Speakers and moderators

Ali Al-Jaberi is a professional moderator and studio presenter of high-level events. He is a former Europe correspondent for Associated Press Television News and university lecturer of Public Policy. Ali is multiple award-winning public speaker and works on virtually any topic in public policy. See www.promoderation.nl.

Twitter: @YlvaJohansson
Ylva Johansson (born 13 February 1964) was appointed European Commissioner for Home Affairs in December 2019. From Sweden, she was Minister for Employment in the Swedish Government from 2014 to 2019, Minister for Welfare and Elderly Healthcare from 2004 to 2006 and Minister for Schools from 1994 to 1998. Ms. Johansson was educated at Lund University and the Stockholm Institute of Education. She is married with three children.

Twitter: @EESC_President

Oliver Röpke was elected as the president of the EESC in April 2023. Member of EESC since 2009, Mr Röpke was the president of the EESC Workers' Group, a member of the EESC Bureau and rapporteur of many EESC resolutions and opinions on employment and social policy, single market and innovation. Mr Röpke headed the Brussels office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and took on several senior positions including as ÖGB representative to the EU institutions, the Executive Committee of the ETUC, and an advisory member of the ÖGB federal executive board. Mr Röpke has a legal background and holds a law degree from the University of Vienna.

Cristian Pîrvulescu, member of the European Economic and Social Committee since 2007, is the President of the EESC Study Group on Immigration and Integration. He is the Honorary president of the Pro Democrația association (APD); member of the Board of Directors of Step by Step; Dean of the Faculty of Political Science at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration.

Rudi Osman is a passionate advocate for human rights and a fervent promoter of justice and democracy. Having actively participated in the Syrian revolution during the Arab Spring, Rudi faced repeated arrests and tortures. However, this challenging experience strengthened his resilience and dedication to improving the living conditions of vulnerable people.
Forced to leave Syria, Rudi found refuge in France where he continued to work for justice while resuming his law studies at the University Paris 2 Assas. Throughout his journey, he had to overcome significant obstacles as a refugee, including the insufficient awareness of university staff and professors about the specific challenges faced by exiled students.
In response to these challenges, Rudi founded the Union of Exiled Students in 2018, an organization dedicated to providing administrative, academic, and psychological support to exiles wishing to resume their studies in France.
Recognized for his leadership and commitment, Rudi was honored as a laureate of the Obama Foundation's European Leaders 2022 program. Additionally, he is a jury member of the Fondation de France, an invited member of the MENS network office, and an elected member of the board of the European Migration Forum.

Originally from Afghanistan, he studied medicine in his home country before being forced to leave and seek asylum in Greece in 2001. Since then, he has been actively involved in asylum and migration issues, beginning from the moment he arrived in Greece. As Co-Founder and Director of Greek Forum of Refugees, he is at the forefront of defending the rights, active participation, effective integration and meaningful inclusion of refugees and migrants in the host society. He has been honoured with European and International awards for his efforts in these areas. Since 2020 he is a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on the views of Asylum and Migration. He is elected Bureau member of the European Migration Forum since 2023. 

Anila Noor is a distinguished policy and social change expert, advisor, and advocate with over two decades of experience shaping high-level policymaking. She co-founded well-known refugee-led networks and is the proud founder of New Women Connectors, an initiative transforming meaningful participation into lasting partnerships. Anila collaborates extensively with European institutions, serving as a trusted voice on migration, gender equality, and refugee rights. Through her work, she champions intersectional justice and systemic change, driving impactful solutions for a more inclusive and equitable society.

Anna works on refugee sponsorship, complementary pathways. She leads the organisation’s work on participation of persons with lived experiences. She is a European Migration Forum Bureau Member representing European civil society for the period 2024-2026. Anna has an academic background in EU Asylum and Migration Law.

She speaks English, German, French and some Spanish.

Adriano SILVESTRI Head of Sector Asylum, Migration and Borders, EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA): Adriano Silvestri’s areas of expertise with respect to the FRA’s work include international human rights and refugee law as well as the EU acquis relating to asylum, borders and immigration. Before joining the FRA he was at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), where he worked in the field for several years (Armenia, the Russian Federation and Austria) as well as at UNHCR headquarters. He worked on a wide range of activities, both legal as well as operational, relating to asylum, the protection of internally displaced persons and statelessness. He was involved in the development of UNHCR tools and guidelines, for example on the best interests of the child or on assessing protection gaps for internally displaced persons. He also worked for the World Wide Fund for Nature in Altai-Sayan region. He studied law in Italy and International Law in Geneva.

Dingfen Zhong, Assistant Principal Officer working in the EU Migration and Asylum Pact implementation team, a unit in the Migration Policy Division within the Department of Justice in Ireland. I joined the unit in September 2024, previously working in the Youth Affairs unit in a different Department. I have since been involved in the drafting of the National Implementation Plan due for submission to the Commission on 12^th December 2024, and the design of the future state operating model under the Pact requirements. I also act as the liaison linking the Pact team with current work areas on key areas of Asylum processing including Border Procedure, Reception, Appeals and Returns to ensure that the key business units are informed of the Pact requirements, are kept updated with key policy changes and are fully engaged with development of the Pact implementation plan, ultimately ensuring a coherent approach towards the Pact implementation in June 2026. 

Since November 2023, Corinna Ullrich has been Director for International and Horizontal Affairs in the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME) of the European Commission.

She has been working for the European Commission since November 2000. Since then, she has worked in various areas: personnel and administration, internal market and anti-fraud. Corinna Ullrich was a member of the Cabinet of the then Commissioner for Budget, Audit, Taxation, Customs and Anti-Fraud, Algirdas Šemeta, between 2011 and 2014. She was Head of Unit for Schengen and External Borders in DG HOME as of June 2020.

Before joining the European Commission, she worked in the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the EU. Corinna Ullrich started her career at a law firm in Munich. She completed her legal studies in Passau, Augsburg, Bamberg and Paris.