IOM Chief Arrives in Libya to Advocate for Migrants’ Rights

BREAKING — Ambassador William Lacy Swing, IOM Director General, arrived in Tripoli this morning (04/07) to visit the survivors of the latest migration tragedy off Libya’s shores, and Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj.

UN Migration Agency Presents Recommendations to Incoming EU Council Presidency, Austria

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has put forward three recommendations to the incoming Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union that are based on our view that better migration governance - national, regional and global – benefits the entire migration spectrum: migrants, their home countries and the countries of destination, and requires political courage, evidence-based vision, and a human-centred approach.

Over 200 Migrants Drown in Three Days in Mediterranean — Death Toll for 2018 Passes 1,000

This weekend, some 204 migrants have died at sea off Libya, pushing the total number of migrant drownings in the entire Mediterranean so far this year to over 1,000 people.

António Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino elected as new Director General of UN Migration Agency

On Friday 29 June 2018, the member states of the IOM, the United Nations Migration Agency, elected Portugal’s António Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino as the International Organization for Migration’s next Director General.

Global migration and urban expansion: an interview with Ambassador William L. Swing

Migration is one of the major defining factors of our time. Today, one billion people – one out of seven people in the world – are migrants, including over 250 million people living outside their home country and an estimated 750 million domestic migrants.

UN Migration Agency “Greatly Concerned” by Reports of Migrants Stranded at Algeria-Niger Border

William Lacy Swing, Director General of IOM, the UN Migration Agency, said today that he was ”greatly concerned” for the fate of migrants who find themselves stranded and left to fend for themselves in the no man’s land desert between Algeria and Niger.

What Football Teaches Us About Migration

Football is more than just a popular sport in many societies. Regardless of origin, social class or skin colour, if there is any sport that can give one a sense of identity and belonging, it is this one. It doesn’t matter if it is played with proper ball or a recycled bottle; when a player scores, everyone shouts “GOAL” with the same level of emotion!

Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals Reach 40,944 in 2018; Deaths Reach 960

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 40,944 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea through the first 171 days of 2018. That total compares to 84,675 at this time last year, and over 215,997 at this time in 2016.

Finding My Migrant Voice

Bärli Nugent, Assistant Dean, the Juilliard School of Music, New York, reflects on the journey that led to her curating a musical selection for a unique concert presented by the United Nations Migration Agency at the UN Vienna Headquarters on June 28

A Journey from Science to Diplomacy: Rescuing Somali Migrants Stranded in Libya

As the sun begins to rise, 150 migrants welcome their first morning on Somalia’s soil in, what is for some, years and, others, months. Disembarking an IOM, UN Migration Agency, charter flight from Libya, at the end of May 2018 is the final haul of a long and hard journey. It is not the end that they had expected when they had first set out from Somalia. It isn’t Europe but it is home and it is safe.

IOM, Mongolian Consular Officers Work Together to Combat Human Trafficking

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, in collaboration with the Consular Department of Mongolia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has organized a pre-departure training on human trafficking for 31 Mongolian consular officers.

IOM’s Director General Swing Praises Spain for Bringing 600+ Migrants to Safety

IOM, the UN Migration Agency praises Spain’s action bringing over six hundred migrants stranded on Mediterranean rescue ships to safety.

IOM Urges Restraint, Calls for Protection of Migrants in Hodeidah Operation

The military offensive on Yemen’s busy port city of Hodeidah, which began yesterday (13/06), is putting the lives of 600,000 people at risk. IOM, the UN Migration Agency, warns of the drastic impacts that the military operation is having on migrants and humanitarian access to all affected communities. With its UN and other partners, IOM urges restraint and calls for respect of International Humanitarian Law, especially the protection of civilians, including migrants.

Ukraine “Europe’s Largest Crisis”: IOM Regional Director on Visit to Eastern Ukraine

“Ukraine is the largest displacement crisis in Europe since the Balkan wars,” according to Argentina Szabados, IOM, the UN Migration Agency’s Regional Director for Southeastern and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “Now in its fifth year, with thousands dead and 1.5 million displaced, it is scandalous that this conflict remains largely forgotten.”

IOM Director General Welcomes Spain’s Offer of Safe Harbour for Migrants Aboard Aquarius

IOM, the UN Migration Agency has welcomed the decision by Spain to offer a safe harbour to over six hundred migrants – including scores of children and seven pregnant women – who have been waiting aboard a rescue vessel since Sunday (10/06)

Two Days of Heavy Rain Hit Bangladesh’s Rohingya Refugee Camps – Over 31,000 at High Risk from Flooding, Landslides

Heavy monsoon rains that began on Saturday (9/6) have caused severe structural damage to Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar Rohingya refugee camps. Over 31,000 of the camps’ one million refugees, who fled Myanmar, are still living in areas considered to be at high risk of deadly flooding and landslides.

IOM Holds Special Global Migration Film Festival Participatory Video Screenings in Brazil

More than 300 indigenous people of Warao and Eñepas ethnic groups from Venezuela, local authorities and NGO representatives gathered last week (31/05), at Pintolandia Shelter, in Boa Vista, Brazil, for a special edition of the Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF).

Migration as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy

In late March 2017, the IOM published the final report for a project on Migration, Environment, and Climate Change: Evidence for Policy (MECLEP), which concluded that in many cases migration contributes to adaptation to environmental and climate change, as it allows affected families to diversify their income, improve their employment, health, and education opportunities, and prepare them to better face future dangers caused by natural factors.

UN Migration Agency Helps Somali Migrants Return Home from Libya

Yesterday (30/05), IOM, the International Organization for Migration, in collaboration with the Libyan and Somali Governments and with support from the European Union, facilitated the voluntary return to Mogadishu of 150 Somali migrants stranded in Libya. The majority of them had been held in Government-run detention centres.

End the ‘harmful narrative’; migration is a net-gain for Africa, finds UN report

The large-scale migration of people within Africa tends to boost growth and lifts the continent’s whole economy, a new United Nations report has said, urging the world to dispel misconceptions and “harmful narratives” targeting migration.

IOM, WHO, DR Congo Ministry of Health Partner to Stop Ebola from Spreading to Kinshasa, Neighbouring

Last week, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), cases of Ebola were confirmed in Mbandaka, a city with a population of 1.2 million people some 150 kilometres from where the outbreak originated in Bikoro Health Zone, Equateur Province.