Vienna Migration Conference 2022
11-12 October 2022
Europe is facing an unparalleled displacement challenge and, with the rest of the world, a shifting geopolitical landscape and significant economic fallout as a result of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The programme of the Vienna Migration Conference 2022 thus centres on the impact of Russia’s military aggression, providing a stage for frank exchange on where we now stand – and what comes next. Key decision makers discuss the consequences of current events for a variety of policy areas – including and far beyond migration and integration – and outline their visions for delivering a timely response.
Discover this year’s programme
This year’s programme kicks off with a series of discussions on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its implications for Europe and the wider world, in terms of migration as well as wider dynamics that shape the environment in which migration movements and policymaking take place. The VMC2022 will also take stock of the priorities and interests, converging and diverging, of Europe’s partners in other world regions. It will conclude with an assessment of prospects for European migration and asylum policy reform.
Our speakers at a glance
Michael Spindelegger
Director General
ICMPD
Gerhard Karner
Federal Minister of the Interior
Austria
Gaia Vince
Environmental Journalist, Author and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University College London
Selmo Cikotić
Minister of Security
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ana Revenco
Minister of Internal Affairs
Moldova
Arnoldas Abramavičius
Vice-Minister of the Interior
Lithuania
Mahmut Özdemir
Parliamentary State Secretary
Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, Germany
Ilias Chatzis
Head of the Anti-Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section
United Nations Office against Drugs and Crime
Andrew Rose
Minister Counsellor
Home Affairs, Australian Permanent Mission to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva
Luigi Soreca
Ambassador-at-Large, Special Envoy for External Aspects of Migration
European External Action Service
Pierre Vimont
Senior Fellow
Carnegie Europe
Kelly M. Greenhill
Professor of Political Science and International Relations
Tufts University
A year-round initiative
Every autumn, the VMC marks a prime event in the yearly migration calendar. It gathers key figures in the migration community to reflect on the progress made and challenges met, to jointly explore and formulate opportunities and enablers and to identify what new developments in the migration landscape necessitate a response. But the VMC resonates far beyond its annual core event, underscoring ICMPD’s convening power and vital role in informing European and global policymaking processes throughout the year. A series of public and private formats as well as written commentaries stimulate and inform the debate at key moments during the year; side activities in the margins of the VMC further frame the programme.
Special mid-year event
On 27 June 2022, a targeted group of senior migration decision-makers gathered in Berlin to debate a pressing issue on the policy agenda: managing the displacement caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The event was hosted by the German Chair of ICMPD’s Steering Group.
Find out more about ICMPD's main take aways from this important discussion.
Migration Futures Dinner
On the eve of the conference proper, a VIP dinner brings together select agenda setters and thought leaders in the field to stimulate an informal and frank exchange of views and ideas on the central topics on the agenda. The evening kicks off with a keynote from EC Vice President Margaritis Schinas. This invitation-only, intimate networking event is organised in partnership with the Robert Bosch Stiftung.
VMC thematic side event
Under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons, a side event in the margins of the main conference will discuss vulnerabilities that fuel trafficking in persons for those who have fled conflict areas, often in haste and in situations of destitution or high precariousness.
Learn more about the side event here.
