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Susan Fratzke
Experts & Staff
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Susan Fratzke

Senior Policy Analyst

[email protected]
49 1516 5601336 | + 1 202 266-1927

@ekztarf

Susan Fratzke is a Senior Policy Analyst with MPI’s International Program, based in Germany, where she conducts comparative research on asylum policy, forced migration, and refugee resettlement and complementary pathways.

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Michelle Mittelstadt
+1 202-266-1910
+44 20 8123 6265
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Ms. Fratzke has authored or contributed to numerous reports assessing the role of refugee pathways and sponsorship in addressing humanitarian needs and displacement. She served as a lead researcher on a 2018 report for the European Commission that proposed an EU approach to the role and development of refugee private sponsorship in Europe. Her work conceptualizing the role of sponsorship in developing humanitarian pathways has been widely cited internationally in research and policy documents.

She also leads work on national asylum systems and the role of international and regional cooperation in maintaining access to protection in response to cross-border humanitarian displacement. She manages an MPI-Robert Bosch Stiftung initiative that is examining ways to strengthen national asylum systems worldwide. She has also been a core contributor to MPI’s longstanding work on the Common European Asylum System (CEAS).

Ms. Fratzke has worked for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration in Brussels and Washington, DC, and as a coordinator for an adult literacy program serving resettled refugees in Minnesota. She holds an MA in German and European studies, with a concentration in European migration policy, from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She also earned a certificate in refugees and humanitarian emergencies from the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown.

Bio Page Tabs

Syrian family on a plane
Top Ten
December 13, 2017
In Wake of Cuts to U.S. Refugee Program, Global Resettlement Falls Short

The global refugee resettlement landscape changed dramatically in 2017, as the United States began to step back from its role as global leader on resettlement. The Trump administration reduced the 2018 refugee admissions ceiling to the lowest level since the program began in 1980. While other countries increased their commitments or launched new programs, this was not enough to make up for the gap left by the United States.

Refugees Fotomovimiento Flickr
Top Ten
December 20, 2016
Dawn of New Migration Reality Brings Focus on Borders, Returns, and Integration

As Europe begins to move beyond the overwhelming flows of asylum seekers and other migrants it experienced starting in 2015, policymakers are paying significant focus to integration coupled with stepped-up enforcement. 2016 saw a wave of policy innovations facilitating integration as well as returns and deterrence, but it remains to be seen whether Europe will be able to continue and scale up this work in 2017 and beyond, as this Top 10 article explores.

Cover Top10 2Displacement
Top Ten
December 17, 2015
Displacement Reaches Record High as Wars Continue and New Conflicts Emerge

Global displacement reached a new high with nearly 60 million people worldwide displaced internally or externally in the greatest number since record-keeping began. The trend continued in 2015 as conflicts in places such as Central African Republic, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen drove millions of people to leave their homes and seek refuge in other communities or across borders.

RefugeesinFYRM StephenRyanIFRC Flickr
Feature
September 24, 2015
Europe’s Migration Crisis in Context: Why Now and What Next?

As Europe struggles to reach a consensus on how to respond to the refugee crisis, the seemingly unending flow of migrants and refugees arriving on its shores is bringing national asylum systems to their breaking point. This article analyzes the context of the crisis, discussing the root causes of the flows, why they are spiking now, and growing protection challenges.

FacesofAsylum GordonWeltersUNHCR
Feature
April 15, 2015
EU Dublin Asylum System Faces Uncertain Future after Ruling in Afghan Family’s Case
The European Court of Human Right's ruling on the transfer of a family of Afghan asylum seekers from Switzerland to Italy has struck a potentially fatal blow to the European Union's Dublin asylum system. Against a backdrop of pressures on EU Member States in the humanitarian protection realm, this article assesses the impact of the ruling and reevaluates the viability of the Dublin Regulation as a key tool in the Common European Asylum System.
Top Ten
December 18, 2013
Recognizing Their Evolving Migration Roles, Emerging Economies Overhaul Their Immigration Systems

Recognizing their new positions in the global mobility system, several governments from countries with emerging economies are implementing structures to proactively manage the flow of people across their borders.

Sign for the 2019 Global Refugee Forum in Geneva
Commentaries
September 2023
Achieving Meaningful International Cooperation on Displacement: Can the 2023 Global Refugee Forum Deliver?
By  Susan Fratzke and Hannes Einsporn
Covid SchengenBorderClosures Falk Lademann Flickr
Commentaries
August 2020
When Emergency Measures Become the Norm: Post-Coronavirus Prospects for the Schengen Zone
By  Hanne Beirens, Susan Fratzke and Lena Kainz
CoronavirusCommentary Art
Commentaries
March 2020
Coronavirus Is Spreading across Borders, But It Is Not a Migration Problem
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Meghan Benton and Susan Fratzke
Family Netherlands IOM
Commentaries
February 2020
The Future of Refugee Resettlement: Made in Europe?
By  Susan Fratzke and Hanne Beirens
INMDistributesFoodAidChiapasMX.
Commentaries
June 2019
International Experience Suggests Safe Third-Country Agreement Would Not Solve the U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis
By  Susan Fratzke
AsylumSeekersSalzberg
Commentaries
October 2018
Three Things the European Union Can Do to Support Private Sponsorship for Refugees
By  Susan Fratzke and Hanne Beirens
ExternalProcessing EU
Commentaries
June 2018
Europe Pushes to Outsource Asylum, Again
By  Elizabeth Collett and Susan Fratzke
UNrefugeesummit
Commentaries
September 2016
Global Refugee Summits Offer Reasons for Both Disappointment and Hope
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Susan Fratzke

Recent Activity

Reports
November 2016

Beyond Care and Maintenance: Rebuilding Hope and Opportunity for Refugees (Transatlantic Council Statement)

Possibilities for many refugees to return to their country of origin are limited, yet conditions for the displaced in many first-asylum countries are bleak and resettlement places few. This Transatlantic Council Statement outlines new approaches that could gradually move the international community away from a choice between resettlement for a tiny proportion of refugees and basic protection from physical harm for the rest.

Commentaries
September 2016

Global Refugee Summits Offer Reasons for Both Disappointment and Hope

World leaders convened two summits in New York last week focusing on multilateral responses to the growing challenge of refugee crises and unmanaged migration flows, which have surged to the top of the agenda at the highest levels of government around the world. While score cards for these types of events are difficult to keep, it is clear that the summits offered reasons for both disappointment and hope.

Reports
September 2016

Building Livelihood Opportunities for Refugee Populations: Lessons from Past Practice

With the reality that a sizeable share of refugee situations can continue for many years, if not decades, there is growing focus on ways to better integrate refugees into countries of first asylum, particularly by ensuring they have access to livelihoods and economic opportunities. This report explores the pitfalls and promise of livelihood programs.

Reports
March 2016

No Way Out? Making Additional Migration Channels Work for Refugees

Although in theory refugees are already eligible to move beyond the circumstances of their displacement through a variety of legal channels, in reality pathways are often blocked by practical, technical, and political obstacles. This report explores existing tools and innovative new ideas to open additional opportunities to refugees, whether in first-asylum countries or via migration elsewhere.

Articles
December 17, 2015

Displacement Reaches Record High as Wars Continue and New Conflicts Emerge

Global displacement reached a new high with nearly 60 million people worldwide displaced internally or externally in the greatest number since record-keeping began. The trend continued in 2015 as conflicts in places such as Central African Republic, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen drove millions of people to leave their homes and seek refuge in other communities or across borders.

Articles
September 24, 2015

Europe’s Migration Crisis in Context: Why Now and What Next?

As Europe struggles to reach a consensus on how to respond to the refugee crisis, the seemingly unending flow of migrants and refugees arriving on its shores is bringing national asylum systems to their breaking point. This article analyzes the context of the crisis, discussing the root causes of the flows, why they are spiking now, and growing protection challenges.

Reports
June 2015

The Integration Outcomes of U.S. Refugees: Successes and Challenges

Using previously non-public refugee admissions data from the State Department, this analysis finds that even as refugees come to the United States from increasingly diverse origins and linguistic backgrounds, some arriving with very low native-language literacy and education, most integrate successfully over time. The report examines refugees' employment, English proficiency, educational attainment, income and poverty status, and public benefits usage.

Articles
April 15, 2015

EU Dublin Asylum System Faces Uncertain Future after Ruling in Afghan Family’s Case

The European Court of Human Right's ruling on the transfer of a family of Afghan asylum seekers from Switzerland to Italy has struck a potentially fatal blow to the European Union's Dublin asylum system. Against a backdrop of pressures on EU Member States in the humanitarian protection realm, this article assesses the impact of the ruling and reevaluates the viability of the Dublin Regulation as a key tool in the Common European Asylum System.

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