Global Issues

Migration

How can we shape migration policy, governance, and practice through international cooperation in order to make it humane, far-sighted, and sustainable?

The Situation

The international migration and asylum system regulates migration and displacement worldwide through laws, principles, institutions and state action. However, this migration system is not designed to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow: This year, more people are forcibly displaced or on the move than ever before. Migration routes are becoming increasingly dangerous, and asylum and reception capacities are not equipped to cope with the numbers of asylum seekers and migrants. At the same time, demographic change and labor shortages have created unmet needs for immigration in many countries. These challenges and dynamics will become even more complex in the future due to the climate crisis and the use of digital technologies in migration management. It is therefore crucial to adapt the migration system to the new realities, not only in Germany. 

The Goal

We work with our partners to develop and enhance forward-looking solutions to ensure that the migration system serves its purpose effectively and reliably. We strive to ensure that migration and asylum processes are humane and that the rights and safety of migrants and refugees are universally respected. In addition, the challenges and opportunities of migration should be taken into account when addressing political issues. In this context, tackling climate change and regulating digital technologies play a major role. 

Our Strategy

Our support focuses on key areas of action that are critical to the future of the migration system: refugee and migrant protection, climate-induced migration, and the impact of digital technologies. We promote innovative policy and practice solutions that bring about systemic change and strengthen the participation of underrepresented actors in policy-making processes. We are committed to an approach that focuses on human dignity, enables the participation of refugees and migrants, and is gender- and context-sensitive. We follow the principle of "do no harm". We place particular emphasis on cross-sectoral dialogue, especially between Europe, Africa and the Middle East, to develop comprehensive and inclusive migration policies. 

News and insights

Migration policy

Ukrainian refugees in Poland: strong civil society, successful integration

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Migration

How Europe can escape the migration deterrence trap

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Opinion piece by our migration expert

A Dangerous Distortion: The Debate on the Return of Syrian Refugees

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Education and integration

How refugees can also obtain the German school-leaving certificate

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Rights of migrant workers in Europe

“We focus our advocacy on changes on an institutional and policy level”

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Migration system in the EU

“We look after other people's children all day – and we're not allowed to have our own kids with us”

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Migration

Climate Finance and Climate Mobility at COP29

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Publication

A Global View on Responses to Internal Displacement

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Publication

The influence of Safe Mobility Offices on mixed migration

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Publication

The End of Asylum?

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Policy Briefing

Migration policy: Why deterring people from moving is not a solution

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Publication

The European Digital Identity Wallet

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Equal Partnerships

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Equal Partnerships

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Equal Partnerships

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Equal Partnerships

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Equal Partnerships

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Equal Partnerships

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Scars of War and Deprivation

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Publication

Expanding Protection Options?

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Publication

Equal Partnerships Policy Paper

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Publication

Meeting Skill Needs for the Global Green Transition

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Publication

The Mobility Key

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Interview on migration policy

“People want to see that leaders have things under control.”

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Global Refugee Forum

Refugee policy: international cooperation put to the test

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Publication

Mixed Migration Review 2023

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World Climate Conference in Dubai

The role of the Robert Bosch Stiftung at COP28

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Publication

Building Meaningful Refugee Participation into Protection Policymaking

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Call to Action to the German Government

Protection of the Pacific Islands to become a focus of Germany's foreign climate policy

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Publication

External Processing

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Munich Security Conference 2023

Discussion on Climate-Related Migration and its Geopolitical Implications

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Help for Ukrainians

Giving children a time-out from the war

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Climate Mobility up to 2050

“We need to harness mobility on the African continent!”

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Opinion

The world needs to prepare for climate migrants

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In brief

EU-AU Summit 2022: A meeting with reservations

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News

Important First Steps Towards More Meaningful Refugee Participation

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In a nutshell

UN Climate Summit in Glasgow: Between Success and Disappointment

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Essay

The Afghan Tragedy – There Are Ways Out of Helplessness

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Interview

"We need to create effective measures to include refugee voices"

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Publication

Mixed Migration Review 2020

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Harnessing migration for climate action - an untapped opportunity?

To story

Stronger Together: A New Agenda for Africa and Europe in 2021

To story

Migration in a Digital World

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Learn more about our projects

Migration

Solutions to Displacement Linked with Climate Change

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Migration

European Philanthropic Initiative for Migration (EPIM)

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Migration

Migration Strategy Group (MSG)

The MSG brings together key policy-stakeholders and decision-makers from the public and private sector on future migration questions, currently...

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Migration

The Africa-Europe Mayors’ Dialogue

A platform of African and European mayors working together to deliver innovative and practical solutions for human mobility in and between their...

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Migration

Mayors Migration Council

The Mayors Migration Council empowers and enables cities to engage in migration diplomacy and policymaking at the international, regional and national level. The aim is to ensure that global responses to migrant and refugee...

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Migration

Mixed Migration Review

The annual report highlights key topical issues of mixed migration movements. Featuring a selection of data from approximately 10,000 interviews a year conducted with refugees and migrants around the world, the report...

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Migration

Environmental Migration in Coastal Cities In Sub-Saharan Africa

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Migration

Beyond Territorial Asylum: Making Protection Work in a Bordered World

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Migration

Refugee Leadership and Participation

We support refugee-led organisations and initiatives that work towards more inclusive governance at the global level.

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Immigration Society, Migration

Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative

Community Sponsorship of refugees offers a key contribution and innovative solution to migration policy. The Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative...

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Migration

Equal Partnerships for Urban Migration Governance

Through participatory research and dialogue formats, we bring together local, national and international actors to develop practical ideas and...

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Migration

African Guiding Principles on the Rights of All Migrants

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Migration

Border Forensics – Investigating Border Violence, Fostering Mobility Justice

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Climate Change, Migration

Governing Migration in the Era of Climate Change

Our project with the Center for Global Development looks at the effects climate change is having on migration, and proposes policies to equitably...

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Immigration Society, Migration

Europe Prykhystok

Europe Prykhystok supports children-victims of the war in Ukraine by facilitating innovative partnerships between local actors from Ukraine and Europe.  

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Migration

Equitable conditions for migrant workers in Europe

With the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), we address the situation of migration workers with a precarious...

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Climate Change, Migration

Global Centre for Climate Mobility

The Global Centre for Climate Mobility (GCCM) is a global partnership pushed forward by a group of champion countries and enabled by the United...

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Migration

Automation on the Move

Systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making (ADM) are increasingly being experimented with and used on migrants, refugees and travelers. Our partner AlgorithmWatch explores how to enable...

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Migration

Statelessness

Statelessness and undetermined nationality have severe consequences but receive limited attention from both the public and political spheres. Our partners advocate for including statelessness on the political agenda and working...

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Migration

Climate Mobility Africa Research Network (CMARN)

Climate change and disasters are among the leading drivers of human mobility across Africa. Yet lawful pathways for those crossing borders in this...

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Migration

Data on the Move: Unpacking migration data infrastructures

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Migration

Climate migration in the context of German Foreign and Development Policy

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Migration

Making digital wallets work for people on the move and wider society

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Migration

Linking Training and Migration for the Green Transition

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Migration

Leadership in Migration Initiative (LMI)

The “Leadership in Migration Initiative” aims to identify and cultivate leaders who approach migration with empathy, strategic vision, and a...

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Our Focus

Halfpoint - stock.adobe.com

The future of protection

The protection of the fundamental rights of refugees and vulnerable migrants is often challenged and incomplete. New approaches are needed to address current and future challenges. We support partners, projects and initiatives that promote and develop forward-looking solutions for the protection of refugees and vulnerable migrants, as well as innovative ideas for closing protection gaps. Another focus is on refugee participation and leadership in the design and implementation of policies and support measures.   

Friends Stock - stock.adobe.com

Digital technologies and migration

Digital technologies are changing the way migration and asylum are experienced and managed across borders. They are already being used in many areas of migration management and their use is growing rapidly, for example in digital identification systems, (AI-based) automated decision-making or border surveillance. Decisions are now being made about the values and protections that are built into this new digital infrastructure. We aim to ensure that these technologies are used responsibly in the area of migration, and that strong safeguards are built into this new digital infrastructure. To this end, we support a wide range of stakeholders and decision-makers and guide policy processes. 

Dmytro - stock.adobe.com

Agents of change in migration governance

Civil society organizations, local governments and refugee-led organizations (RLOs) play an increasingly important role in shaping migration at the regional and global levels. Their perspectives and expertise are essential to migration policy and decision-making. Our funding has a special focus on city diplomacy and the active participation of key actors in international migration governance. 

Abdifatah Muse / NRC

Climate change and migration

Climate-induced migration has been a reality for millions of people for years and will continue to increase. Our partners are working with affected communities, cities, governments and at the multilateral level on concrete policies and solutions. In addition, we support tools and mechanisms, including financing, that can contribute to a humane and sustainable approach to climate-induced migration.  Making different forms of vulnerability visible and strengthening the perspectives of marginalized groups is essential to our work. 

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Publications

Do you have a project idea you would like to submit?

We are pleased about your interest in working with us. As a nonprofit foundation, we have limited funds at our disposal, which is why we cannot support every project idea submitted to us. Some helpful information on funding is provided below. You will in any case hear back from our team within four weeks regarding our decision on your project idea.

Please note: We are currently not accepting any project ideas. Please kindly refrain from sending us any. Thank you for your understanding. 

    • If your project relates primarily to the integration of migrants and refugees in Germany, please send your project idea to the Immigration Society team.
    • We can only support individuals within the context of project-specific calls for submissions. This also applies to individual PhD projects or other scholarships. Please check our current open calls to see whether there is anything suitable for you.
    • Humanitarian aid is an important approach to relieving distress in acute emergency situations and requires special expertise. As our strategic focus is on handling issues of the future, we would ask you not to request support for acute emergency relief projects. The same applies to requests for help with material acquisition or infrastructure projects. 
    • Projects that are outside of our focus regions must have global relevance.
    • We are unable to support the development, piloting or implementation of technologies and applications.  

    Contact persons

    Dr. Raphaela Schweiger
    Director
    Phone+49 711 46084-678
    e-mail to Dr. Raphaela Schweiger
    About
    Feven Kahsay-Tesfatsion
    Assistant to Team Migration
    Phone+49 711 46084-978
    e-mail to Feven Kahsay-Tesfatsion

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