ICMPD Silk Routes & Budapest Process

📢 Pakistan has officially launched its National Emigration and Welfare Policy 2026 – an important milestone in strengthening labour migration governance, promoting safe and regular migration pathways, protecting overseas workers, and maximising the development potential of migration for Pakistan’s socio-economic development.

🗨️ Launched in Islamabad by H.E. Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, the policy reflects Pakistan’s commitment to ensuring that migration is a pathway to opportunity, dignity, and national progress.

🤝 Developed by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, with support from the European Union through the EU-funded PROTECT project and with ICMPD as technical partner, the policy sets out a forward-looking framework for safe, orderly and regular emigration, skills development, migrant protection and welfare, diaspora engagement, formal remittance channels, and reintegration of returning migrants.

👥 ICMPD was represented at the launch by Sedef Dearing, Deputy Director General, and Marija Raus, Head of Region Silk Routes and Head of the Budapest Process Secretariat, alongside ICMPD Pakistan colleagues.

🖇️ ICMPD remains committed to supporting the Government of Pakistan, the European Union, and national partners in advancing safe and regular migration, strengthening migration governance, and promoting the welfare and protection of Pakistani migrant workers and their families.

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World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 🌍 Combating trafficking in human beings (THB) requires whole-of-route cooperation and strong institutional capacities.

Today, ICMPD highlights the importance of cross-regional migration dialogues and route-based cooperation, bringing together countries of origin, transit, and destination for joint action.

📌 A whole-of-route approach strengthens knowledge sharing, coordination, law enforcement cooperation, and harmonised legal and policy frameworks.

📌 Preventing trafficking requires providing migrants with reliable information on safe and legal migration pathways, enabling them to make safer, informed choices and reduce vulnerability.

🤝 For nearly 25 years, ICMPD has supported countries in developing comprehensive anti-trafficking strategies aligned with international and European standards.

ICMPD's latest contributions to this area include:

📚 Enhancing anti-trafficking prevention through targeted, participatory, and multilevel actions, focusing on the Process region:https://www.icmpd.org/file/download/67874/file/Practical%2520Guidelines_Prevention%2520of%2520THB_EN.pdf

📝 The digital trap: How fake job ads exploit aspiring migrants: https://www.icmpd.org/blog/2025/the-digital-trap-how-fake-job-ads-exploit-aspiring-migrants

🤝 The Khartoum Process, Rabat Process, and Niamey Process countries' meeting to strengthen interregional cooperation on responses to human trafficking and migrant smuggling: https://www.icmpd.org/news/enhancing-prevention-protection-and-prosecution-against-human-trafficking-and-migrant-smuggling-in-africa-and-europe

ICMPD in Eastern Europe and Central Asia ICMPD Silk Routes ICMPD Türkiye Temsilciliği ICMPD Western Balkans

📢 On 14 July 2026, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) convened the National Project Steering Committee (NPSC) of the Preventing Fraudulent Job Advertisements and Cyber Activity as a Facilitator of Irregular Migration and Trafficking in Human Beings in Pakistan (FJA-PAK) project and, together with the PKCERT Pakistan, inaugurated the Multi-Facility Hub and Public Awareness and Media Studio (PAMS) at PKCERT Headquarters in Islamabad.

🖇️ The NPSC brought together representatives from key government institutions to review the project's achievements during the first half of 2026, endorse priorities for the remainder of the implementation period, and reinforce collaboration among partner agencies.

🎤 A key milestone of the day was the inauguration of the Multi-Facility Hub and Public Awareness and Media Studio (PAMS). Established within PKCERT, these government-owned facilities represent a long-term investment in Pakistan's institutional capacity to coordinate, communicate and respond to emerging migration and cyber-related challenges.

🤝 The Multi-Facility Hub provides a modern, technology-enabled space for supporting collaboration and knowledge exchange among government institutions and partners.

💡 The Public Awareness and Media Studio (PAMS) is a state-of-the-art multimedia facility that will enable government institutions to jointly develop high-quality podcasts, interviews, webinars, public service announcements, live streams, and digital awareness campaigns.

🎺 The facilities were inaugurated by Dr. Haider Abbas, Director General, National CERT, and Ms. Siri Håkedal Vestøl, Immigration Liaison Officer, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pakistan, alongside representatives of ICMPD and partner institutions.

💬 Speaking at the event, Ms. Raana Rahim, Senior Advisor and Officer-in-Charge, ICMPD Pakistan, highlighted the importance of strengthening government communication capacities:

"Fraudulent job advertisements, online recruitment scams, and cyber-enabled trafficking increasingly exploit digital platforms, making timely, coordinated and credible public communication more important than ever."

🤝 The establishment of the Multi-Facility Hub and PAMS reflects the shared commitment of the Government of Pakistan, the Government of Norway, and ICMPD to building sustainable institutional capacities, strengthening inter-agency cooperation, and equipping government institutions with the tools needed to protect intending migrants and address evolving cyber-enabled threats.

🛎️ The Preventing Fraudulent Job Advertisements and Cyber Activity as a Facilitator of Irregular Migration and Trafficking in Human Beings in Pakistan (FJA-PAK) project is funded by the Government of Norway and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).

📢 MPF launches new 2026 Calls for Proposals!

Visit the MPF website to learn about the three new Calls:
⏩ Migration Partnerships (from AMIF)
⏩ Border Management (from BMVI)
⏩ Internal Security (from ISF)

✅The Calls offer a new opportunity for EU Member States and partner countries to develop practical, results-oriented cooperation on shared migration priorities.

📍If you are working on migration governance, asylum and protection, return, readmission and reintegration, integrated border management, visa cooperation, fight against smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings, as well as against transnational organised crime, please visit our website for more details and help us spread the word by commenting and reposting!

🔗 https://www.migrationpartnershipfacility.eu/news/new-2026-mpf-calls-for-proposals-open-for-migration-partnerships-border-management-and-internal-security
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🧾On 30 June 2026, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), through the Capacity Partnerships and Access to Information for Sustainable Reintegration of Returnees in Iraq – Phase III (CAIR III) project, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Denmark, convened a Multi-Stakeholder Platform (MSP) Workshop in Baghdad to present and discuss the findings of the Labour Market Assessment conducted in Baghdad and Basra.

✅ The assessment, carried out by the Sustainable Research and Development Centre (SRD), provides valuable insights into labour market demand, priority economic sectors, skills needs, recruitment trends, and the barriers faced by returnees seeking sustainable employment.

🤝 The workshop brought together representatives from government institutions, employers' organisations, chambers of commerce, the private sector, international organisations, and development partners to review the assessment findings, validate key recommendations, and identify practical pathways to strengthen labour market integration and employment opportunities for returnees.

📋 The Labour Market Assessment provides an evidence base to better align reintegration, skills development, and employment support programmes with actual labour market needs. Through continued collaboration with public institutions, the private sector, and development partners, its findings will help strengthen sustainable livelihood opportunities for Iraqi returnees by connecting their skills and aspirations with market demand.