MPG in the media – August 2026
Our focus this month
18 August | Bloomberg Television | The Pulse live interview with MPG Head of Research Dr Başak Yavçan
Our Head of Research Dr. Başak Yavçan spoke to Bloomberg News’ Lizzy Burden in a live interview for the The Pulse programme about the Ceuta events. Ceuta came as a test for EU policy makers shortly after the launch of the new EU Pact on Asylum and Migration, and exposed the vulnerability that comes from managing migration chiefly via the externalisation of border control. Başak noted that the EU should become less depended on externalisation, which gives too much power to neighboring states. Instead, a more holistic approach is necessary: one that includes border management but also supports legal mobility through frameworks like the Migration Partnership Facility, and which preserves social cohesion through integration measures within the EU, too.
17 August | LBC Radio | LBC News live interview with MPG Head of Research Dr. Başak Yavçan [no link available]
Our Head of Research Dr. Başak Yavçan was invited to the evening LBC News live with James Hanson to comment on the Reform UK’s Making Welfare Work proposal which purports to offer a way to limit benefits for migrants and create savings in the welfare system. Başak noted that in fact the proposed measures would hurt the very migrants who have been taxpayers for years and have been contributing to the British welfare system. She quoted the different type of contributions they make, including to the National Health System (NHS). She also expressed doubt that these measures would save 21 billion a year – instead, the measures would create an easy target in the face of migrants, as well as a two-tiered labour market system, with groups of people willing to work at lower wages as they don’t have access to services, and this would further negatively affect British workers, too.
Other examples of MPG covered in the media
29 July | Adressa.no | Jo, Frp. Lokal stemmerett bidrar til bedre integrering [Yes, Progress Party, local voting rights contribute to better integration]
Kjetil Utne, member of the Conservative Party in Norway, wrote this op-ed taking a stance against the Progress Party’s call to curb local elections voting rights for migrants. Utne notes what Norwegian data reveals: migrants who enjoy political rights early in the integration process build democratic habits in the long term, adding that this was especially true among migrants coming from dictatorships or weak democracies. The author also refers to MPG’s research reportFrom Policy to Practice: How Political Participation Frameworks Shape NewEuropeans’ Political Engagement, which analysed data from 22 EU countries and revealed a correlation between inclusive political rights and migrants’ positive attitudes to the host country.
About the Migration Policy Group (MPG)
MPG is an independent think-and-do-tank based in Brussels. MPG’s purpose is rooted in its ability to inspire networks to provide evidence-based projects, research and campaigns in the areas of integration, migration and anti-discrimination.