Open Society Foundations President Aryeh Neier Accepts MPI’s Global Visionary Award

MPI President Demetrious G. Papademetriou presents the Global Visionary Award, to honor Open Society Foundations (OSF) President Aryeh Neier for his career-long dedication to the protection and advancement of rights for the most vulnerable populations throughout the world, including refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants. In the mid-1990s, the foundation created a $50 million fund in the United States to provide naturalization and other services to immigrants and to build capacity among immigrant-rights organizations. And with the creation of OSF’s International Migration Initiative, the foundation is making a major commitment to protecting migrants around the world.
Visit www.migrationpolicy.org/celebrate10thevent

Hon. Alan K. Simpson and Hon. Romano “Ron” Mazzoli Accepts MPI’s Leadership in Public Policy Award

On the 25th anniversary of implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, MPI honors Senator Alan Simpson for his leadership and bipartisanship in working to enact a major immigration reform measure with the interests of the country squarely in mind. Their work serves as reminder of a time when Congress was able to set aside its divisions to accomplish big things in the immigration arena. Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director of MPI’s US Immigration Policy Program, discusses with Rep. Mazzoli the implementation of IRCA.
Visit www.migrationpolicy.org/celebrate10thevent

Colombian Refugees in Panama and Ecuador

At this Migration Policy Institute (MPI) event, representatives from refugee groups who made a November 2010 trip to Panama and Ecuador present their findings and discuss their report, Living on the Edge: Colombian Refugees in Panama and Ecuador. The speakers are: Shaina Aber, Associate Advocacy Director for Jesuit Refugee Service/USA; and Melanie Nezer, Senior Director for US Policy and Advocacy at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Commenting is Andrea Lari, Regional Director at Refugees International. The event is moderated by Kathleen Newland, Director of MPI’s Migrants, Migration, and Development, and Refugee Policy Programs.
Watch the event here.

Refugee Resettlement in the United States

This briefing at the Migration Policy Institute focuses on a report examining the challenges of refugee resettlement in the United States. The report,  Refugee Resettlement in the United States: An Examination of Challenges and Proposed Solutions, was the work of a team at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), in conjunction with the International Rescue Committee. The report reviews the structure and functioning of the resettlement program and offers recommendations for improvements ranging from pre-arrival orientation through the arrival and settlement process to secondary migration from initial resettlement. The discussion was moderated by Kathleen Newland, Director of the Refugee Protection Program at the Migration Policy Institute; and the speakers were one of the report’s authors, MPI Associate Policy Analyst Kate Brick, and Robert Carey, Vice President of Resettlement and Migration Policy, International Rescue Committee. The report’s co-authors, Samia Elshafie, Alan Krill, and Megan McGlynn Scanlon also offered some comments.

MPI Leadership Visions: United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees T. Alexander Aleinikoff

During this MPI speakers series, T. Alexander Aleinikoff, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, discusses voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement. Panelists include Demetrios Papademetriou, MPI President, and Kathleen Newland, MPI Director of the Migrants, Migration, and Development, and Refugee Policy Programs. Click here for the Leadership Visions discussion with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Chief John Morton and here for the discussion with US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas.

Migration's Middlemen: Regulating Recruitment Agencies in the Philippines-UAE Corridor

Discussion on MPI report,  Migration's Middlemen: Regulating Recruitment Agencies in the Philippines-United Arab Emirates Corridor, which examines recruiters' practices as well as their regulation by the Philippine and UAE governments, finding room for significant improvement. Speakers at the briefing: report author Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, MPI Policy Analyst; Luzviminda Padilla, Labor Attaché, Philippines Embassy in Washington; Jeni Klugman, Director, Human Development Report Office, United Nations Development Program; and Kathleen Newland, MPI Director of the Migrants, Migration, and Development Program.