30 years of MPG
MPG 30th Anniversary – Celebrating Three Decades of Impact
In 2025, MPG marked 30 years of pioneering research, advocacy, and action in the fields of migration, integration, and non-discrimination. This anniversary was an opportunity to look back on our shared achievements, take stock of persistent challenges, and reaffirm our commitment to building inclusive and equitable societies.
Throughout the anniversary year, we created a dedicated space on our website to capture this collective reflection. The campaign brought together voices from across Europe and beyond – policymakers, funders, academics, civil society partners, as well as MPG’s board and staff – who shared their perspectives through videos, essays, and testimonials.
Together, these contributions highlighted how MPG’s work has helped shape evidence-based policies, strengthen anti-discrimination frameworks, and connect research with real-world impact. They also pointed clearly to the future, underlining the continued need for courage, collaboration, and rights-based approaches in a changing political and social landscape.
Whether you have been part of MPG’s journey for decades or discovered our work more recently, we thank you for being part of this community. As we move forward, the reflections gathered during our 30th anniversary continue to guide and inspire the next chapter of our work.
See all contributions:
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- Isabelle Chopin, MPG Director
- Jan Niessen, founder and first director of MPG
- Book: Emerging European policies and MPG’s first ten years
- Romanița Iordache, human rights researcher, Romania
- Sophie Latraverse, human rights lawyer, France
- Lilla Farkas, associate professor, ELTE University, Hungary
- Marcel Zwamborn, Director of Human European Consultancy
- Patrick Yu, Former Chair of the Starting Line Group
- Maarten Vink, European University Institute
- Dr. Ferdinand Mirbach, Robert Bosch Stiftung
- Kameran Shwani, Department of Labour and Economic Development, City of Munich
- Adam Tyson, Former Official of the European Commission
- Sayaka Osanami Törngren, Senior Researcher at Malmö University for Migration Studies
- Razan Ismail, Migration Policy Consultant, Founder and Director of Asociación Kudwa
- Robert Rustem, Senior Project and Outreach Officer European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
- Yonous Muhammadi, Co Founder and Director Greek Forum of Refugees
- Stephen Pittam, Former CEO, Rowntree Charitable Trust
- Anne Gaspard and Tamás Kádár , Co-Directors of EQUINET
- Andreas Hieronymus, former grant officer at the Open Society Foundation
- Thomas Huddleston, Member of the MPG’s Board of Directors
- Seán Binder, Criminal lawyer, human rights activist and former civilian rescue coordinator
- Dr. Torsten Moritz, Secretary General of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe – CCME
- Michele LeVoy, Director, PICUM – the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants
- Krisztina Tora, member of MPG’s Board of Directors
- Dr. Krzysztof Śmiszek, a member of the European Parliament and head of the Polish S&D delegation
- Karen Weisblatt, Director of Weisblatt et Associés, Paris-based strategic philanthropy and social justice consulting
- Daniela Vintila, Associate Professor, Center for Ethnic and Migration Studies, University of Liège, Belgium
- Hyunjung Lee, Asian Voices Europe
- Mark Bell, Regis Professor of Laws at the School of Law in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- Carmen Claudín, Associate Researcher, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB)
- Agnese Lāce, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Latvia
- Majid El Jarroudi, Founder of ADIVE – the Agency for Diversity in Entrepreneurship, France
- Juliana Santos Wahlgren, director of the European Anti-Poverty Network
- Álvaro Oliveira, former European Commission’s official (2004-2024), Portugal
- Adel AlBaghdadi, Founder of WE Organization Netherlands, Vice-President of The European Forum for Youth with Lived Migration Experience – VOICIFY
- Mohammed Mustafa, Project Manager & Migration Hub Coordinator at the European Association for Local Democracy and a participant of MPG’s 2024 Democracy Academy
- Vera Egenberger, The first Director of the European Anti-Racism Network (2000-2004)
- Bistra Ivanova, Integration Expert, Co-Founder & Chairperson of Multi Kulti Collective, Bulgaria
- Dr. Marie Bayat – Independent Expert and Country Coordinator for Germany, Migrant Integration Hub
- Paul Lappalainen, Swedish expert of the European Equality Law Network
- Dr. Sarah Spencer, Emeritus Fellow – Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford
- Adnan Abdul Ghani, EU Project Manager at Save the Children Sweden
- Tim Parritt, Programme Officer at International Human Rights Programme of Oak Foundation
- Isabelle Chopin, Director of MPG
Emerging European policies and MPG’s first ten years
This fascinating collective memoir chronicles the early development of the Migration Policy Group and its ground-breaking work amidst the backdrop of emerging European policies on migration and related issues of integration and anti-discrimination from the mid-1990’s and throughout the early 2000’s.
Read the book about first years of MPG.
Kameran Shwani, Department of Labour and Economic Development, City of Munich
Read Kameran Shwani’s contribution.
Robert Rustem, Senior Project and Outreach Officer, European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
Read Robert Rustem’s contribution.
Karen Weisblatt, Director of Weisblatt et Associés, Paris-based strategic philanthropy and social justice consulting.
Read Karen Weisblatt’s contribution.
Dr. Marie Bayat – Independent Expert and Country Coordinator for Germany, Migrant Integration Hub
Read Marie Bayat’s contribution.
Dr. Sarah Spencer Emeritus Fellow – Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford
Read Sara Spencer’s contribution.
