Ambassador Michiel den Hond began his career with the UN High Commissioner on Refugees, moving to the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs dealing with the international dimension of asylum as an element of refugee policy. He has been the Head of the Middle East and North-Africa Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Den Hod has served as Deputy Ambassador to Germany (1998-2002), Ambassador to Israel (2007-2011), and Ambassador to Italy (2012-2015). He has represented the Netherlands in European policy formulation regarding the Middle East and North Africa and has served as a Special Envoy to the region, until his retirement in 2016.