World of Migration

Sudan is experiencing the world's largest displacement crisis, with nearly 14 million people forcibly displaced by civil war, famine, and acute food insecurity. Yet the scale of suffering has not translated into proportionate global attention or funding: the Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan remains only 10 percent funded, leaving a gap of more than $1.4 billion.

In this episode of World of Migration, John Thon Majok, Director of MPI's Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative, speaks with Margaret Monyani, Founder and Executive Director of the OLAM Africa Research Institute, about why Sudan's crisis has not been prioritized on the global stage. They discuss the regional spillover effects on neighbors such as Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt, as well as how foreign aid cuts are compounding the response gap. They also explore what a more effective and coordinated international response would require.

The FIFA World Cup 2026, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, is the largest in history and first to be co-organized by three countries. Yet for international fans, ever stricter U.S. immigration admissions and enforcement policies have introduced layers of uncertainty around whether they can attend at all.

In this episode of World of Migration, host Ariel G. Ruiz Soto speaks with veteran sports journalist Albert Samaha about the World Cup and what its lessons might hold for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. They discuss how travel restrictions could affect fans and players from countries including Iran, Haiti, Senegal, and Côte d'Ivoire, fears of immigration enforcement on attendance, and what the World Cup experience may reveal ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Cuba is facing one of its deepest economic crises in decades, and the United States has significantly narrowed the legal pathways that once made it the primary destination for Cuban migrants. As a result, migration patterns are shifting across the Americas in ways the region is not yet prepared to manage. In this episode of World of Migration, host Valerie Lacarte speaks with María José Espinosa Carrillo, Executive Director of Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas (CEDA), about Cuba's deteriorating conditions, the dismantling of preferential U.S. immigration protections, and where Cubans are heading now.

Why has immigration become so politically divisive – and why is it so difficult for governments to design policies that satisfy both public concerns and economic needs?

In this episode, MPI’s Meghan Benton speaks with Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford and a member of the UK's Migration Advisory Committee. Drawing on insights from her new book, What Is Immigration Policy For?, she explains why immigration policy involves trade-offs between economic, humanitarian, and political goals—and why these tensions often lead to public dissatisfaction. The episode also examines challenges in regulating unauthorized migration and spontaneous asylum flows, the limits of deterrence policies, and decisions around low-wage labor migration.

With the world’s lowest fertility rate and one of the fastest-aging populations, South Korea is confronting a shrinking workforce and mounting economic pressures. Immigration has become part of the policy conversation, but questions remain about how much it can help and how Korean society will adapt to diversity.

In this World of Migration episode, our Lawrence Huang speaks with Juyoung Jang, chief of the Policy Research Department at the Migration Research and Training Center in South Korea, about the rapid shift from being a country of emigration to one of immigration. They discuss how migration to South Korea has evolved over the past decades, how the government is expanding pathways for workers and international students, and what challenges migrants encounter – from housing and language barriers to social acceptance. Looking ahead, they consider what the next 10 to 20 years could bring as immigration, integration, and demographic change reshape South Korean society.

Foreign aid budgets have been slashed significantly by governments in the United States, Europe, and beyond, raising questions about what humanitarian assistance will look like in practice. Recent and abrupt funding cuts by major donors are already affecting refugee-hosting countries, where resources were strained even before these changes.

In this episode of World of Migration, host Lawrence Huang speaks with Micheal Gumisiriza, a program lead based in southwest Uganda for COHERE, an international NGO that works with refugee-led organizations, about how funding cuts by international donors are being felt on the ground—from food assistance and access to essential medicines to education. They discuss what the immediate impacts reveal about the humanitarian system’s capacity under pressure, and what “localization” could realistically mean as humanitarian response efforts adjust to a period of shrinking resources.

The global humanitarian protection system is at a critical juncture. It is under major strain as record numbers of people have been forced out of their homes by a complex array of factors and protracted crises. Yet at the same time, a system created in the wake of World War II no longer meets today’s challenges and is increasingly coming under political pressures, with some countries chafing at protection obligations.

In this episode of the podcast, one of the leading voices in the humanitarian protection world, Vincent Cochetel, discusses the future of refugee protection and the evolution of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) with Meghan Benton, MPI’s director of global programs.

The fact there is a growing backlash to immigration in communities around the world is well established. What is less discussed are the solutions to address decline in social cohesion and rise in mistrust, misinformation, and prejudice. Meaningful contact between different groups can reduce tensions. Under the right conditions, this dynamic can strengthen social cohesion when newcomers and members of established communities come together and build meaningful relationships. Linda R. Tropp, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has spent decades studying how members of diverse groups experience contact with each other. In this episode, she and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Deputy Director of MPI’s International Program, discuss contact theory and the triggers that can make such relationships succeed or fail.

The global race for international talent has arrived. As populations in advanced industrial economies age and work evolves, labor shortages in critical sectors are increasingly driving countries to look outside their borders for workers. But in this context, who gets to migrate? And how? Crucially, can labor mobility be managed in a way that benefits workers, employers, countries of origin, and countries of destination alike? In this episode, migration and development expert Seeta Sharma shares insights from India, which is the world’s largest origin of migrants and leads in the export of physicians, for example. She unpacks the role of bilateral and multilateral agreements with countries eager to attract Indian talent and the implications of large-scale emigration for India’s economic advancement.

In recent years, the Ethiopian government has pledged to increase access to education and employment for the more than 900,000 refugees living in Ethiopia, most in camps. There have been ups and downs along the way, but a few key trends have emerged. In this episode of our podcast, Migration Policy Institute Europe Associate Director Camille Le Coz speaks with researcher Abis Getachew about the major policy shifts to open classrooms and jobs to refugees and whether they have been successful.