Rocaya Alangadi, an IDP from Marawi City to Lanao del Norte, Philippines. Photo: IOM/Julie Batula

By International Organization for Migration
Nov 28 2018 (IOM)

(Podcast) – Around the world, the number of people forced from their homes and neighbourhoods has more than doubled in the past twenty years. The current official estimate of displaced persons is more than 68 million.

In this podcast episode, we ask: What would you hold onto if you were forced to flee your home and had only moments to decide what to take with you?

A landap (a traditional article of clothing), a pot and a government-issued health card are some of the answers from three internally displaced people, who fled Marawi City in the Southern Philippines during intense fighting in 2017. We hear their personal stories as they explain why these items are their most cherished possessions.

These interviews are part of IOM’s global art exhibition and digital campaign, Holding On: Symbols of Displacement.

Click here to listen

IOM welcomed 102 Ethiopian returnees to the Addis Ababa International Airport yesterday, the first of a four-day Voluntary Humanitarian Return operation from Yemen. Photo: IOM/Eman Awami

By International Organization for Migration
Sana’a / Addis Ababa , Nov 27 2018 (IOM)

The UN Migration Agency (IOM) this week (26-29 November) began assisting 418 Ethiopian migrants stranded in Yemen to safely return under IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) operation. This is IOM’s first airlift since shortly after the conflict broke out in 2015 and the largest VHR operation carried out by IOM in Yemen to date.

On Monday (26 November), 102 Ethiopian migrants travelled from Sana’a International Airport to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. In three subsequent flights scheduled through Thursday, another 316 migrants will follow. More than a quarter of the passengers – 121 of the returning 418 migrants – are minors.

IOM has been assisting many of the migrants returning this week for at least six months. Already in 2018, IOM’s VHR programme has assisted 668 migrants to return to Ethiopia on ships carrying migrants across the Gulf of Aden. Unstable weather conditions at sea combined with escalated fighting in and around Al Hudaydah ports posed major operational challenges in previous return operations.

“The first airlift return operation increases IOM’s ability to ensure that migrants who wish to leave Yemen can do so in a safe and dignified manner,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM’s Director of Operations and Emergencies, who added: “The airlift, made possible through close cooperation with authorities in Yemen and Ethiopia, opens the way for improved humanitarian assistance for migrants in Yemen.”

The ongoing conflict – now well into its fourth year – has not stemmed the flow of migrants to Yemen from Africa. Most of those migrants are intent on reaching Yemen and the Gulf countries for work opportunities. Yet upon arrival in Yemen, many discover they are unable to continue the journey due to the security situation, which includes severely restricted land routes and closed borders.

“A significant portion of the new arrivals are unaware of the severity of the situation in Yemen or the distance they will have to transit. They have found themselves stranded in a conflict-stricken country without access to basic needs and subjected to multiple forms of abuse, exploitation and violence,” said David Derthick, Chief of Mission in IOM Yemen.

Nonetheless, IOM estimates that nearly 100,000 migrants reached Yemen in 2017. By the end of 2018, this number will likely increase by 50 per cent.

The Organization’s VHR Programme is an orderly, humane option provided to migrants willing to return to their country of origin. Prior to departure, migrants receive lifesaving assistance – including food, non-food items and accommodation in addition to medical, mental health and psychosocial care.

As the returnees arrive in Ethiopia, they undergo health screenings before being temporarily housed at an IOM transit centre where they are provided with hot meals, health care referrals and assistance to reach their home communities or final destinations.

For unaccompanied and separated migrant children, IOM provides family tracing assistance, allowing them to eventually reunite with their primary caregivers.

Globally, IOM is committed to ensuring returnees can access opportunities that help them restart their lives and deter them from embarking on dangerous routes in the future.

In Ethiopia, IOM supports the reintegration of vulnerable returnees through vocational skills training, education, psychosocial support and small business grants. IOM Ethiopia seeks further funding to support the reintegration of vulnerable returnees from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and parts of Southern Africa.

Additionally, IOM calls for long-term, sustainable measures that protect the dignity and well-being of migrants as they travel across the Horn of Africa and into Yemen. These include enhanced search and rescue missions along treacherous land and sea passages; solutions to the drivers of dangerous migration; and an end to the conflict in Yemen.

An upcoming conference, Drawing on Peace Dividends in the Horn of Africa to Ensure Urgent Enhancements in the Management of Migratory Flows to Yemen and the Gulf Countries, will be convened by IOM next week in Djibouti. The event will bring together governments in the Horn of Africa, and the Gulf, as well as UN and NGO partners, to identify practical solutions to dangerous migration flows and inform the new planning phase of the Regional Migrant Response Plan.

The governments of Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, as well as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, provide support for IOM’s voluntary return programmes.

IOM migrant assistance and protection activities in Yemen and Ethiopia are funded by Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America as well as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

For more information, please contact Angela Wells at IOM Headquarters in Geneva, Tel: +41 7940 35365, Email: awells@iom.int

A new 33-room in-patient hospital (right) stands today where what had been a temporary clinic (left) built frombamboo and tarpaulin. Photo: IOM

By International Organization for Migration
COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Nov 23 2018 (IOM)

Health services for people affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh received a boost this week, when IOM, the UN Migration Agency, launched two major new health facilities inside the world’s largest refugee settlement.

A new USD 240,000, 33-room in-patient hospital now stands on the site of what was formerly a small medical post constructed from bamboo and tarpaulins. The hospital in Madhurchara, Ukhiya, is the first to offer in-patient services to refugees and members of the host community living in a particularly densely populated part of the camp. There are 20 beds for patients admitted and staying overnight.

The facility will also provide maternity services to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services; a specialised paediatric care unit for children up to the age of 12; a specialized unit for the care of new-borns; and complex laboratory services.

According to Dr. Andrew Mbala, IOM Health Emergency Coordinator in Cox’s Bazar, the hospital will ease pressure on the Cox’s Bazar district hospital, which was designed to accommodate 250 in-patients, but often must host up to twice that number.

Another new health primary health care facility was also opened by IOM in the camp this week, in close collaboration with the Bangladesh health authorities, who will eventually take over its management and provision of services. The USD 120,000 clinic, which will also provide mental health and psychosocial support, will serve people living in one of the areas of the camp most prone to landslides and flooding.

Together the facilities will serve catchment areas totalling around 73,000 people from the refugee and local communities. Almost a million Rohingya refugees now live in camps, often in very poor conditions.

“In-patient services and comprehensive primary health care are currently a big gap in the refugee camp and these facilities will allow us to provide comprehensive care,” said Dr. Mbala.

The opening ceremonies this week were attended by senior Bangladeshi officials and representatives of donor governments Australia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Julia Niblett opened the two facilities.

Prof. A.H.M. Enayet Hossain, Additional Director General of Bangladesh’s Health Department, described trying to meet the health needs of hundreds of thousands of newly arrived Rohingya people at the height of the crisis as “a nightmare.” But more than a year later, “the nightmare was over” and, by working in partnership with organizations such as IOM, “the dream” of providing better healthcare was “step by step” becoming a reality, he noted.

“These inaugurations mark the start of a significant and important new phase in IOM’s long-term commitment to working with the Government of Bangladesh to increase and improve health service provision within the host and refugee communities here in Cox’s Bazar,” said IOM Bangladesh Chief of Mission Giorgi Gigauri.

For more information please contact Fiona MacGregor at IOM Cox’s Bazar. Email: fmacgregor@iom.int, Tel: +88 0 1733 335221.

By International Organization for Migration
Nov 22 2018 (IOM)

The Global Migration Film Festival showcases films that capture the promise and challenges of migration

 
THE FESTIVAL

Over the years, films have been used to inform, entertain, educate and provoke debate. It is in this spirit that IOM, the UN Migration Agency, launched The Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) in 2016.

Cinema and migration have a magical bond stretching back over a century ago when film makers, many of whom were immigrants themselves, began making movies that depicted a world on the move. Their films brought the dramatic, poignant and comic stories of migrants to diverse audiences, through images that provoked feeling amongst people of every culture.

The Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) features films and documentaries that capture the promise and challenges of migration, and the unique contributions that migrants make to their new communities. The goal of the festival is to pave the way for greater discussion around one of the greatest phenomenon of our time.

 
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Films have the power to show different facets of life, which can in turn help viewers to cultivate deeper empathy for migrants and a better understanding of their realities, needs, perspectives and capacities.

The objective of the GMFF is to use films as educational tools that influence perceptions of and attitudes towards migrants, by bringing attention to social issues and creating safe spaces for respectful debate and interaction.

Furthermore, the Festival is an innovative creative avenue for normalizing discussions of migration through storytelling, and it is an advocacy tool that can also draw attention to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus helping all nations as they work to meet them.

Films can: INFORM, INSPIRE, TRANSFORM AND PROMOTE INCLUSION

 
HOW IT WORKS

Professional and emerging filmmakers are invited to submit films about the migrant experience according to the established theme:

The Promise and Challenge of Migration, and the Positive Contributions Migrants Make to Their New Communities. A committee of international film professionals will select a number of outstanding productions to be screened for a diverse audience: thousands of people in almost 100 countries.

The screenings will take place in varied locales, from cinemas to concert halls, and even impromptu settings in hard to reach areas and along popular migration routes such as the trans-Sahara corridor.

MORE THAN 30 FILMS
IN OVER 100 COUNTRIES

The block M24 (Camp 20) mosque is one of the community structures upgraded by IOM, with funding from ECHO, to provide temporary shelter for Rohingya refugees during emergencies. Photo: IOM

By International Organization for Migration
Cox’s Bazar, Nov 20 2018 (IOM)

Dozens of community buildings in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps have been upgraded by shelter teams from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, to provide temporary accommodation for refugees in emergency situations.

Seventy buildings have now been completed under the first phase of the project, supported by the European Union (EU), offering temporary shelter space for over 4,500 people.

The upgraded structures will allow IOM shelter and site management teams to provide better protection for refugees if they are affected by landslides, floods, bad weather or other unexpected events that force them to leave their own shelters.

Mohammed Nur, 36, a maji or community representative, said: “If weather conditions turn bad and storms destroy our shelters, people from our area will be able to stay here safely for a few days. It is a relief for all of us.”

In a second phase of community shelter upgrade work, to be funded by the United Kingdom, a further 100 buildings will undergo improvements. Once completed, the 170 strengthened structures will be able to accommodate 10,000 people with urgent shelter needs.

The facilities will also serve as a temporary accommodation for families whose shelters need to be repaired or completely re-built in the coming months, as the dry season offers a window of opportunity to tackle damage inflicted during the monsoon season.

“IOM and partners have provided over 100,000 households with materials to help them upgrade their own shelters. But weather and environmental conditions in the camps mean tens of thousands of families live with the knowledge that their shelters could be damaged or destroyed at any time,” said Manuel Pereira, IOM’s Emergency Coordinator in Cox’s Bazar.

“Ensuring we have secure and stable buildings in which people can safely take shelter if disaster strikes is hugely important under such circumstances. This project means that even though people are living in very uncertain conditions, if the worst happens, we are still able to offer them a safe haven.”

The EU funding was provided by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) under a consortium project implemented by IOM, the German Red Cross, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The Disaster Risk Reduction consortium was established to mitigate against disasters among refugee and local communities affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis.

Almost a million Rohingya are currently living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, after escaping violence in Myanmar, which surged in late August 2017 sending over 500,000 people fleeing across the border in just a few weeks. The region is prone to some of the worst monsoon conditions on earth and undergoes two cyclone seasons each year.

Most Rohingya live in what has become the largest refugee settlement in the world – a desperately overcrowded environment on ground prone to landslides and flooding. People living in local villages, where infrastructure has been severely overstretched since the arrival of so many people in a very short period, also face ongoing risk of environmental and other disasters.

For more information please contact Fiona MacGregor at IOM Cox’s Bazar. Email: fmacgregor@iom.int, Tel: +88 0 1733 33522

Students at Umbili Girls concrete during class; they are some of the over 200 girls attending the school. Photo: O. Headon/IOM 2018

By International Organization for Migration
South Sudan, Nov 19 2018 (IOM)

When Deputy Principal Rose was a student, there was a week every month that she dreaded: the period every twenty-eight days or so when she had her period. A keen student with an innate love of learning, she loathed this forced truancy.

Without menstrual management support, Rose could see no other option but to wait out her period at home.

From her office in the school, Deputy Principal Rose explains how she saw history repeating itself across generations when it came to menstrual management. Photo: O. Headon/IOM 2018

Two thousand and five — the year the war for independence from Sudan ended — was the year Rose finished her studies. She graduated from university in Khartoum and returned to her hometown of Wau, now in South Sudan. There, she became a teacher and later the Deputy Principal of the 200-pupil strong Mbili Girls Secondary School, known locally as “Umbili Girls”.

Many of the girls in Rose’s school face the same issues she did back in her own schooldays.

Geography class at Umbili Girls, where IOM water, sanitation and hygiene teams support students. Photo: O. Headon/IOM

One student at the school said that when she starts menstruating, she would “ask the teacher for permission to go home.” And then, she would stay put for a day or so until her period was no longer so heavy, making it possible to go back to school.

“When I’m at home, I cannot read or study because I have domestic work to do,” said another girl student. She continued on to say that if she asks for time off from household chores, then she will not be given money for candles, further hindering her studies. All her classmates agreed that when they have access to basic hygiene products like pads, soap and buckets, they can stay in school during their periods.

One of the over 200 girl students at Umbili Girls in Wau, South Sudan. Photo: O. Headon/IOM 2018

“Before, there was no proper place to wash pads, so the teachers and I would have to send girls home,” said Deputy Principal Rose. A non-governmental organization (NGO) constructed a private room at the school for girl students to wash or change their sanitary products.

With training and support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the school set up a student hygiene club. The club helps students promote simple but vital hygiene practices throughout the school. As part of its activities, IOM held menstrual management training for girl students and distributed dignity kits. The kits included reusable pads, underwear, soap, a kanga (multi-purpose material, typically used as clothing), and a solar torch to help the girls easily read at night.

“There is more awareness today and teachers can offer help,” said Rose, more optimistic about the current situation for girls, who experience their periods at school. Such kits not only help girls stay in school but go through their monthly cycle with more dignity.

Deputy Principal Rose is optimistic for the future but knows her girls have many challenges ahead of them. Photo: O. Headon/IOM 2018

Another challenge the students were facing was the lack of latrines. There was only one functioning latrine at the school.

Umbili Girls was originally a girls’ school with 207 students but, due to the lack of teachers in Wau, two or three schools were temporarily combined for Senior Four (the final stage of secondary school) classes. Umbili Girls was the largest and most strategically located of the schools, which means that, for the moment, boys are part of the student body. This made the latrine situation for the pupils even worse; now boy and girl students and men and women teachers were relying on one latrine during school hours. Many of the girls were not comfortable with this arrangement.

Earlier this year, IOM’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) team assessed the sanitation situation in multiple schools in Wau, comparing the state of each school’s latrines and the number of people who used them. Umbili Girls was deemed to a priority with far more than 200 people with access to only one functioning latrine. The WASH team verified with Wau’s Directorate for Education to ensure that no other organization had plans to support the school in this way, avoiding duplication of work.

Assistant Engineer Grace Keji speaks with labourers as they work on the latrine rehabilitation. Photo: O. Headon/IOM 2018

Employing local labourers, IOM engineers oversaw the rehabilitation of a block of latrines (eight stances), which had fallen into disrepair, forcing the school population to share what was meant to be the teachers’ latrine.

“During our assessment, we made sure that the existing latrines could be rehabilitated; we checked that the pits were ok and how many metres were left before they would become full,” said Grace Keji, IOM South Sudan Assistant WASH Engineer. “Then, we used the assessment report to prepare a Bills of Quantity (BoQ), which is a list detailing the materials, like cement, needed for the rehabilitation. Following procurement of the materials, we got to work fixing the floors, walls, roof and ventilation. We also constructed three handwashing facilities, which are vital, as good handwashing practices play a key role in reducing diarrhoeal diseases,” added Keji.

Assistant Engineer Grace Keji explains how the privacy wall is being constructed. Photo: O. Headon/IOM 2018

The team also constructed a privacy wall around the teachers’ latrine, as everyone was using it during the rehabilitation works. Now, there is a specific latrine stance for people living with disabilities, one for women teachers and six for girl students — all in the rehabilitated block. And there is another existing stance located away from the girls and women’s latrines, used only by men teachers and boy students. This is a temporary arrangement until more teachers can be hired in the boma [administrative division] and the boys can go back to their own school. But while they are attending Umbili Girls, the hygiene club has capitalized on their presence and engaged them in activities.

The latrines and handwashing facilities were completed in September and officially handed over to the community. Representatives from IOM, Wau’s Directorate for Education, the school administration and school hygiene club attended the handover ceremony. IOM also supplied the school with cleaning supplies.

The completed rehabilitation of Umbili Girls latrines. Photo: O. Headon/IOM 2018

Following, the completion of the latrines, IOM turned its attention to the school’s inadequate borehole. During the following month of October, IOM finished the rehabilitation of the borehole, ensuring there was access to clean and safe water at the school.

According to UNICEF, the “current trend in female enrolment [in South Sudan] is particularly disconcerting with the Gender Parity Index (GPI) going from 0.75 at primary to 0.57 at the secondary level.” GPI is a socioeconomic index measuring the relative access to education of girls and boys.

Helping young girls feel comfortable enough to stay in school is extremely important.

As one of the students said, “We must study to become independent because there are certain things you must do for yourself,” and as another said, “School is very important because it makes you mentally happy. When you study, life becomes easier; you can work hard for what you want.”

Girls take a break in between lessons at Umbili Girls. Photo: O. Headon/IOM 2018

IOM’s support to Umbili Girls in Wau was funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of the “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Response and Prevention of Gender Based Violence (GBV)” project.

Holding On VR exhibitions have been held in ten locations around the world since July. The Holding On digital campaign launched yesterday. Credit: IOM

By International Organization for Migration
GENEVA, Nov 16 2018 (IOM)

Marking the 20th anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the UN Migration Agency (IOM) launched the ‘Holding On’ digital campaign yesterday (15/11) to raise awareness of the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and celebrate their courage and resilience.

Holding On showcases the stories of internally displaced persons by asking them to reflect on their most cherished possessions. Global audiences can now share these stories on social media via the #HoldingOn hashtag. They can also sign a petition that calls on states to respect and advance the Guiding Principles, which Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of IDPs, will use in her work.

The Guiding Principles serve as the global standard for States regarding the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons. Displaced within the borders of their own countries, IDPs are among the world’s most neglected – often denied access to education, employment, safe accommodation and other human rights.

Twenty years on, internal displacement continues unabated around the world with 40 million people displaced in their own countries by conflict and violence as of December 2017, which accounts for 62 per cent of all conflict-induced displacement. The number of IDPs has nearly doubled since 2000, increasing sharply over the last five years. In addition, a further estimated 26 million people are displaced annually due to natural disasters.

“Internally displaced people have left their homes on their own. They don’t have anything other than what they’re carrying. Our exhibition shows people who just walked out with a t-shirt or only holding their children in their arms…That’s all they have,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Director of Operations and Emergencies in the United Nations podcast, A Way Home Together: Stories of the Human Journey.

The items IDPs carry with them when they flee often become physical representations of a world that has since disappeared. As simple as a camera, t-shirt or small bird, these items represent symbols of struggle and hope.

“This camera carries a lot of memories. I used it to take pictures of my children at home. We used to go north to picnic and these cameras were always with us. We took pictures and video footage that I still keep as memories,” said Moafaq, displaced in an emergency site in Iraq.

Tetiana and Volodymyr Ziangirov, internally displaced in Ukraine, reminisced, “The crib is 23+ years old now. My two elder daughters grew up in it. My best memories are associated with this crib.”

The exhibition’s virtual reality (VR) films reanimate the lives of IDPs in Colombia, Iraq, Nigeria, the Philippines and Ukraine. Since July 2018, IOM has held ten exhibitions around the world including in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Djibouti.

Conventional videos that do not require VR glasses, as well as feature and photo stories, are now available on the campaign’s website, allowing people an intimate view into the lives of others who remain displaced.

Upcoming exhibitions will be held during the IOM Council in Geneva between 27-30 November, the opening ceremony of the Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) in Geneva on 28 November, and on International Migrants Day in Cairo on 18 December.

For more information please contact Angela Wells at IOM Headquarters in Geneva, Tel: +41 22 717 9 435, Email: awells@iom.int

By International Organization for Migration
Nov 15 2018 (IOM)

Douglas Massey, Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University, shares his views on data and migration between the US and Mexico. This interview took place during first International Forum on Migration Statistics, organized by OECD, IOM and UN DESA between 15-16 January 2018.

IOM and Bdjobs.com officials sign a Memorandum of Understanding to better inform overseas job seekers. Photo: IOM

By International Organization for Migration
DHAKA, Bangladesh, Nov 13 2018 (IOM)

The UN Migration Agency (IOM) is partnering with Bangladesh’s largest online job portal Bdjobs.com Ltd. to provide the latest information to job seekers on overseas employment opportunities and connect them directly with employers. The two agencies on Sunday (11/11) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a new online portal that expects to go live within six months.

In Bangladesh, every year nearly two million people join the working age population, while only 200,000 jobs are created locally. This phenomenon, coupled with pull factors – including peer influence, expectations of higher income and the perceived social status attached to living abroad – often lead working age people to migrate for jobs overseas.

But prospective migrants frequently find themselves misled by middlemen when it comes to signing to contracts and confronting working and living conditions different from what they were promised in some destination countries. Some job seekers even become victims of human trafficking and end up facing extreme exploitation and abuse.

IOM has been working closely with the Government of Bangladesh, recruiting agencies as well as with public and private stakeholders to reduce the vulnerability of job-seeking migrants during their journeys. For a decade, IOM has promoted a rights-based approach and integration of migration into Bangladesh’s national development agenda.

“Overseas opportunities, job requirements and the terms and conditions of their employment are the bare minimum that migrants should know to make conscious choices,” said IOM Bangladesh Chief of Mission Giorgi Gigauri. “It is their basic right and it is very important that stakeholders go beyond business as usual and play a responsible role in protecting migrant workers.”

“Credible information platforms need to become more accessible, not only to potential migrants, but also migrants living abroad and those willing to re-migrate,” he added.

“The changing market dynamics are driving us to focus more on technical jobs, which are filled by a large number of migrant workers,” said Bdjobs.com CEO AKM Fahim Mashroor. “We believe this initiative will definitely help migrant workers to get more accurate and timely job information for safe and regular migration.”

The new online job portal, which will be developed with support from the IOM Development Fund, will have some unique features particularly designed for Bangladeshi migrant workers.

The android app will offer Bangla/English language preferences and will allow jobseekers to create profiles with information required by the Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) – the agency responsible for authorizing work permits for Bangladeshi migrants.

Profiles will also be integrated with a search engine through which government, foreign missions, employers and recruiting agencies will be able to identify suitable candidates.

For more information please contact Chowdhury Asif Mahmud Bin Harun at IOM Bangladesh, Email: mbinharun@iom.int, Tel. +880 1755509476.

Nigerian returnees boarding a plane to Lagos from southern Libya. Photo: IOM/Moayad Zaghdani

By International Organization for Migration
TRIPOLI, Libya, Nov 9 2018 (IOM)

The UN Migration Agency, IOM, resumed its Voluntary Humanitarian Return Programme (VHR) in Libya’s southern city of Sebha yesterday (08/11). VHR provides support to stranded migrants wishing to return to their home countries. In recent months, IOM has been expanding its outreach in the south through multiple field missions to make VHR operations possible.

The charter, which landed in Lagos, Nigeria, came after IOM’s outreach activities with local authorities and Nigerian communities in the south. In close coordination with the Nigerian Embassy in Tripoli, the Organization facilitated the provision of online consular support which enabled the embassy to conduct consular authentication and issue travel documents.

“We have been working intensively in the South to make sure that migrants living in urban settings or detention centres, who wish to return home safely, can receive our support,” said IOM VHR Operations Assistant, Mohamed Hmouzi.

The land transportation for migrants from BraK AL Shati and Sebha, located 80 kilometres and 30 kilometers – subsequently, from Tamanhent International Airport, was secured in collaboration with the local authorities. The migrants were also provided with food and non-food items. IOM provided protection screenings for vulnerable migrants and medical screening prior to their departure.

The charter carried 120 migrants (75 men, 30 women, 6 children and 9 infants) to Lagos. IOM will be working closely with the local authorities to ensure they reach all stranded migrants in the south who are interested in VHR assistance.

So far in 2018, IOM has provided voluntary humanitarian return assistance to a total of 14,622 migrants in Libya, out of which 3,503 were Nigerian migrants. Nigeria is the top country of return from Libya, followed by Mali and Niger.

IOM will continue monitoring and assessing the needs of stranded migrants in southern Libya for the provision of humanitarian assistance, VHR registration, medical care, as well as other pressing needs.

This charter was funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.

For more information, please contact Maya Abu Ata at IOM Libya, Tel: + 00216 58601336, Email: mabuata@iom.int or Safa Msehli, Tel: +216 22 241 842 Email: smsehli@iom.int

Colombia hosts the highest number of migrants and refugees from Venezuela. Photo: IOM

By International Organization for Migration
Nov 8 2018 (IOM)

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency announced today that the number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela worldwide has now reached three million.

According to data from national immigration authorities and other sources, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean host an estimated 2.4 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela, while other regions account for the rest.

“Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have largely maintained a commendable open-door policy to refugees and migrants from Venezuela, however, their reception capacity is severely strained, requiring a more robust and immediate response from the international community if this generosity and solidarity are to continue,” said Eduardo Stein, UNHCR-IOM Joint Special Representative for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela.

Colombia has the highest number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela, a total of over one million. It is followed by Peru, with over half a million, Ecuador over 220,000, Argentina 130,000, Chile over 100,000 and Brazil 85,000.

In addition to South American countries, countries in Central America and the Caribbean also recorded increasing arrivals of refugees and migrants from Venezuela. Panama, for example, is now hosting 94,000 Venezuelans.

With rising numbers, the needs of refugees and migrants from Venezuela and the communities hosting them have also significantly increased.

Governments in the region are leading the humanitarian response and coordinating their efforts, including through the Quito Process, which has been an important step towards a regional approach to scale up the response and harmonize policies. The second Quito meeting of governments from the region will take place on 22 and 23 November.

To support this response, the Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform, established in September and composed of 40 partners and participants, including UN Agencies, other international organizations, civil society and faith-based organizations, is strengthening the operational response and on a humanitarian Regional Response Plan for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (RMRP), to be launched in December.

The RMRP will focus on four strategic areas: direct emergency assistance, protection, socio-economic and cultural integration and capacity-building for the governments of receiving countries.

For more information contact:

Juliana Quintero, IOM (juquintero@iom.int +54 1132488134)
William Spindler, UNHCR (spindler@unhcr.org +507 69290257 or +41 79 2173011)

IOM’s Missing Migrants Project attend the Caravana de Madres de Migrantes Desaparecidos (Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants). Credit: IOM

By International Organization for Migration
Mexico City, Nov 6 2018 (IOM)

Each year, the Caravana de Madres de Migrantes Desaparecidos (Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants) crosses Mexican territory in search of their children who went missing trying to reach the United States.

For the first time, the Mothers’ Caravan was joined in Mexico City by mothers from other continents, with the aim of building a transnational movement to remind the international community that one disappearance, one death, is one too many.

Over 40 mothers and other family members searching for missing migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Senegal, Mauritania, Tunisia and Algeria came together to share their stories, to build ties, and to exchange experiences of searching for information on the whereabouts of their children.

IOM’s Missing Migrants Project attended this historical event as an observer.

The summit was convened by the Movimiento Migrante Mesoamericano and the Italian Carovani Migranti, two NGOs which assist mothers and families of missing migrants in Central America and Italy, respectively. Associations representing families of the missing sent delegations to the Summit, including the Tunisian Association Mères des Disparus, the Algerian Collectif de Familles des Harraga d’Annaba, the Mauritanian Association des Femmes Chefs de Famille, the Salvadoran Comité de Migrantes Desparecidos, the Honduran Comité de Familiares de Migrantes Desaparecidos del Progreso and the Mexican Red de Enlaces Nacionales.

Rosa Idalia Jiménez has been looking for her son, Roberto Adonai Bardales Jiménez, since 28 May 2013. He disappeared when he was 14, as he fled poverty and violence in his home country towards the US border. He wanted a safer, better life. The last time Rosa heard from him, he was preparing to cross the US-Mexico border into Texas from Reynosa, Mexico.

Rosa shared her story this weekend at the first-ever Global Summit of Mothers of Missing Migrants. The Summit took place in Mexico City 2–4 November 2018 as part of the 8th World Social Forum on Migration.

It is not only mothers who participated in the Summit, but also sisters, brothers, fathers, grandmothers. They wear photos of the missing around their necks, in the hope that someone will recognize their loved ones and be able to help find them. They vow not to rest until their searches are over.

The disappearance of a loved one, no matter the context, leaves a family mourning their loss, or waiting for news of a missing father, husband, wife, mother, son or daughter. Caught between grief and hope, families begin a search for information about their loved ones that can take years or a lifetime. Coming together around such tragic circumstances, the mothers can share their stories of pain, grief, and, above all, endless love for their missing children.

Over the course of three days, mothers and family members at the Summit discussed the many obstacles they face in their search for their missing relatives. Without national or international search mechanisms, families are left to navigate a confusing web of institutions and bureaucracy with little state support.

Nonetheless, they persist: the mothers’ caravan has organized annual marches through Mexico to raise awareness and search for lost loved ones since 2005. By the end of this first Global Summit of Mothers of Missing Migrants, participants mapped out a plan to globalize the struggle of families searching for missing migrants. A manifesto was collaboratively drafted on the final day of the Summit, setting out the mothers’ demands for truth and justice for their missing sons and daughters.

As the way forward, the mothers agreed on a list of actions, which include joint advocacy campaigns around key events, supporting regional initiatives put forward by each association, and creating an online platform to coordinate their efforts.

The Summit thus marks the beginning of a global movement of mothers and families of the missing: there is an urgent need to raise awareness about deaths and disappearances during migration and to combat indifference towards these global tragedies.

For further information please contact Marta Sanchez Donis, IOM Global Migration Data Analysis Centre, Tel: +49 1511 0001 187, Email: msanchez@iom.int

The first caravan reached the town of Matías Romero in Oaxaca state yesterday (01/11). The Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs estimates that 4,000 people spent the night there. Photo: Rafael Rodríguez/IOM

By International Organization for Migration
SAN JOSE, Nov 2 2018 (IOM)

The UN Migration Agency, IOM, continues to provide support and assistance to migrants who have joined the migrant caravans crossing Central America and opted to seek asylum in Mexico or return to their countries of origin.

In the Siglo XXI Migratory Station of Tapachula, managed by the National Institute for Migration (INM) of Mexico, IOM and the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE) have been supplying food and basic hygiene kits to over 1,500 migrants from the caravans seeking asylum in Mexico.

“IOM maintains its position that the human rights and basic needs of all migrants must be respected, regardless of their migratory status,” says Christopher Gascon, IOM Chief of Mission in Mexico. “In coordination with UNHCR we will continue to monitor the situation of the caravan counting on field staff, the Mexican Office of Assistance for Migrants and Refugees (DAPMyR), and partner NGOs, providing information regarding alternatives for regular and safe migration, as well as options for voluntary returns.”

A second caravan of approximately 1,800 Central American migrants admitted on Monday (29/10) by Mexican migration authorities arrived last Wednesday (31/10) in Huixtla, Chiapas state, and plan to move today, according to local authorities. This group initially started the regularization process in Mexico but later opted to continue the trek north without seeking asylum.

A third caravan of around 500 migrants departed from El Salvador last Sunday and crossed Tuesday (30/10) into Mexico, where most of them requested asylum. A fourth group of migrants left on Wednesday (31/10) from San Salvador with some 1,700 individuals, according to an IOM monitoring team. The final group spent last night in the Guatemalan town of Tecún Umán, on the border with Mexico.

Meanwhile, the bulk of the first caravan reached the town of Matías Romero in Oaxaca state yesterday (01/11). An SRE press release estimates that about 4,000 people spent the night there.

After walking some 850 kilometres from San Pedro Sula in Honduras, fatigue is evident in many of the migrants who spent last night in Matías Romero.

Exhaustion and the challenges ahead have caused many migrants to opt for voluntary return, offered by Mexican authorities and Honduran consular officials. Counting on its Mesoamerica Program funded by the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), IOM is now also able to provide voluntary return assistance to migrants.

At the Honduran border control points of Agua Caliente and Santa Rosa de Copan, between 19 and 24 October, IOM provided 2,141 hygiene kits and basic food supplies to returnees. Migrants are returning to Honduras on buses that keep arriving at a rate of four to six per day while other migrants have returned by planes provided by the Mexican government.

“The caravan phenomenon in Central America is another expression of a migration process that the region has been facing for quite some time,” explains Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director for Central America, North America, and the Caribbean. “It is a mixed migration flow, driven by economic factors, family reunification, violence and the search for international protection, among others.

“Nevertheless,” adds Pisani, “we are concerned about the stress and demands that caravans place on the humanitarian community and the asylum systems of receiving countries, which ultimately have limited resources to face this challenge or to properly care for and protect migrants.

“The effective protection of human rights for all is based on the respect of processes conveyed in international treaties and national laws, which must be the frame of reference for any action that may be implemented in this situation,” concluded the IOM Regional Director.

For more information please contact Jorge Gallo at the IOM Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean, Tel: +506 2212 5352, Email: jgallo@iom.int

Watch the video here.

Mohammed and Marwah married on September 27, along with four other couples living in Haj Ali camp. Photo: IOM/ Sarah Ali

By International Organization for Migration
Mosul, Nov 1 2018 (IOM)

Marwah always dreamed of a big wedding party in a fancy venue and a luxurious white wedding dress with hundreds of family and friends in attendance. But this dream was shattered when ISIL took over the city of Mosul in June 2014, where she was living at the time.

Marwah and her family chose to stay in the ISIL-controlled city. She felt trapped and hopeless, and her wedding plans became an impossible dream. Traditional wedding ceremonies that included music, dancing and mingling between men and women were strictly forbidden by ISIL.

Returnees cross a temporary floating bridge over the Tigris River, which splits Mosul city into East and West banks, after the city was retaken from ISIL. Photo: IOM/Raber Aziz

In mid-2016, when military operations to retake Mosul started, Marwah’s family fled to Hammam Al Alil, southeast of the city — an area under control of the Iraqi forces. The family subsequently moved to Haj Ali camp, farther south, where they were reunited with other family and friends, including Mohammed.

Mohammed and Marwah fell in love. A year later, they got engaged. In stark contrast to the wedding that Marwah had dreamed of, they married in the camp two years after their engagement.

Marwah fell in love with Mohammed while displaced in Haj Ali camp. Photo: IOM/ Sarah Ali

Mohammed in his decorated tent, prepared for the wedding. Beneficiaries of IOM-sponsored carpentry course in Haj Ali Camp built the chest of drawers. Photo: IOM/ Sarah Ali

“I don’t care if we are in a tent. We love each other and that’s all that matters. We agreed to stay together forever and I told him that I would be with him in any situation,” said Marwah.

Mohammed added: “When you live in a camp, it is only logical that marriage is the last thing on your mind, because of the many difficulties of daily life here, such as the lack of job opportunities, limited space, the harsh weather conditions… and not being able to make your dream wedding come true,” he said, “but life must go on.”

Haj Ali camp, built by IOM in 2016 as an emergency site to house people fleeing Mosul, still hosts 15,600 internally displaced Iraqis. Photo: IOM/Raber Aziz

Marwah and Mohammed married on September 27, along with four other couples living in the camp, in a group wedding ceremony in Haj Ali camp, organized by IOM with support from Germany.

Beneficiaries who had participated in a variety of trainings through IOM psychosocial support (PSS) programme contributed to the couples’ big day. Beneficiaries of hairdressing and makeup training courses did the brides’ hairstyle and makeup. Beneficiaries of carpentry courses made chests of drawers, and those who followed the baking courses baked wedding cakes. IOM’s PSS courses were funded by the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA)

Beneficiaries of IOM courses in Haj Ali camp baked wedding cakes, helped the brides with hair and makeup and built furniture for the couples. Photo: IOM/Sarah Ali

“Marwah told me that whatever happens, we will still be together, and this means the world to me. It is hard to get married in a camp but she wanted to go ahead, I really appreciate and respect this,” said Mohammed.

The group wedding was attended by many residents of the Haj Ali camp and local community leaders. Photo: IOM/Sarah Ali

Mohammed was in his last year of high school when ISIL took over Mosul in June 2014. Because he is the oldest of seven siblings, he dropped out to support his family. He hopes to go back to Mosul soon to start a new life with his bride, and finish school to become an English teacher.

“We are preparing ourselves to go back home. We need to go back. It’s true that there are not many work opportunities in Mosul and this is a major challenge, but with my wife by my side, I am ready to start a new life and contribute to rebuilding our city,” he concluded.

A scene of destruction from West Mosul. Photo: IOM/Raber Aziz

Credit: IOM 2017/Amanda Nero

By International Organization for Migration
GENEVA, Oct 26 2018 (IOM)

Africa’s population is growing at an astonishing rate. By 2050, the number of people on the continent will climb to 2.5 billion. By the same year, the United Nations predicts that nearly half of the countries in Africa will double their populations. While regions such as Europe have virtually stopped growing, Africa’s population growth shows no signs of slowing.

Several factors explain this growth. Advances in healthcare and medical technology have sharply reduced infant and child mortality rates. Life expectancy, albeit still low compared to other regions, has also improved to say nothing of birth rates, which continue to outpace other regions.

While these gains have been widely celebrated, and rightly so as they are a testament to Africa’s socio-economic progress, a burgeoning population has also raised alarm among some policy makers. African countries, the argument goes, are ill prepared and will struggle to cope with the coming population explosion. Resource extraction, for example, is expected to increase — exacerbating environmental problems, while food shortages may worsen due to climate change. Meanwhile, some predict unprecedented unemployment levels, especially among young people.

These concerns are not without merit and do indeed warrant our attention. However, while a fast-growing population does pose challenges, it can also be an opportunity to drive Africa’s socio-economic development. With the right policy responses, countries in Africa can create the conditions needed to turn what could be a demographic catastrophe into a demographic dividend.

One way to do this is for countries to further embrace the free movement of people. This is especially key in tackling youth unemployment, one of the continent’s biggest challenges.

The number of young people without employment is staggeringly high. In sub-Saharan Africa youth unemployment stood at nearly 14 per cent in 2017. But this is dwarfed by North Africa, whose youth unemployment rate was estimated to be 29 per cent in the same year. With 60 per cent of its population below the age of 25, Africa is the world’s “youngest” continent. And as the region’s population continues to grow rapidly, the demand for jobs is bound to increase.

Credit: IOM 2016/Amanda Nero

Free movement can allow young people to find employment beyond the confines of their borders. Workers from countries with limited employment opportunities can move, at least temporarily, to countries where labour is in short supply. Furthermore, free movement makes it possible for firms to find young people who are suited — both in terms of skills and competencies — to available positions. Each year the failure to find desired skills leaves many jobs across the continent unfilled; this is particularly the case for specialized professions such as engineering and medicine. This reality is not just a loss for the qualified young African individual who simply cannot obtain a work visa or permit, but also for the companies whose productivity suffers as a result.

But free movement, as it pertains to labour, is only part of the solution. It is not the panacea for Africa’s jobless youth. To avoid what some have deemed the coming ‘demographic nightmare’, which could leave millions more young people without jobs, free movement must be coupled with other efforts such as improvements in education systems, skills training and continued investment in infrastructure, which is vital to attracting much-needed investments.

Labour mobility will be a key area of focus at the fourth Pan African Forum on Migration (PAFoM) due to take place in Djibouti from 19–21 November 2018. The benefits, challenges as well as how to advance free labour movement will all be discussed at the Forum. The need to address the unemployment crisis among Africa’s young people has never been more urgent. Without jobs, the continent stands little chance of capturing the demographic dividend.

This article was written by Bernardo Mariano, IOM’s Senior Regional Adviser for Africa.

CTDC, the world’s first counter-trafficking data portal, contains data on over 90,000 cases from 169 countries. One in every five individuals in the dataset is a child. Photo: IOM

By International Organization for Migration
GENEVA, Oct 26 2018 (IOM)

A new version of the Counter Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC) has been released, now featuring data on over 90,000 cases of human trafficking and new data visualization tools.

CTDC is the world’s first global data portal on human trafficking, with primary data contributed by organizations around the world, bringing together knowledge and diffusing data standards across the counter-trafficking movement.

For the first time, CTDC facilitates unparalleled access to the largest dataset of its kind in the world, providing a deeper understanding of human trafficking both through the visualisations on the site and through the publicly available downloadable data file.

Analysis published so far on CTDC has revealed new insights into themes such as the main industry sectors where trafficking occurs, victims’ geographical regions of origin and exploitation, trafficking routes and special focus areas such as kidnapping and recruitment. Nearly half of victims accounted for in the CTDC dataset are trafficked into labour exploitation, with most being exploited in the construction, agriculture, manufacturing, domestic work and hospitality sectors. Sexual exploitation is the most common type of exploitation among victims, accounting for just over half of adults and more than 70 per cent of children.

New analysis also focuses on specific groups within the dataset: victims who are kidnapped into trafficking are more likely to have family or friends involved in perpetrating trafficking compared to the rest of the dataset, and 80 per cent are women. Women are almost four times more likely to be recruited by their intimate partners, and children are more likely than adults to be recruited by their family members.

“The availability of this type of data is crucial for building the evidence base for counter-trafficking policy and interventions,” said Anh Nguyen, Head of IOM’s Migrant Protection and Assistance Division. “As the world’s only source of disaggregated data on victims of human trafficking, our hope is that CTDC will make a direct contribution to the objectives of the Global Compact for Migration.”

In adopting the draft of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), States have specifically committed to “collect and utilize accurate and disaggregated data as a basis for evidence-based policies” (Objective 1) and “prevent, combat and eradicate trafficking in persons in the context of international migration” (Objective 10).

With current data from IOM, the UN Migration Agency; Polaris; and Liberty Asia, CTDC continues to expand as new data is contributed. The new version of the site features data on individuals representing 169 different nationalities trafficked in 172 countries, displayed through interactive dashboards and visualizations.

New features also include an interactive map with multiple layers, including a timeline of human trafficking cases, key trafficking corridors between countries, and information on human trafficking below the country level. Further data is to be contributed by other counter-trafficking partner organizations around the world in the coming months.

To access CTDC please click here. Data on the site are regularly updated so charts and data visualizations may not exactly match statistics in written analysis.

For more information on CTDC, please contact Harry Cook at IOM HQ, Tel: +41227179111, Email: hcook@iom.int

As part of the pre-departure orientation process, IOM staff members assist a refugee family to try on new shoes in Mae Sot, Thailand. IOM/ 2017

By International Organization for Migration
GENEVA, Oct 23 2018 (IOM)

In the first six months of 2018, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, supported the resettlement of 47,197 refugees departing from 106 different countries. The Organization plays a key role in the resettlement process by providing services that prepare refugees to integrate in their new countries.

Lebanon, Turkey and Afghanistan were the top three departure countries for refugees resettled globally. In addition, Syrian, Afghan and Congolese (from the Democratic Republic of the Congo) refugees were among the top three nationalities selected for resettlement. These refugees began new lives in a total of 26 different countries, with the United States, Canada and Sweden as the top three receiving countries.

In cooperation with European governments, IOM also supports the relocation of refugees and migrants who arrived at ports-of-entry in countries like Greece to other receiving European countries. From January to June of this year, IOM relocated 1,595 people to destination countries within Europe.

In comparison with resettlement rates from January to June 2017, the number of refugees resettled in the first half of 2018 has reduced by 40 per cent (from 79,299 to 47,197). Similarly, the relocation of refugees and migrants in Europe has decreased by 88 per cent (from 13,260 to 1,546) in the same reporting period.

While the United States remains the leading recipient of resettled refugees in 2018, it has fallen from admitting 31,808 humanitarian entrants in 2017 to 14,379 persons in the first six months of 2018.

According to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, as of mid-2018, 68.5 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced, of which 25.4 million have crossed international borders and are recognised as refugees by UNHCR.

“Resettlement remains a vital international protection tool for some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. It is important for practitioners to support and advocate for resettlement, so these valuable opportunities remain, and policy makers are reminded of this important humanitarian solution,” said Craig Murphy, IOM’s Programme Manager for the Emerging Resettlement Countries Mechanism (ERCM).

Despite its reduction, resettlement offers a crucial multilateral humanitarian solution for refugees. In addition to integration and return, resettlement is one of the three durable solutions available to refugees – and one of the only options for those living in situations of long-term displacement.

However, resettlement as a durable solution is accessible to less than one per cent of the refugee population. IOM, therefore, supports the expansion and improvement of traditional resettlement programmes as well as diversifying complementary pathways of migration for refugees – including family reunification, student visas and scholarships, and labour migration.

“IOM continues to support governments engaged in resettlement as a durable solution for refugees by providing comprehensive care to prepare refugees for their journey, support them during travel and assist with post-arrival integration. This is done through well-developed protocols for health assessments and the development of curriculum and pre-departure orientation courses,” explained Murphy.

Partnerships and close coordination are central to effective resettlement. IOM plans and coordinates with governments to ensure safe, dignified and ultimately successful resettlement. UNHCR undertakes the primary role in identifying refugees considered for resettlement.

This short animated video showcases the resettlement process, from selection to reception, for one refugee family. It highlights the plight of refugees and IOM’s role in essential aspects of resettlement from health and integration, to ensuring safe and dignified movement.

For more information, please contact Craig Murphy at IOM HQ in Geneva, Tel: +41 22 717 9183, Email: cmurphy@iom.int

An exercise along the Niger river challenges the response of government and local communities to the sudden mass movement of people.

By International Organization for Migration
Tillabéri , Oct 19 2018 (IOM)

More than 500 members from communities, local authorities, civil society and security forces participated in IOM’s fourth crisis simulation exercise this week (17/10) in Tillabéri, Niger.

The exercise took place in close partnership with the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Humanitarian Action and Natural Disaster Management, and the Ministry of Health in Niger.

The exercise was organized under the project Engaging Communities in Border Management in Niger – Phase II, funded by the US Department of State. This was the fourth simulation exercise organized by IOM in Niger, having previously held similar exercises in 2017 and 2018 – two in Zinder region and one in Agadez region.

Tillabéri, site of this latest exercise, lies in a region covering southwest Niger which is regularly affected by population displacement flows. After the internal armed conflict in neighbouring Mali in 2012, over 50,000 Malians sought refuge in Niger. More recently, intercommunity clashes and the presence of terrorist armed groups in Niger triggered the internal displacement of more than 32,000 Nigeriens.

As with previous exercises, the simulation this week used a scenario conducted under real-life circumstances to test local and regional authorities’ ability to respond to a mass migration movement into Niger, precipitated by a crisis at the border.

This was the first time IOM Niger organized a simulation exercise on the Niger river, which entailed new logistical and coordination challenges. The new setting allowed for new actors to be involved in the exercise, such as the Gendarmerie’s River Brigade and the Environmental Services.

In addition to building the capacities of the authorities in responding to cross-border crises, the simulation exercise also enhanced community involvement in crisis management, as communities from the surrounding area played the roles of both displaced populations and of welcoming community.

“Such exercises provide a unique opportunity for local authorities and communities to be trained in crisis management, in real conditions, through a strong degree of realism,” said Arthur Langouet, IBM Project Manager with IOM Niger. “This is also a means to assess the needs in terms of equipment, training, and technical support for the development of crisis management tools,” Langouet added.

The exercise incorporates a strong community engagement component to foster communication between local communities and authorities. As communities are the first to directly encounter the signs of a crisis, communication with local authorities is crucial in both ensuring a quick and effective crisis response as well as preventing future crises.

The Governor of Tillabéri, Ibrahim Tidjani Katiella, expressed his gratitude towards IOM and stated that the exercise was extremely useful in building the capacity of the Regional Crisis Cell: “I look forward to our future cooperation with IOM for the development of a regional contingency plan.”

At the end of the exercise, IOM distributed 250 hygiene kits to participating community members, and handed over six tents to the Governorate of Tillabéri.

Throughout the next phase of the project, IOM will continue to support capacity building and community engagement activities in Tillabéri, building on the lessons learned through this simulation exercise. Additionally, a second simulation exercise will take place in the region of Tillabéri in 2019.

See the cross-border crisis simulation exercise in action here.

For more information, please contact Arthur Langouet at IOM Niger, Tel: +227 8006 6561, E-mail: alangouet@iom.int.

An awareness-raising session for the Ivorian community, carried out in partnership with the Mauritanian NGO Stop Sida. Photo: Sibylle Desjardins/IOM

By International Organization for Migration
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania, Oct 17 2018 (IOM)

HIV/AIDS is still a taboo subject in many parts of the world. According to UNAIDS, 6.1 million people were living with HIV in West and Central Africa in 2017, and only 40 per cent had access to antiretroviral treatment.

In the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a very conservative society, the topic is sometimes difficult to address; essential information circulates poorly, especially among rural populations. Generally lacking are national awareness campaigns — things like posters, radio or televised presentations — related to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.

In Mauritania, thanks to external funds and government support, HIV testing and care are free for all; however, these services are difficult to access in several regions outside of the capital.

The Centre de Traitement Ambulatoire or Ambulatory Treatment Centre (CTA) of Nouakchott, founded in 2004 by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the French Red Cross and the World Bank, provides care for patients living with HIV, but the service remains difficult to access in a country with a surface area of 1,030,700 km2.

Talking with family members and friends about HIV/AIDS is not always easy. Many people do not sign up for voluntary testing because they fear being judged or they feel a sense of humiliation. In Mauritanian society, where divorces can be easily be obtained and individuals can have multiple partners, HIV/AIDS has a bad image and is associated with adultery or sexual deviancy; it is considered a disease of shame.

“The other person’s gaze prevents us from going to the test and talking about it. People are therefore afraid to take the test and then follow their treatment if necessary. Fear should not lead to a refusal to take the test — the virus that has invaded an organism is not afraid of it,” said virologist Zahra Fall Malick.

His colleague Dr. Ndioubnane El Moctar, an obstetrician gynaecologist, compared it to tuberculosis or diabetes, a disease with a similarly poor image in Mauritania a few years ago: “Thirty years ago these diseases, through ignorance, were synonymous with shame. The turn for HIV/AIDS [stigma to disappear] will come, it takes time. The perception of a society is difficult to change. [People once] considered AIDS to be a disease linked to sex outside marriage or a curse, in a religious and traditional society it is a taboo, a social convention that must be changed.”

Myths, clichés and rumours hinder access to and dissemination of HIV/AIDS-related information, and facts are often challenged during sensitization efforts. Debates about the origin of the virus and its transmission are often an opportunity to provide information about pervasive prejudices.

An HIV/AIDS brochure published by IOM Mauritania; it is distributed to groups of migrants during awareness-raising sessions.

The EU-IOM Joint Initiative in Mauritania plans to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS among a group of 1000 people. The project, Strengthening Border Management, Facilitating the Protection and Reintegration of Migrants in Mauritania, aims to reach migrants, community leaders and beneficiaries of the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration programme. Awareness-raising activities will be carried out to provide basic and essential knowledge for reducing the transmission of sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS in the long-term.

In partnership with the Mauritanian NGO Stop Sida, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, is implementing these awareness-raising sessions and organizing talks with target groups. These sessions are interactive and participatory; participants are encouraged to raise questions and discuss prejudices. Exchanges are facilitated by the presence of the Mauritanian medical staff.

Virologist, Zahra Fall Malick explained: “There is a tendency here to believe that Muslim clerics are not very open. Traditionally, premarital sex is of course prohibited, but it is a reality. Religious leaders do not want to advertise condoms but support this approach to protect their communities. Sometimes this can be a shock, but it has to be done, it has to be talked about and people will be listening.”

During one session, an Ivorian participant wanted to know why migrants were considered vulnerable and more affected by the virus because for him “it [amounted to] stigmatization.” Access to health-related information and organisations is particularly important during a migrant’s journey; access to information, and care can sometimes become difficult to obtain, often due to lack of knowledge, cultural differences, language barriers and isolation. Precariousness can also expose people to non-consensual sex, or sexual encounters with a view to monetary transactions.

Participants often mention difficulties in addressing the topic of sexual health subject in a Muslim context, especially in classes with schoolchildren and students, as one teacher pointed out: “We cannot really answer children’s questions in classes using certain precise and explicit vocabulary words such as: penis, female condom… Here people talk about marriage but between what is said and what is done, there is a big difference. Teenagers ask basic questions and want information, the subject is really interesting for them.”

The teacher added, “Demonstrations are impossible, not only because of a lack of equipment but also because the society is very conservative. I had problems with the teaching staff after some courses on sex education. More anatomical models, more didactic terms, and above all speech without filters are needed to get the message across correctly.”

During these workshops, Communication for Development (C4D) is an important theme, as the goal is for some participants to become ambassadors and raise awareness in their communities. This communication principle aims to change behaviours. “Improving or changing one’s lifestyle in the health sector often implies improving one’s quality of life. Changing your customs, your habits sometimes even your traditions is a heavy challenge but it is a necessity,” said Abdel Ghader Ahmed, adviser to the Minister of Health in charge of communication.

Ahmed insists on the quality of the information to be transmitted, its accuracy and accessibility: “Know how to get information, have reliable information. Your own behaviour will influence your relatives and then your community. There is a rebound effect, from the individual, to the family to the community.”

The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Mauritania is less than 1 per cent. This percentage remains low compared to many West African countries, but it is essential to continue to inform the population, combat prejudice and make medical facilities accessible to all, especially in the regions, in order to plan for a future generation protected from HIV/AIDS.

This story was written by Sibylle Desjardins, who has been at IOM Mauritania since 2017 working on communications and content creation for the mission. She also runs awareness-raising campaigns under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative.

Rohingya refugees watch a street performance aimed at raising awareness of the risks of trafficking in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps. Credit: IOM 2018

By International Organization for Migration
COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Oct 16 2018 (IOM)

Young girls sold into forced labour are the largest group of trafficking victims identified by the UN Migration Agency (IOM) in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps.

IOM counter-trafficking experts warn that more than a year into a crisis that has seen the number of Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar soar to almost a million, more desperate families are sending their young daughters off into dangerous work situations because most households have no other way to earn money in the camps.

“There is a very limited number of jobs in the camp and for women there is almost nothing. That’s why I went outside of the camp,” explained one young Rohingya woman, who ended up being forced to work extremely long hours for very little pay in the fish processing industry.

Latest figures show that women and girls lured into situations of forced labour account for two thirds of those who have received support from IOM in Cox’s Bazar after escaping or being rescued from exploitation. Another 10 per cent of identified victims were women and girls who suffered sexual exploitation.

Bangladeshi security agencies have reported stopping up to 60 women and girls a day attempting to leave the camps in small groups, many of whom appeared to have been coached what to say, but who, when questioned further, appeared unclear about issues such as who they are supposed to be travelling to meet.

IOM experts stress that adult men and boys are also the target of traffickers, accounting for around one in three of those found to have ended up in forced labour.

“We are struggling to meet our everyday needs and there is no scope to get any job inside the camp. So, we [agreed to go] outside of the camp to work,” said a Rohingya father, who ended up receiving no payment after working long hours and being physically abused by an employer.

“The stories we commonly hear are of vulnerable people being approached by traffickers with false promises of work and a better life. Some people simply do not realise the risks. Others may be aware it is dangerous, but feel their situation is so desperate that they are willing to take extreme measures, perhaps sacrificing one family member for the sake of the rest of the family,” said Dina Parmer, IOM’s head of protection services in Cox’s Bazar.

“Men, women and children, are all at risk of exploitation from traffickers. But in this situation, the demand for girls and young women to work as domestic maids, means they are often targets. Once trafficked, their youth, inexperience and isolation leave them particularly vulnerable to abuse,” she added.

IOM offers support to survivors, including physical and mental health assistance, legal counselling, safe shelters, emergency cash assistance, and access to safe livelihoods, including cash for work programmes.

Counter-trafficking and protection staff with IOM have now helped almost 100 people who have escaped trafficking situations and returned to Cox’s Bazar since the Rohingya refugee crisis began in August 2017. But according to Parmer, the numbers represent just a fraction of those who have fallen victim to traffickers over that period.

Despite limited data due to the clandestine nature of the crime and widespread reluctance of victims to come forward because of stigma and fear of retribution, the figures provide the clearest guide yet to the main forms of trafficking being perpetrated against Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar and give important insights into those most at risk.

Nearly a million Rohingya refugees now live in Cox’s Bazar after violence in Myanmar last year sent over 700,000 people fleeing over the border into Bangladesh. The vast majority live in bamboo and tarpaulin shelters in what has become the world’s largest refugee settlement.

Barred from leaving the refugee settlements, and entirely reliant on aid for survival, other than a limited number of cash-for-work programmes with humanitarian agencies and small-scale trading opportunities within the camps, the refugees are easy prey for traffickers, who promise transportation and access to lucrative work opportunities elsewhere. Other refugees resort to unsafe jobs for subsistence wages or end up in forced or early marriages.

Out of 99 cases of trafficked and exploited refugees identified under IOM’s counter trafficking programme in Cox’s Bazar in the past year, 35 were girls, 31 women, 25 men and eight boys. Of those, 31 girls and 26 women ended up in forced labour situations, as did 25 adult men and four boys. Five women and four girls ended up in situations of sexual exploitation, while four people were trafficked, but managed to escape before they became victims.

According to Parmer, brutal life experiences and lack of education due to long-term discrimination against the Rohingya in Myanmar, along with widespread illiteracy, make the refugee community extremely vulnerable. “To make sure messaging is effective, it needs to be culturally and socially appropriate and we need to be creative in how we raise awareness,” she said.

IOM Bangladesh has been working with partners to produce innovative ways of spreading messages about the dangers of trafficking to the refugees. A series of comic illustrations featuring real-life stories of trafficking victims are being used by trained caseworks to raise awareness in the camps.

An IOM NGO partner, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), has also been using street drama and music in the camps to raise awareness of the risks – drawing large crowds as they spread their message.

“Combatting human trafficking requires a joint effort. The authorities, UN agencies, local partners, and communities have to work together and support each other in recognizing and addressing the risks,” said Parmer.

Since September 2017, IOM has carried out more than 50 outreach sessions, ensuring almost 1,000 refugees have been made aware of trafficking with messages that they can then share with others in their community. IOM experts have also supported other agencies in their counter-trafficking messaging and activities. In addition, over 100 Bangladeshi law enforcement officers in Cox’s Bazar have taken part in IOM counter-trafficking trainings.

IOM’s counter trafficking activities in Cox’s Bazar are supported by the Governments of Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

Further information about IOM’s counter-trafficking activities and approaches are available here.

For more information please contact Fiona MacGregor at IOM Cox’s Bazar. Tel. +88 0 1733 335221. Email: fmacgregor@iom.int

Global Migration Indicators 2018

By International Organization for Migration
BERLIN, Oct 12 2018 (IOM)

Prepared by IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC), the Global Migration Indicators Report 2018 summarizes key global migration trends based on the latest statistics, showcasing 21 indicators across 17 migration topics.

The report is based on statistics from a variety of sources, which can be easily accessed through IOM’s Global Migration Data Portal.

The report compiles the most up-to-date statistics on topics including labour migration, refugees, international students, remittances, migrant smuggling, migration governance and many others, enabling policy-makers and the public alike to have an overview of the scale and dynamics of migration around the world.

Moreover, the report is the first to link the global migration governance agenda with a discussion of migration data. The topics chosen are of particular relevance to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report discusses the state of play of data for each topic and suggests ways to improve this.

“While the GCM and the SDGs provide important frameworks to improve how we govern migration, more accurate and reliable data across migration topics is needed to take advantage of this opportunity. This report provides an overview of what we know and do not know about global migration trends,” said Frank Laczko, Director of IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC).

“The international community has taken steps to strengthen collection and management of migration data, but more needs to be done. A solid evidence base is key to inform national policies on migration and will be needed more than ever in light of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration,” said Antonio Vitorino, the new Director General of the International Organization for Migration.

DG Vitorino visited Berlin on Thursday (11/10), where he met with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and other government representatives.

Mr. Vitorino took office as Director General of IOM on 1 October 2018.

For more information and figures, download the Global Migration Indicators 2018 here: https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/global_migration_indicators_2018.pdf

For more information contact Stylia Kampani at IOM GMDAC: Tel: +49 (0) 30 278 778 16; Email: skampani@iom.int or Elisa Mosler Vidal at IOM GMDAC, Tel: +49 (0)30 278 778 31, emoslervidal@iom.int

Image courtesy of the World Federation for Mental Health. Source: Twitter @WMHDay

By International Organization for Migration
GENEVA, Oct 9 2018 (IOM)

Today, on World Mental Health Day, IOM would like to honour all the migrants who stand strong in the face of adversity and uphold human rights and values. Migration should be a positive experience, but often isn’t. As people move in search of opportunity, or in pursuit of new adventures, too often their journeys are characterized by insecurity and sometimes physical danger, especially for those who are pushed to leave their countries of origin due to abuse or human rights violations that harm their mental health.

Studies show there is persistently high mental health vulnerability impacting migrants who experience physical and psychological trauma, torture or inhuman and degrading treatment. Exploitation or other forms of abuse and violence during journeys also take their toll.[1] Even after reaching their destinations, some migrants come up against barriers to mental health care services, and experience high levels of distress due to discrimination and xenophobia, uncertain legal and economic status, family separation and poor housing conditions amongst other challenges.

Restrictive measures of migration management, such as prolonged detention, reportedly represent severe challenges for migrants’ mental health.[2] Scientific evidence shows the harmful impact of immigration detention on children.[3] Furthermore returns — particularly in the form of deportations — also can have a detrimental impact on a migrant’s mental health, leading to depression, anxiety and in some cases suicidal thoughts.[4]

The right of everyone to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is explicitly described in several of the human rights treaties.[5] Yet more needs to be done to guarantee such a right in the migration context. Ensuring this right for migrants requires removing laws that restrict access to mental health-care based on migration status. Measures also need to be taken to address obstacles to access to mental health care services, such as language and cultural barriers, lack of health coverage and more. The right to good health is broader than access to health care and is interrelated to several other important rights such as the right to food, suitable housing, work, education, human dignity, life, non-discrimination, the prohibition against torture, privacy, access to information, etc.[6]

Migrants’ mental health is improved when they feel safe, respected and productive. The vast majority of migrants contribute to making health care more affordable in countries of destination, and sometimes in countries of origin too.[7] There are also migrants who work as doctors, social workers, psychologists, nurses and care workers, serving with their expertise the improvement of overall health systems in their country of destination. A rights-based approach to migration management serves public health systems and societies at large. Together we can do more to translate this empirical evidence into reality.

[1] Kirmayer L. et. al., Common mental health problems in immigrants and refugees: general approach in primary care, CMAJ. 2011 Sep 6; 183(12): E959–E967.

[2] Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Jorge Bustamante, A/HRC/14/30, para 24.

[3] Lorek A, Ehntholt K, Nesbitt A, Wey E, Githinji C, Rossor E, et al. The mental and physical health difficulties of children held within a British immigration detention center: A pilot study. Child Abuse & Neglect 2009; 33:573–85; Steel Z, Momartin S, Bateman C, Hafshejani A, Silove DM. Psychiatric status of asylum seeker families held for a protracted period in a remote detention centre in Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2004; 2(6):527–36; International Detention Coalition (2012) Captured Childhood Report, p. 49.

[4] Lersner et. al., Mental health of returnees: refugees in Germany prior to their state-sponsored repatriation, BMC International Health and Human Rights 2008, 8:8, p. 6 (URL: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/8/8)

[5] Art. 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); Art. 23 of the 1951 Refugee Convention; Art. 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966); Arts 28 and 43, 45 (1) © of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990).

[6] Ibid, para. 3

[7] See for example: Is migration good for the economy? Migration Policy Debate, OECD May 2014; Sanket Mohapatra, Dilip Ratha, and Elina Scheja, Impact of Migration on Economic and Social Development: A review of evidence and emerging issues, World Bank Paper for the Civil Society Days of the Global Forum on Migration and Development 2010

IOM staff are present in the facilities to ensure safe and functional accommodation conditions. Photo: IOM

By International Organization for Migration
ATHENS, Oct 9 2018 (IOM)

From 1 July through 5 October IOM, the UN Migration Agency, provided safe accommodation to 2,272 vulnerable migrants and refugees who were transferred from the North-eastern Aegean islands to mainland facilities by the Greek government. Some 889 children, 393 girls and 496 boys were among those relocated from the islands in efforts to ease the strain on island capacity and hardship for these groups.

The Greek government started the process of decongesting the islands in July and transfers reached a peak in August 2018 according to IOM Greece press officer Christine Nikolaidou. She also explained these movements are expected to continue in the coming weeks.

The majority of these vulnerable migrants and refugees – 875 individuals – are currently housed at the Volvi open accommodation site in Northern Greece. A further 555 have been transferred to the Vagiochori open accommodation site, 229 went to Malakasa and 221 are at the Oinofyta site.

“We arrived in Volvi from Moria, 10 days ago. We were expecting to see something similar to Lesvos. Fortunately, we were surprised in a good way; we have private rooms with all facilities inside,” said Mahmoud Mouri and his wife Diana Ibrahim. They are Kurds from Afrin, in Syria. “We feel safe and comfortable.”

The migrants and refugees have been relocated mainly from the islands of Lesvos, Samos and Chios to 12 open accommodation facilities, where IOM is the official Site Management Support (SMS) agency. At all sites, IOM works with facility coordinators, interpreters, legal advisors, community support workers, psychologists, handymen and engineers to ensure safe and functional accommodation conditions and facilities.

“IOM is supporting the Greek authorities in the decongestion of the islands by enhancing accommodation capacity on the Greek mainland. Our priority is to provide to all people arriving from the islands dignified living conditions, which we have done in coordination with the Ministry of Migration Policy and with funding from the European Commission,” said Gianluca Rocco, IOM Greece Chief of Mission. “We acknowledge and respect the vulnerability of these individuals and we want to alleviate their suffering by improving their everyday life.”

Individuals from 24 different countries are currently hosted in open accommodation sites, including:

• 1,136 from the Syrian Arab Republic
• 437 from Iraq
• 276 from Afghanistan
• 50 from Congo
• 46 from Somalia
• 41 from the Islamic Republic of Iran

Pregnant women, single parents, unaccompanied minors, individuals with physical and mental traumas and families with underage children currently have priority under the islands’ decongestion programme. The vulnerability of each case must be certified by Greek authorities. In most cases beneficiaries are awaiting a formal decision on their asylum applications.

For more information please contact Christine Nikolaidou at IOM Greece, Tel: +30 210 99 19 040 (Ext. 248) Email: cnikolaidou@iom.int

Riaw Gatlier Gai, Deputy Minister for Interior, officially opens the IOM-hosted consultation on South Sudan's migration policy. Photo: IOM/Olivia Headon 2018

By International Organization for Migration
JUBA, Oct 5 2018 (IOM)

South Sudan is developing the young country’s first ever migration policy with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Through a three-day consultation, which began Wednesday (03/10), key Government stakeholders are setting priorities to be addressed by the comprehensive migration policy.

South Sudan hosts thousands of migrants – estimated to be more than 845,000 in 2017, according to the 2017 International Migration Report – the majority of whom are from the East and Horn of Africa and are often travelling irregularly. Not only a country of destination for many migrants, South Sudan is a major transit country on the route to Northern Africa.

This week’s consultative workshop was made possible through funding from the Better Migration Management Programme (BMM) and the Government of Japan. BMM is a regional, multi-year, multi-partner programme co-funded by the EU Trust Fund for Africa and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). BMM aims to provide capacity building to improve migration management, particularly to prevent and address irregular migration, including smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons.

“We saw the need for South Sudan to come up with a migration policy when we realized that there were some legal loopholes,” said Riaw Gatlier Gai, South Sudan’s Deputy Minister for Interior, who officially opened the consultation. “We need to close these gaps,” said Gai.

Migrants enter the country for a variety of reasons, a phenomenon described as mixed migration. Groups in the country include refugees, migrant workers and their families, unaccompanied migrant children and victims of trafficking. Those travelling to or through the country often enlist the services of smugglers to facilitate their journey.

“Migration in itself is not a bad thing,” said James Pui Yak, South Sudan’s Deputy Inspector General of Police, at the consultation. “We South Sudanese have been to so many countries as migrants and refugees; that experience has shown us the benefits of migration,” added Yak.

Migrants’ vulnerability to abuse is heightened in humanitarian settings, particularly for irregular migrants. The impact of a crisis can be worse for them, as they cannot easily access information or aid. This is not only the case in South Sudan but also in countries like Somalia, Yemen and Libya.

Discussions during the consultation centred on establishing correct facts and figures around migration in South Sudan, mixed migration, labour migration, and migration and development.

“Regular and irregular migrants contribute to the country’s economy, particularly through payments for business licenses and creating employment opportunities,” remarked Tya Maskun, IOM South Sudan Head of Operations.

She added: “This consultation marks the beginning of South Sudan’s journey towards establishing a legal framework, which should aim to protect and address migrants’ needs while harnessing the benefits they bring to the country.”

Maskun also added that due to its status as a member of the East African Community, South Sudan is a party to the free movement protocol, an agreement that should be at the core of migration policy. The protocol defines free movement as the right to enter and exit member states and move freely within them, subject to the states’ laws and procedures, with the aim of increasing Africa’s economic integration.

IOM began its migration management support to South Sudanese nationals in 2010 by facilitating their return and reintegration, for those who wished to participate in the historic referendum for independence from Sudan. The outcome of this week’s consultation will lead to another landmark step forward for the country.

For more information, please contact IOM Juba:
Harry Smith, Tel: +211912379615, Email: hsmith@iom.int
Olivia Headon, Tel: +211912379843, Email: oheadon@iom.int

Toronto, Barcelona and New York have offered themselves up as sanctuary cities. Many others must follow suit. Credit: Reuters/Mark Blinch

By International Organization for Migration
Oct 4 2018 (IOM)

Migration is largely an urban phenomenon. According to the 2018 World Migration Report, “nearly all migrants, whether international or internal, are destined for cities”.

Cities respond very differently to migration. Many cities are supportive, boost the rights of migrants and reap the benefits of migration. The mayors of these municipalities are frequent panelists and speakers, extolling the virtues of migration, and proudly proclaiming that the future of migration is local. Other cities, however, seek to restrict migration and actively exclude migrants from social, economic and political participation.

This dual role poses a challenge to the implementation of the United Nations’ ambitious agenda, presented in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The Global Compact for Migration, as it’s also known, is an intergovernmental agreement on multiple dimensions of international migration; this agreement is expected to be adopted by the vast majority of UN member states in December 2018.

Image: 2018 World Migration Report

In support of migration, the mayors of major migrant destination cities, such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, are standing up against national policies that treat migrants unfairly and deny them rights and services. In January of 2017, New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio proclaimed that “we’re going to defend our people regardless of where they come from, regardless of their immigration status”. With this proclamation, De Blasio reaffirmed New York’s status as a sanctuary city that protects the city’s most vulnerable inhabitants.

Cities in other countries pursue a similar approach. In 2013, the Canadian city of Toronto declared itself a sanctuary city, inspiring other Canadian cities to follow suit. Cities like Barcelona in Spain or Quilicura in Chile pursue a similar approach, although they don’t call themselves sanctuary cities but a “Refuge City” and “Commune of Reception” respectively.

Although African cities have been notably missing in many of the global debates on refugee support or migrant integration, they too are stepping tentatively on to the stage. Although often constrained by highly centralised financial and political authorities, they are exploring options for building services that can accommodate mobility in all its forms. Arua in northern Uganda, for example, has embraced its role as a destination for migrants and refugees from South Sudan. The Cities Alliance is now working with “secondary cities” across Asia, Africa and Latin America to find ways to incentivize similar responses.

Middle Eastern refugees beg border police to allow passage into Macedonia, 2015. Image: Reuters/Yannis Behrakis

These cities are assuming responsibility in addressing and reducing the vulnerabilities in migration, which is one of the key goals of the Global Compact for Migration. They commit to providing basic services for migrants, and seek to ensure that migrants receive access to these services free of discrimination, based on race, gender, religion, national or social origin, disability or migrant status.

However, cities can also play a darker role in the migration process. As a set of institutions closely connected to a local political constituency, cities are often more responsive to popular attitudes than more distant national administrations are. Where there are strong pro-migrant business, religious or civic bodies, cities may embrace mobility. But this is not always the case. Indeed, some migrant-receiving cities are enacting restrictive local policies in an effort to repel newcomers and drive out migrants already living within their municipal borders. In 2006, the Pennsylvania town of Hazelton pioneered – albeit ultimately unsuccessfully – this type of local policy by making it more difficult for irregular migrants to rent housing or get employment in the municipality. In Canada, the Quebec town of Hérouxville took a swipe at Muslim migrants by introducing a “code of conduct” in 2007 that, among other measures, prohibited the stoning of women. Other cities simply passively comply with or support national immigration raids and exclusions.

African cities are not immune to creating hostile environments for migrants. The mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, has been accused of anti-migrant tactics and announced earlier this year that he will actively cooperate with national authorities in conducting immigration raids. In Nairobi, authorities have cooperated with national police in rounding up Somali refugees, even while turning a blind eye to a range of other international migrants living in the city. Other municipal or sub-municipal authorities across Africa have also actively and sometimes violently moved to exclude outsiders. Sometimes these are refugees and international migrants. Sometimes they are migrants from within their own countries.

These cities are, in fact, increasing the risks and vulnerabilities migrants face, counteracting the intentions of the Global Compact for Migration.

Cities around the world encounter diverse situations as migrant destinations, transit hubs or places of departure; they have different histories and find themselves in different geopolitical situations; some cities are richer and others are poorer; and cities in different countries possess different levels of autonomy from national and regional governments.

What is clear, however, is that the successfully implementation of the Global Compact for Migration requires the cooperation of cities.

Cities that lack a strong local pro-migration constituency will require incentives to be inclusive of migrants. Such incentives might involve financial support and access to resources and programmes from national and international bodies. Enhancing local authority and participation can ironically make it more difficult for local authorities to fight for unpopular refugees and migrants. Global norm-setting can help counter such moves, but advocates and authorities also need to operate more quietly, stealthily incorporating refugees and migrants into their programmes across sectors. Indeed, migration policy per se is likely to offer few protections if local policies for housing, employment, education, commerce, trade and planning do not consider mobility.

As recent as 2015, William Lacy Swing, the director-general of the International Organization of Migration (IOM), lamented at the Conference on Migrants and Cities that “city and local government authorities have so far not had a prominent voice in the global debates on human mobility”. This situation is changing. Cities increasingly assert their voices and are recognizing that they are key partners in tackling the challenges of migration.

Written by

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

The ‘Non-Violence’ (or ‘Knotted Gun’) sculpture by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd on display at the UN Visitors’ Plaza. Credit: UN Photo

By International Organization for Migration
Oct 3 2018 (IOM)

Mobs chasing migrants through towns; migrant street vendors getting shot at by people passing by on scooters; and migrant-owned shops being attacked on a regular basis. These are just a few samples of the incidents against migrant communities reported around the world.

Yesterday (2 October) we celebrated the International Day of Non-violence; today we would like draw attention to the issue of xenophobic violence.

An increase in violent attacks and hate crimes against migrants has been reported in several countries the last few years.[1] Coupled with a political atmosphere that has become more influenced by anti-migrant rhetoric, it is important to highlight the obligations surrounding the protection of migrants from this sort of violence in international law.

International human rights law prohibit any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence[2].

Xenophobia against migrants has been recognized as one of the main sources of contemporary racism and human rights violations.[3] In order to respect migrants’ right to security, States are obliged to protect them against all forms violence and bodily harm — whether the perpetrators are officials or private individuals, groups or institutions.[4]

States must adopt and implement legislation prohibiting xenophobic acts. Then, the acts need to be duly investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted and punished with sufficiently severe penalties reflecting the gravity of the act.[5] No one, including public officials, should enjoy impunity for targeting migrants, therefore States should also monitor the conduct of State agents such as border and coast guards, etc.

To effectively fight all manifestations of racism, xenophobia or related intolerance against migrants in society (such as hate crimes, incitement to hatred and hate speech) States should take positive measures with respect to both politicians and the media to raise awareness about the criminal nature of xenophobic acts as well as the rights of migrants.[6]

Another issue to consider is that by taking repressive measures and criminalizing migrants in irregular situations, States risk fuelling negative attitudes towards migrants which often leads to xenophobia and violence.

Moreover, this can create major obstacles for irregular migrants’ access to justice as they will be reluctant to report acts of violence or abuse to the authorities for fear of detention and/or deportation. Violence against irregular migrants therefore often goes under-reported and the perpetrators go unpunished.

Violence and attacks against migrants, simply because they are not nationals of a given country, need to be labelled as per the correct terminology — xenophobic and racist.

In a harsher and more anti-migrant political climate, the international community needs to continue to advocate for a clear stance against these phenomena. Instead of focusing on controlling and criminalizing migrants, it is time to foster inclusiveness and protect their rights, while ensuring effective access to justice for the benefit of migrants and communities.

[6] CMW, General Recommendation no. 2, supra. para. 22.

Secretary-General António Guterres (centre) poses for a photo with youth participants of the high-level event on Youth2030, to launch the United Nations Youth Strategy and the Generation Unlimited Partnership organized by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). UN Photo / Mark Garten 2018

By International Organization for Migration
Sep 26 2018 (IOM)

There are an estimated 1.8 billion people aged 10–24 around the world; nearly 90 per cent of these young people live in developing countries. This is the largest generation of young people in history, and in recognition of its significance, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres made youth a priority from the onset of his mandate.

This commitment was manifested on 24 September 2018 when the Secretary-General presented Youth 2030: The United Nations Youth Strategy.

“With Youth 2030, I want the UN to become a leader in working with young people: in understanding their needs, in helping to put their ideas into action, in ensuring their views inform our processes.”

 
– UN Secretary-General António Guterres

The Strategy is aimed at guiding the entire United Nations (UN) system to empower young people to realize their full potential and stand up for their rights. It also aims to ensure youth engagement and participation in the implementation, review, and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as other relevant global agendas and frameworks.

“I have come to love myself for who I am, for who I was, and for who I hope to become. Now I urge you to speak yourself.” A member of the band BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, from the Republic of Korea, speaks at the Youth 2030 event. UN Photo: Mark Garten / 2018

Globally, there were an estimated 258 million international migrants in 2017. Of these international migrants, 14 per cent were under 20 years of age; this means 36 million young people are international migrants.

Whether on their own or with family, adolescents and youth are increasingly migrating in search of security, improved standards of living, education, and protection from discrimination and abuse.

Young migrants have a lot to offer. They fulfill many roles in their communities and societies; they are agents of social progress and development; they are crucial to peace-building and security; they are important contributors to political change; and they are crafters of new solutions.

Youth participants in Jordan discussing how to film the closing scene of a video they created. Photo: IOM 2017

During the President of the General Assembly’s 2018 Youth Dialogue and International Youth Day 2018, many of the youth representatives present were migrants, bringing important migrant voices to the debate and highlighting the need to engage and work with young people and recognize the different experiences that they have.

It is also noteworthy that young migrants are a large constituency whose lives will be impacted by implementation of the Global Compact for Migration, which is the first, intergovernmentally negotiated agreement to cover all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner, and which will be adopted in Marrakesh, Morocco this December.

More generally, one of the greatest opportunities we have today to eradicate poverty and promote prosperity is to take advantage of the shifting demographics in the world. To do this, we need to pay attention to the situation of young people around the world.

Young boys and girls at school in Pohnpei, Micronesia. Photo: Muse Mohammed/ IOM 2017

While young people are key players when it comes to the future and health of our planet, they currently experience many challenges. For example, 61 million adolescents of lower secondary school age (about 12 to 14 years old) and 139 million youth of upper secondary school age (about 15 to 17 years old) are out of school.

Today, nearly 64 million young people are unemployed, and they are three times more likely than adults to be unemployed. Furthermore, young people are not at the centre of political decision making even though more than half of the world’s population is under 30 years old.

Poverty, displacement, conflict, climate change and restricted access to accessible, youth-friendly health services can further compound existing challenges or threats. Young women in particular continue to face multiple barriers when trying to enter the labour force, including unequal pay for work of equal value, and widespread violence and harassment in different contexts.

Syrian youth in Turkey get ready for class. Muse Mohammed / IOM 2016

The UN has set five priorities for the next 12 years in order to operationalize the UN Youth Strategy. The priorities of the strategy include amplifying youth voices for the promotion of a peaceful, just and sustainable world; supporting young people’s greater access to quality education and health services; supporting young people’s greater access to decent work and productive employment; protecting and promoting the rights of young people and supporting their civic and political engagement; and supporting young people as catalysts for Peace and Security & Humanitarian Action.

2018 is a landmark year for shaping the ways in which the international community will approach working with young people for years to come. When given the opportunity, they can effect positive change in several fields.

By recognizing this key demographic as the future leaders of tomorrow, the UN Youth Strategy will empower youth to recognize their potential and become the positive agents of change that the world needs. 2018 is also a landmark year for the international governance of migration.

We know that well-managed migration provides a net benefit to countries of origin and destination, as well as to migrants themselves. Migrants give more back to the societies that they have moved to, and those they have come from, than what they take out.

Central African Republic. Photo: Amanda Nero / IOM 2018

As a significant demographic within the migrant population, and one which has so far arguably been largely underserved, young migrants stand to gain significantly from both the implementation of the UN Youth Strategy and the adoption and subsequent implementation of the Global Compact for Migration.

Multiple factors have compounded the challenges faced by young people, and young people on the move in particular; these two historic documents can work to realize their true potential — especially in the many areas where the two initiatives see real overlap.

In turn, the world stands to gain much from young people and young migrants in particular.

The article was prepared by Amira Nassim, Migration Policy Officer at IOM’s Office to the United Nations.

IOM has deployed a fleet of 10 new, fully equipped ambulances to support emergency health services for Rohingya refugees and local residents in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo: IOM 2018

By International Organization for Migration
COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Sep 25 2018 (IOM)

The UN Migration Agency (IOM) has deployed a fleet of ten new ambulances fitted with critical medical equipment to support emergency health services for Rohingya refugees and local host community residents in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh.

The vehicles, funded by the United Kingdom, Sweden, the United States and the European Union, contain specialist equipment to deliver high dependency first aid during complex emergency situations. This includes equipment to cope with head injuries, heart problems, pregnancy complications and cases requiring admission to intensive care.

“These ambulances are going to be at the front line of saving lives and providing better health care for local people and refugees in Cox’s Bazar,” said IOM Emergency Coordinator Manuel Pereira. “They not only increase our ability to move people swiftly and safely to wherever they can receive the best health care. The specialist medical equipment inside the vehicles also means that we can help prevent tragedies while on the move.”

IOM is the lead agency for medical referrals in the area and runs a 24-hour hotline to ensure patients from across the district can receive urgent transfer by ambulance to the most appropriate health facility.

The new ambulances began operating as an IOM community clinic in Kutapalong, Cox’s Bazar, serving refugee and local mothers, was ranked by Bangladesh’s Ministry of Health among the top five in the country for maternal and child health services. The clinic was named number one for such services out of more than 2,200 clinics in Bangladesh’s Chittagong division, which includes Cox’s Bazar.

There are now almost a million refugees living in Cox’s Bazar after violence in Myanmar forced over 700,000 people to flee to Bangladesh over the past year. The dramatic increase in population has resulted in a spike in demand for medical services.

Since the refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar began in late August 2017, IOM medics have carried out over 600,000 consultations with patients from the refugee and local communities. Over that period IOM health staff have also supported over 9,000 referrals to secondary and tertiary medical facilities in the area.

IOM in Cox’s Bazar currently oversees the referral of over 200 patients each week from medical facilities run by different organisations in the refugee camps and surrounding towns and villages to facilities across the area, including the Cox’s Bazar Sadar District Hospital and Chittagong Medical College.

The launch of the new ambulances was welcomed by Commissioner of the Office of Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC) Mohamed Abul Kalam, who officiated at the inaugural event, which was also attended by representatives of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

As part of IOM’s commitment to continuing to improve access to health care in Cox’s Bazar for all those affected by the crisis, health experts are also working to support emergency response capacity for ambulance staff. This week they are being trained by UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) specialists on first responder use of the Emergency Trauma Bag.

“This training will help us to further improve services and benefit the local community, the refugees and UN agencies working here in the Cox’s Bazar,” said IOM Emergency Health Programme Coordinator Dr. Andrew Mbala.

For more information please contact Fiona MacGregor at IOM Cox’s Bazar. Tel. +88 0 1733 335221, Email: fmacgregor@iom.int

Staff members assist in setting up flags at the North Delegates Lounge. Credit: UN Photo/Ariana Lindquist

By International Organization for Migration
Sep 25 2018 (IOM)

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)’s 73rd session will run from September 2018 to September 2019. Its high-level segment, which started on 24 September 2018, will be a key defining moment for the UN’s 193 Member States to engage in debates towards cooperative responses to many urgent and complex global issues of today, such as peace, gender equality and sustainable development.

Most importantly, this year we are closer than ever to a joint response for one of the greatest political challenges of our era: migration.

This session will see the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), the first intergovernmental agreement to cover all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.

With its universal membership the General Assembly, established in 1945, is the most representative international body and the pre-eminent deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the UN. The Assembly’s decisions carry the weight of world’s opinions on the full spectrum of international political issues as expressed in resolutions, and largely affect the year-round work of the UN in its six main committees. In early October, the work of the 73rd UNGA’s main committees will kick off.

The General Assembly elected María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés as President of its seventy-third session. Ms. Garcés is congratulated by colleagues following her election. UN Photo/Loey Felipe

The opening of the 73rd UNGA is noteworthy for several reasons.

First, having a female President of the General Assembly (PGA) for only the fourth time and the first time in more than a decade.

In June 2018 María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility from Ecuador was elected as only the fourth woman in history to hold the PGA position of PGA. Garcés hopes she can contribute to the progress towards gender parity and be a positive influence for “all the women in the world who participate in politics today and who face political and media attacks marked by machismo and discrimination.” She is also the first woman from Latin America and the Caribbean to preside over the Assembly.

Garcés put ensuring the success of the intergovernmental conference to adopt the GCM at the top of her agenda. “We must keep our commitment with migrants all over the world. We are building an agreement and it is our responsibility to finalize our work,” she noted in her visionary statement for the election and as one of the seven key priorities listed in her speech at the opening of the 73rd UNGA.

In addition to the GCM, she will have the task of continuing the important work of the General Assembly on other issues, namely, supporting the UN reform process, implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), combatting climate change, furthering financing for development, as well as empowering women and girls, among others.

A delegate captures a photo of the General Assembly Hall during the statement by United States President Barack Obama at the general debate of the Assembly’s 67th session. UN Photo/Jennifer S Altman

Second, a continued theme of the 73rd General Debate to ensure the work of the UN remains focused on the people it was intended to serve.

The 73rd General Debate begins on 25 September 2018 for approximately nine days. 196 participants will take to the lectern, among them 95 Heads of State and 42 Heads of Government.

The President of the General Assembly has chosen the theme of General Debate as follows: “Making the United Nations relevant to all people: Global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies”. This also represents continuity for the General Assembly itself, as “focusing on people” was the 72nd President Miroslav Lajčák’s theme. Lajčák expects the successor will continue with a number of things he launched, and stated that “ [as] with many good things accomplished, it is still a work in progress.”

IOM community health worker Sirichai Rathkhetbanpoot examines Wirasat Kirnapa, who has cancer and tuberculosis. IOM/Joe Lowry 2013

Third, global health is to take central stage, opening up the potential for IOM to further progress in advancing the migration health agenda.

Global health has received significant attention as governments have advanced preparations for three high-level meetings; two of them will take place during the 73rd session. The themes of the three meeting pointed to the accelerated progress of SDG 3, ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all.

The General Assembly’s first-ever high-level meeting on tuberculosis (TB) aims to accelerate efforts to end TB and reach all affected people with prevention and care, and will be convened on 26 September. During an interactive hearing in early June, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres highlighted that social drivers of the disease include poverty, inequality and increasing rates of migration. A draft political declaration was placed, mentioning the prioritization of high-risk groups as well as other people in vulnerable situations such as migrants, refugees and internally displaced people.

The following day, on 27 September, the General Assembly will convene the first comprehensive review of the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015.

This session will also feature preparation of the high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scheduled for 26 September 2019. Reaching UHC means that people and communities will receive health services without undergoing financial hardship. The inclusion of UHC as SDG target 3.8, including financial risk protection and access to quality healthcare, medicines and vaccines, cemented its position as a global health policy priority. UHC also reaffirmed the 2030 Agenda’s commitment to “leave no one behind”, which would only be possible through the inclusion of migrants.

As the 73rd session of the General Assembly gets underway, it is IOM’s hope that these discussions and Member State negotiations can highlight the many benefits that migrants bring to their new communities; can tackle the drivers or irregular and forced migration; and can move towards tangible results that bring change to society and to people’s lives.

The article was prepared by Xin Guo, Migration Policy Officer at IOM’s Office to the United Nations.

Johura Kathun, 45, a widow with three children, receives an LPG stove in Balukhali camp. Photo: Tazbir Tanim / WFP 2018

By International Organization for Migration
COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Sep 18 2018 (IOM)

Families living in the world’s largest refugee camp in the past week received the first 2,500 stoves and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders that are part of a United Nations project to protect the environment and build resilience for people living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

The “SAFE Plus” (Safe Approaches to Fuel and Energy Plus Landscape Restoration and Livelihoods) project, which aims to ultimately provide 125,000 host community and refugee families with LPG stoves to prevent further deforestation caused by cutting firewood for cooking, is a partnership between the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Migration Agency (IOM) and World Food Programme (WFP.)

When some 700,000 Rohingya refugees fled to Cox’s Bazar in August last year to escape violence in Myanmar, much of the area’s protected forest was cut down for fuel and shelter, dramatically increasing the risk of flooding and landslides due to soil erosion.

The new LPG stoves will allow families to safely cook without needing to gather firewood from depleted forests. They will also improve the safety of women and children, who risk gender-based violence and attacks from animals, when they collect firewood. Additionally, they will reduce health risks caused by smoke inhalation from open fires.

Host community and refugee families with LPG stoves will receive the fuel that they need through WFP’s ‘multi-wallet’ transfer solution. The agency’s SCOPE beneficiary and transfer management platform identifies recipients through biometric authentication and ensures that the assistance they receive is accurately recorded and managed. ‘Fuel wallets’ on their SCOPE assistance cards will record the LPG they receive, together with food and other items.

“Creating sustainable access to LPG for cooking is the critical piece in the jigsaw of addressing deforestation and reforestation,” said Peter Agnew, FAO Programme Manager in Bangladesh. “It eliminates the demand for firewood, which in turn allows us to replant deforested areas with confidence, knowing that new trees will not be dug up and sold as kindling.”

“Enabling access to alternative fuel sources encourages more environmentally sustainable practices. Deforestation is a major concern. Furthermore, families predominantly cook indoors, so we are quite concerned about the impact of smoke from cooking fires on people’s respiratory health,” said IOM Emergency Coordinator Manuel Pereira.

“We know limited access to firewood results in coping strategies such as undercooking food,” said WFP Emergency Coordinator Peter Guest. “We are therefore strengthening food security by giving people better and safer access to fuel. The SCOPE platform is helping both WFP and our UN partners to deliver humanitarian assistance more efficiently.”

Today, there are over 919,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. These refugees, as well as Bangladeshi host communities, number at least 1.3 million people and rely on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs.

The SAFE Plus initiative is supported by Ireland, Japan and the United States of America and assists the work of the Government of Bangladesh, notably the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission under the Ministry of Disaster Relief and Management.

For further information and interviews please contact:
Fiona MacGregor at IOM Cox’s Bazar, Tel. +8801733335221, Email: FMacGregor@iom.int
Peter Agnew at FAO Cox’s Bazar, Tel. +8801734931946, Email: Peter.Agnew@fao.org
Manmeet Kaur at WFP Cox’s Bazar, Tel. +8801713750599, Email: Manmeet.Kaur@wfp.org

Credit: IOM 2018/Sarah Ali

By International Organization for Migration
ERBIL, Sep 18 2018 (IOM)

Soran left Kurdistan in 2015, in search of better opportunities for himself and his young family in Germany. Here is his account of the journey to Europe, and the decision to come back home.

“In August 2015, lack of employment and the general gloomy atmosphere caused by the economic crisis here encouraged me to think of going to Europe in search of a better life. I sold my house and my car and put all of my savings aside to prepare for the trip to Germany. My brother and my cousins live there and they told me it was a nice country and that the German people treated migrants well.

My wife and I went with our little son to Turkey and from there we paid a smuggler to get us across to Greece by sea. There is a fine line between life and death at sea; it is full of dangers and the possibility of dying — or worse, seeing your family die before you. The journey by land was no better than the sea. We had to walk through six countries before reaching Germany: Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria. As we walked through the forest I had a heavy backpack on, and my little one on my back as well. There were dozens of other migrants walking along as well; we wrapped ourselves in blankets because of the cold as we walked through the forests.

We stayed in a camp in Germany. We were treated well and I really appreciated that. There was a German woman named Lisa who I will never forget. She would frequently visit us and help us with whatever we needed, from house chores to paperwork. When we had our second baby in Germany it was 2:30 am, I called her and she came over immediately; she took us to hospital and stayed with us the whole night.

But despite the good treatment and the beauty of the country, I couldn’t stay in the camp anymore. After waiting for almost two years for my case to be settled, I couldn’t take it anymore. I missed my parents and my friends so much that I could not bear it. I saw updates from my friends on Facebook and the separation from them broke my heart. We were struggling to adjust to German food, and only went to Turkish restaurants to eat. So we decided to return.

By the time we decided to return to Erbil in 2017, we had spent all of the money I had put together from selling my house and my car, a total of more than US$30,000. My father helped us in the beginning, and then I received assistance from IOM to start this paint business in which I partnered with an old friend. Here we sell paint supplies and we also do house painting. We paint seven to eight houses per month. What I make from this business is enough to provide for my family although I will need time to establish myself like before.

Credit: IOM 2018/Sarah Ali

During the years in Germany I learned many skills and values that I now use in my daily life here in Kurdistan. For example, the Germans are very punctual, and that’s something really important that people do not care about much here. If the Germans say they meet you at 4:30, then they will meet you at 4:30 exactly, not a minute later. I am applying the same concept here in my job.”

IOM’s assistance to Soran was funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), through the German Corporation for International Development (GIZ) and the German Center for Job, Migration and Reintegration in Iraq (GMAC).

This story was written by Raber Aziz, Media and Communications Officer at IOM Iraq.

South-South migration presents many complex and diverse opportunities and challenges for countries and migrants alike. Photo: Muse Mohammed / IOM

By International Organization for Migration
Sep 12 2018 (IOM)

Cooperation between developing countries — known to development actors as South-South Cooperation (SSC) — is experiencing a resurgence. Although the idea that developing countries could work together to improve their collective development outcomes has been around for some time, recent years have witnessed a noticeable growth in South-South activities, driven by the emergence of new innovations, expertise and best practices in developing countries and greater awareness of the potential benefits such cooperation offers.

In the midst of this growing interest in and demand for SSC, governments at the United Nations are about to develop a new global framework on South-South and Triangular Cooperation. This will build upon the first such framework adopted by governments back in 1978: the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA). Efforts to create a new framework offer the opportunity to not only confirm the value of SSC as a complement to traditional forms of cooperation between developed and developing countries, but also to highlight additional areas of collaboration beyond those outlined in the original BAPA document.

Promoting South-South and Triangular Cooperation in the migration context for example, would be a valuable outcome. Already, there is significant cooperation amongst governments on different aspects of migration, whether bilaterally or at the regional level. This includes cooperation between developing countries, or between groups of developing countries and their developed-country counterparts. The intergovernmental process on a reinvigorated BAPA + 40 outcome should recognize these existing partnerships as a form of SSC and include migration as an area in which enhanced cooperation between developing countries would be beneficial.

There are several reasons why South-South cooperation should continue to expand in the migration context.

First, it is now well established that the challenges and opportunities migration presents cannot be addressed effectively without strong partnerships. This is one of the core principles of IOM’s Migration Governance Framework (MiGOF), which highlights the fact that migration, by its very nature, implicates multiple actors and that its good governance relies upon partnerships between all actors at different levels of engagement. Partnership is also, for good reason, a recurring mantra of global migration policy makers. In the text of the recently finalized Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration for example, United Nations’ member states referred to partnerships close to thirty times in the entire thirty-four-page document. Of the twenty-three overarching objectives contained in the GCM, partnerships also feature in the final objective, which calls for ‘strengthen[ed] international cooperation and global partnerships for safe, orderly and regular migration’. Governments know they cannot address the implications of migration if they try to do it alone. Partnerships are crucial.

Second, the evolving nature of migration has and will continue to necessitate greater South-South cooperation. In 2017, developing regions hosted some 43 per cent of the world’s 258 million international migrants. Of those, 97 million, or 87 per cent, originated from other developing regions. This figure now surpasses the number of migrants from developing countries who live in the developed world, and the average annual growth in the number of migrants living in the Global South has outpaced that in the Global North since the year 2000. These changing dynamics present a number of challenges, but also opportunities, for developing countries, many of which lack the resources, structures and governance frameworks to effectively manage these new patterns, and which are unaccustomed to being destinations for migrants. Enhancing SSC on migration will therefore be critical to ensuring positive outcomes for both migrants and societies and addressing its potential challenges. That partnership should include the exchange of knowledge and expertise with a view to developing mutual capacities and, where possible and desirable, leading to a convergence of policy approaches on migration.

Third, although the support of developed countries and other actors will continue to be important, many of the challenges presented by South-South migration may be best responded to through solutions that are also established in the South, including within regions. This is because South-South migration presents many complex and diverse opportunities and challenges for countries and migrants alike, some of which are of a different nature, or have different implications to, those experienced by developed countries.

For example, the benefits migration offers to developing countries can differ from those experienced in the developed world, suggesting differentiated responses are also necessary. Migrant remittances for example, are worth significantly more in the Global South than in the North, even if some developed countries have themselves been recipients of such funds. The potential benefits of circular migration can also differ, reflected in the different priorities and rationale for promoting seasonal mobility as between developed and developing countries.

South-South migration is also often characterized by significant volumes of irregular migration, vulnerable migrants caught in crisis situations, significant inflows of forced migration, including smuggling and human trafficking. Although developed countries also have experience in addressing these challenges, responses might not always be directly transferable, given existing development gaps.

Fourth, with migration now featured in several multilateral development frameworks, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the soon to be adopted Global Compact on Migration (GCM), South-South cooperation is likely to be a crucial means of implementing the commitments in these frameworks. The draft GCM already includes a commitment to reinforce engagement and partnership through North-South, South-South, triangular and technical cooperation and assistance. Ensuring consistency between these existing frameworks and the new BAPA + 40 outcome will be important. This is true also given the capacity building needs that continue to impact developing countries in the migration field, including in migration policy development, data collection and analysis, and border management, amongst other issues.

South-South cooperation on migration therefore presents a useful tool to foster shared prosperity by enhancing partnerships between different actors. This includes by building on and tapping into the bridges migrants themselves establish between territories through their transnational activities and networks. There are several things governments can also do to enhance this cooperation.

The first would be to take stock of, give recognition to, and build upon the tremendous cooperation that already exists between developing countries on migration. There are numerous good examples to draw from. In multiple regions for example, Regional Consultative Processes on Migration (RCPs) have become valuable mechanisms through which to foster inter-state cooperation on migration, including in the South-South context. In Latin America and the Caribbean, regional frameworks like MERCOSUR and CELAC have been important to building cooperation and dialogue on migration. As early as 1991, the African Union established the African Economic Community, an organization intended to enhance the free movement of people and promote rights of residence throughout the region. Examples like these should continue to be identified and built upon.

Second, governments should include migration in the text of the BAPA + 40 outcome, in order to draw specific attention to the value of SSC in the migration context and to address both the positive and negative aspects of increased South-South migration. This would also help ensure consistency with other existing frameworks, including the 2030 Agenda, which includes many migration dimensions, and the new Global Compact on migration, the first major migration framework of its kind. This could include perambulatory text recognizing the changing dynamics of migration and the implications for developing countries, as well as firm commitments to support SSC activities to enhance capacities in migration governance. Any such inputs would have the additional benefit of modernizing the BAPA document to better reflect the nature of contemporary migration patterns and a more nuanced understanding of its challenges and opportunities.

The discussions underway at the UN to define a new approach to South-South and triangular cooperation are an ideal opportunity to broaden our understanding of SSC and its potential value to diverse public policy issues. Migration is one area that would benefit from increased attention and specific references in the BAPA + 40 outcome. With more and more people moving from one developing country to another, cooperation between those countries is increasingly important. The lessons and practices established in the developing world could be instrumental to promoting good migration governance. Those lessons could be valuable for all of us, as well.

This story was written by Chris Richter, Migration Policy Officer at the IOM office in New York.

The Ghanaian migrants boarding their return flight at Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport on 10 September 2018. Photo: IOM / Hmouzi

By International Organization for Migration
TRIPOLI, Sep 12 2018 (IOM)

A flight to Ghana is the first return flight to leave Libya in the wake of this week’s ceasefire agreement ending hostilities in southern Tripoli and surrounding areas. The reopening of Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport permitted a commercial flight to leave the airport for Ghana, carrying 21 migrants, said IOM, the UN Migration Agency (10/09).

The migrants – from different districts of Tripoli – expressed interest in returning safely to their home country through IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) programme. The programme provides a safe pathway home to migrants who wish to return home but have little means of accomplishing that. Upon arrival, the returning migrants will be provided with sustainable reintegration assistance to further aid them when returning to their community of origin.

“We are relieved that this flight was able to leave Libya safely and we hope to charter more flights in the coming days and weeks to meet the increasing demand,” said Ashraf Hassan, VHR Programme Coordinator at IOM Libya’s mission. “We have observed a large number of people applying to return home through VHR. We are taking advantage of the current ceasefire and relative calm to assist them to exit to safety.”

Other chartered flights are also scheduled to leave Libya later this week with migrants on board assisted from different urban areas. The charters had already been scheduled for departure, however, following the eruption of violence and fighting between the warring parties two weeks ago and the cessation of operations at Mitiga airport, the flights had been postponed.

“The recent clashes in and around Tripoli have endangered the lives of locked-up migrants, further aggravating their suffering and increasing their vulnerability,” explained Othman Belbeisi, IOM Libya’s Chief of Mission.

“We continue to respond to existing and emerging humanitarian needs including increasing requests for voluntary humanitarian return, as our teams on the ground are directly registering these requests in detention centers and urban areas to expedite the safe return of people.”

IOM launched its VHR hotline through social media platforms, to scale up efforts in reaching out to a larger number of stranded migrants across Libya whose lives may now be at a far greater risk due to the current security conditions.

For further inquiries, please contact at IOM Libya, Maya Abu Ata: mabuata@iom.int or Safa Msehli: smsehli@iom.int

By International Organization for Migration
GENEVA, Sep 11 2018 (IOM)

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 73,696 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2018 through 9 September, with 32,022 to Spain, the leading destination this year. This compares with 128,993 arrivals across the region through the same period last year, and 298,663 through a similar point (13 September) in 2016.

Spain, with over 43 per cent of all irregular arrivals on the Mediterranean through this year, has outpaced Greece and Italy throughout the summer. Italy’s arrivals to date – 20,319 – are the lowest recorded by IOM since 2014, lower in fact, than arrivals recorded by Italian authorities during many individual months over the past five years.

The same can be said for Greece, whose totals for irregular migrant arrivals through the first week of September this year (20,430) recently surpassed arrivals to Italy. It is the first time that has happened since the early spring of 2016.

A year ago, Greece’s irregular migrant arrivals were about one-sixth those of Italy, while Spain’s were about one-tenth (see chart below).

IOM Italy’s Flavio Di Giacomo reported late Monday that some media outlets have learned of a shipwreck off Libya with at least 100 migrants believed to have drowned. Details were few after initial reports, with some dispatches—thus far unconfirmed—suggesting as many as 115 people may be missing at sea with another 15 bodies recovered, including those of Libyan nationals who may have been among the smugglers, not passengers. These reports indicate as well that survivors had been returned to Libya.

IOM Libya’s Maya Abu Ata, later Monday, offered these details: a single drowning incident occurred on Saturday (1September) after which a Libyan Coast Guard unit returned a boat to Libya and transferred all migrants on board to a detention center. This operation references two rubber boats intercepted with a total of 278 people on board. Among the survivors were 48 women and 48 children. Authorities report the remains of two people were retrieved and that, additionally, around 25 migrants are missing, according to what survivors told the Libyan Coast Guard.

So far this year, around 13,000 migrants have been returned to Libyan shores after being rescued or intercepted at sea.

IOM Libya also reported it has resumed Voluntary Humanitarian Return flights out of Tripoli after a ceasefire was declared there.

IOM Spain’s Ana Dodevska reported Monday that 32,022 irregular migrants have arrived by sea this year via the Western Mediterranean, of those nearly 9,100 arriving in the 40 days since the start of August, a rate of 227 per day. For the first nine days of September, irregular migration arrivals on the Western Mediterranean route were running at a rate of nearly 300 per day (see chart below).

Dodevska also shared recent data on the nationalities of those arriving this year by sea. Nearly 60 per cent she reported are from Sub Saharan Africa, including large contingents from Mali, Guinea Conakry, Côte d’Ivoire and The Gambia.

About a third of all sea arrivals – have been classified as ‘Sub Saharan African’ because definitive proof of citizenship had not been obtained. Of those who can be classified by nationality, the largest group of Sub Saharan Africans appear to have arrived from Guinea Conakry, followed by Mali, The Gambia and Côte d’Ivoire. Another large contingent is arriving from Morocco.

Dodevska explained that arriving migrants in Spain first are attended to by Red Cross staff (who offer first aid assistance, blankets and dry clothes). Afterwards, the Spanish Ministry of Interior takes over for an identification process (photos, fingerprints are taken of everyone) which she said can take up to 72 hours, although often is completed much sooner.

“Afterwards,” she said, “individuals are transferred to the Humanitarian Reception Centres. These centres are under the competence of the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security and are managed by NGOs.”

Dodevska explained those arriving by land route to Ceuta and Melilla are transferred to the Centres for Temporary Stay of Immigrants (CETI) and placed in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. These two centres are also under the competence of the Spanish Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security.

On Monday, IOM Athens’ Christine Nikolaidou reported that over five days (04-09 September) Hellenic Coast Guard units (HCG) managed at least five incidents requiring search and rescue operations off the islands of Lesvos, Kos and Symi. The HCG rescued a total of 113 migrants and transferred them to those islands.

Additional arrivals of 753 migrants during those days to Samos and Kos – as well as to Lesvos, Chios and Rhodes – bring to 20,430 the total number of irregular arrivals to Greece by sea in 2018. In addition, some 11,050 land arrivals have been recorded on the Eastern Mediterranean through the end of July, and an unknown number since 1 August.

Greek arrivals through the first nine days of September – some 1,505 men, women and children – are already past the half-way point for each of the previous months of March through August, and more than each of all the arrivals for the full months of January and February. This may be an indicator of a shift of some migration routes away from Libya towards Italy with more irregular migrants seeking passage through Turkey and other states in the region (see charts below).

For latest arrivals and fatalities in the Mediterranean, please visit: http://migration.iom.int/europe
Learn more about the Missing Migrants Project at: http://missingmigrants.iom.int

For more information, please contact:
Joel Millman at IOM HQ, Tel: +41 79 103 8720, Email: jmillman@iom.int
Mircea Mocanu, IOM Romania, Tel: +40212115657, Email: mmocanu@iom.int
Dimitrios Tsagalas, IOM Cyprus, Tel: + 22 77 22 70, E-mail: dtsagalas@iom.int
Flavio Di Giacomo, IOM Coordination Office for the Mediterranean, Italy, Tel: +39 347 089 8996, Email: fdigiacomo@iom.int
Hicham Hasnaoui, IOM Morocco, Tel: + 212 5 37 65 28 81, Email: hhasnaoui@iom.int
Christine Nikolaidou, IOM Greece, Tel: +30 210 99 19 040 ext. 248, Email: cnikolaidou@iom.int
Julia Black, IOM GMDAC, Germany, Tel: +49 30 278 778 27, Email: jblack@iom.int
Christine Petré, IOM Libya, Tel: +216 29 240 448, Email: chpetre@iom.int
Ana Dodevska, IOM Spain, Tel: +34 91 445 7116, Email: adodevska@iom.int
Myriam Chabbi, IOM Tunisia, Mobile: +216 28 78 78 05, Tel: +216 71 860 312 (Ext. 109), Email: mchabbi@iom.int

The children in Mauritania before their return to Sierra Leone. ©IOM 2018/S.Desjardins

By International Organization for Migration
Sep 7 2018 (IOM)

Mauritania is known for its Koranic schools, where students from the surrounding countries are sent to learn Islamic principles and teachings. Regrettably, upon arrival, some of these students are denied admission to the schools because of factors like language barrier, or age if they are too young. They then find themselves lost in a foreign country, away from their families.

This was the case for a group of young children — K., U., A., Ad., I., Al., M. and S.* — aged between eight and 17 years old. Some of them wound up in the East near Nema, others in the West near Nouakchott. The children come from two different villages but they are all from the same country: Sierra Leone.

K., U., A., Ad. and S. are siblings who lost their parents during the Ebola outbreak of 2014 and 2015. Their uncle, anxious and traumatized by devastation of the disease, sent this nieces and nephews away in hopes of getting them to a safer environment. I., Al., and M. are from one of the surrounding villages at the centre, they also travelled to Mauritania to learn the Koran.

The children share a culture and a religion, they enjoy playing the same games, they speak the Sierra Leonean Creole and, like all other young people, they share the same childish dreams. Unfortunately, they were also united by a common struggle to find stability after being rejected by the Koranic school they hoped to attend.

Credit: IOM 2018/S.Desjardins

U, the oldest of the crew, looked after the cohort while they looked for a safe way to go back home. He gradually became their guardian in the foreign lands. He displayed high sense of responsibility, courage, and maturity — but at 17-years-old it was heavy responsibility for him to shoulder.

After struggling for a few months in, the group finally met Haroune, the president of Sierra Leonean community in Mauritania. Haroune took care of them before directing them to IOM, the UN Migration Agency.

The IOM country offices in Mauritania and Sierra Leone collaborated under a family-tracing programme to locate the children’s’ families. The children discovered that their families thought they were in school the whole time, and did not know that they were scared and suffering alone. After a long journey by plane, by boat and by bus the children were able to reunite with their families accompanied by IOM workers. Their return was possible thanks to the efforts of diplomats and consulates from both countries.

Credit: IOM 2018/S.Desjardins

The children also benefited from the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration programme offered by IOM to return, so that they could return to Sierra Leone with dignity. This support was made possible under the EU — IOM Joint Initiative for Strengthening Border Management, Protection and Reintegration of Migrants in Mauritania. This project allows many children to return to school and help their families create income-generating activities to support their daily needs.

*Names have been obscured to protect identities.