cannot go it alone; effective migration policy cannot be developed or implemented in isolation. Ireland becoming a member of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development is very welcome, and brings a wealth of expertise which will be an invaluable resource to Irish policymakers,” Irish Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD, said.
Ireland and the ICMPD have been working together for the past 20 years, collaborating on a number of migration governance projects through research. These include studies around irregular migration and trends and outcomes of regularisation policies, as well as analysis of various policy implementation (MIrreM); evaluating the framework and practice of the Common European Asylum System (CEASEVAL); and producing evidence to support policy in the EU on complementary pathways to admit adult refugees through technical and vocational skills (REF-VET), among many others.
Furthermore, Ireland also holds an active role in migration dialogues supported by the ICMPD, such as the Budapest Process and Prague Process; as well as developing a guide to integrate recently arrived migrants in the region (SPRING); policy research, information sharing, and capacity-building on the Medical Country of Origin (MedCOI) initiative; and in developing methods and strategies to assist survivors of trafficking, sexual abuse, and exploitation of children particularly those committed using online channels (HEROES).
“We are happy to welcome Ireland as our newest Member State. ICMPD’s Member States represent a group of countries highly relevant to and uniquely positioned in tackling issues around migration; and Ireland has been an active stakeholder in these efforts. As a Member State, Ireland will further strengthen the strategic dimension of our engagement with the broader European Union and beyond,” said the ICMPD Director-General Michael Spindelegger.
“Beyond being a destination country for migrants, Ireland’s active collaboration with the ICMPD and the country’s experience in responding to various migration themes, will strengthen our possibilities to respond jointly and more effectively to the opportunities and challenges, and work towards improved migration systems at the regional level,” Mr Spindelegger added.
The ICMPD was founded on the initiative of Austria and Switzerland in 1993, when the migration reality in Europe was dramatically altered by the political changes in Eastern Europe and the Balkan conflicts. The ranks of its Member States saw their first growth in the 1990s with the addition of Hungary in 1995 and Slovenia in 1998. Czechia then followed in 2001; Sweden, Poland and Bulgaria in 2003; Portugal and Croatia in 2004; and Slovakia in 2006.
Romania and Serbia were the next to join in 2011 followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2012 and North Macedonia in 2015. Malta and Türkiye both joined in 2018 followed by Germany in 2020 and Greece in 2021.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to pay a visit to Veliobritain next week, The Guardian reports.
According to the publication, Zelensky will also make his first visit to Ireland on Saturday morning. He is scheduled to meet with Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris there.
Ireland, which has long maintained a policy of military neutrality but has provided non-lethal aid to Ukraine, is expected to offer more support. In particular, it will support Ukraine’s efforts to return some 20,000 children who were forcibly displaced to Russia and Belarus.
The Ukrainian president met with British Prime Minister-designate Keir Starmer at the NATO summit in Washington last week, but this will be his first opportunity to meet with a wider delegation from the Labor government, which will be keen to confirm further UK support.
The conference is reportedly the fourth meeting of the European Policy Community, a collective set up after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, which was the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron.
“It is designed to foster stronger ties between EU and non-EU leaders in an informal setting. Previous conferences have been held in Spain, Moldova and the Czech Republic,” it said.
In addition to the UK, non-EU countries invited include Norway, Iceland, Georgia, Kosovo, Serbia, Albania and Turkey, although Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, who has not attended previous summits, has not confirmed his participation.
Ireland will this week consider making cuts to state support for asylum seekers and refugees, including those who arrived from Ukraine, in a bid to bring the system more in line with other European countries, Prime Minister Simon Harris said on Monday.
Just over 100,000 Ukrainians have fled to Ireland since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, while the number of asylum seekers from the rest of the world almost trebled from pre-pandemic levels to more than 13,000 in 2022 and 2023. So far this year, the number has jumped to 7,700.
That has made immigration a much bigger political issue in the country of 5.3 million people, which is struggling to house refugees in the middle of a housing supply crisis.
“It certainly is my intention that we will see changes in a number of areas that do inject what I think Irish people believe has been lacking, which is that common sense approach,” Harris told Newstalk radio ahead of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
“We need to look at welfare consistency. We need to look at the contribution that people who have (refugee) status should make to accommodation. We need to look at making sure that anybody at work is working legally, that there are more workplace inspections.”
Harris said specifically that there should be a consistency of approach to people who come from Ukraine and that the support should not be based on when they arrived.
Ireland previously slashed the allowance for Ukrainian refugees using state accommodation who arrived after mid-March this year to 38.80 euros ($41.84) per week from 220 euros and put a 90-day limit on the time they can remain housed by the state.
The changes did not apply to the 70,000 Ukrainians who were already in some form of state accommodation.
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The national football team of Ukraine beat the national team of Ireland in the opening match of the UEFA Nations League, Suspilne reports.
“The Ukrainian national football team started with a victory in the first match of the League of Nations. The Ukrainians beat the team of Ireland with a minimum score of 1:0,” reads a message published on the website on Thursday night.
However, “the Ukrainians failed to take the lead in the group.” According to the results of the standings, Scotland is in the lead.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland Simon Coveney, during a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, confirmed his intention to open the Irish Embassy in Ukraine by the end of 2020, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reports.
“The opening of the Irish Embassy in Kyiv is an important milestone in our relations. We also expect that the Irish business mission will arrive in Ukraine by the end of the year. We need to quickly and efficiently develop trade and attract Irish investment in Ukraine,” the press service of Ukrainian Foreign Ministry quoted Kuleba as saying on Wednesday.
Kuleba also noted the consistent support by Ireland for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including in the framework of international organizations.
The ministers exchanged information on overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken by the governments of both countries to return to everyday life.
