Migrations Practice

Approach

The Altai Consulting Migration practice conducts research and provides strategic advisory services to international organizations and aid agencies on key aspects of migration issues.

Our teams cover topics such as cross border movements and temporary migration, irregular migration and smuggling, return and reintegration of migrants, and livelihoods strategies. We have developed this expertise in Afghanistan, and are looking to replicate our work on other theatres of population movements, in both countries of origin and host countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.

Format

Socio-economic research, program design, program evaluations, baseline & impact studies.

Examples

Research study on cross-border migration movements between Afghanistan and Pakistan, for UNHCR - 2009

Regular border monitoring reports suggest that new policy approaches are now required which recognize that informal cross-border migration, rather than refugee repatriation, is now the key management challenge confronting the two governments. In this context, Altai Consulting has undertaken a large scale study comprised of 2,000 migrant interviews, border management analysis and border counting exercises to account for seasonal characteristics of population movements at the Torkham (East) and Spin Boldak (South) crossing points.

Research study on Afghan deportees from Iran, for ILO/UNHCR - 2008

The study on Afghan deportees from Iran was carried out over a 5-month period for the ILO and the UNHCR in the framework of the ‘Cooperation towards comprehensive solutions for Afghan displacement’ project launched in May 2004. The goal of this study was to generate information on the profile and characteristics of the deportee population with a clear focus on single adult males through quantitative and qualitative interviews carried out in 4 provinces (Herat, Nimroz, Farah and Kabul). The findings of the study provided policy recommendations for regulating the flow of irregular migration between Afghanistan and Iran, as well as for developing an assistance framework that best adapted to respond to the vulnerable groups identified in the study.

Impact and integration of returnees on the Afghan labour market, for ILO/UNHCR - 2006

This survey was based on an in-depth analysis of returnees’ profiles in 3 Afghan provinces, looking at their situation before exile, their labor and social conditions during exile, and the conditions of their return. Through a number of interviews and case studies, re-integration patterns were analyzed, and factors of success and failures find a job and reintegrate were identified. A second part of the study was looking at job creation, training and integration programs developed by international organizations and the Afghan Government, and their success in providing returnees with jobs and social structures. Based on this analysis, a broad picture of the returnees’ reintegration patterns was drafted, and the impact of these large flows of return on the labor market was analyzed. The study also provided ILO and the UNHCR with a set of practical recommendations for complementary support programs to be developed.

Evaluation report on the Return of Qualified Afghans (RQA) from EU-countries program for IOM - 2005

The goals of the evaluation were to measure the impact and relevance of the EU-RQA program to the reconstruction process of Afghanistan as well as to assess IOM’s implementation strategy and processes.

Migration Practice Presentation