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| Formation | 6 December 1951; 72 years ago (1951-12-06) |
|---|---|
| Type | UN Related Organization |
| Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland |
Membership (2023) | 175 member states and 8 observer states |
Official languages | English, French and Spanish |
Director General | Amy Pope |
Revenue (2021) | US$2.5 billion |
Staff (2021) | 17,761 |
| Website | www |
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a United Nations related organization working in the field of migration. The organization implements operational assistance programmes for migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers.
The International Organization for Migration is based in Geneva. Its Director General is Amy Pope.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) was founded in 1951 in response to the large number of internally displaced persons and war refugees in Europe after the Second World War. The IOM was initially a logistics agency that organized the transport of nearly one million migrants in the 1950s and has undergone several name changes since its inception. The transition from the Provisional Intergovernmental Committee for the Movement of Migrants from Europe (PICMME) in 1951 to the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM) in 1952, to the Intergovernmental Committee for Migration (ICM) in 1980, and finally to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 1989 reflects the evolution of the IOM's mandate over its existence, becoming the leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration.[1]
In 1992, it was granted observer status at the United Nations General Assembly (GA resolution A/RES/47/4).[1] In September 2016, the United Nations (UN) Member States, through the General Assembly, unanimously adopted a resolution approving the agreement to transform IOM into an affiliated organization of the UN. This agreement has strengthened the relationship between IOM and the UN and improved its ability to fulfill its respective mandates in the interests of migrants and Member States.[2]
The IOM supported the creation of the Global Compact for Migration, the first-ever intergovernmental agreement on international migration which was adopted in Marrakech, Morocco, in December 2018.[3] To support the implementation, follow-up and review of the Global Compact on Migration, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres established the UN Network on Migration in 2019. IOM coordinates the United Nations Network on Migration which includes UNHCR, WFP and UNDP, among others.[4] While the IOM's history tracks the man-made and natural disasters of the past half century, including Kosovo and Timor 1999, and the Asian tsunami, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Pakistan earthquake of 2004/2005, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and the European migrant crisis—its credo that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society has steadily gained more international acceptance.[2]
The organization is headquartered in Geneva, with liaison offices in New York City and Addis Ababa. The Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) is based in Berlin.[5] In 2020, the organization reported that it had over 15,311 employees, with 168 nationalities represented.[5] The highest decision-making body of the IOM is the council, in which all member states are represented. It has rules of procedure and meets at regular intervals to adopt the annual budget and determine the organization's programmatic objectives. The official languages are English, French and Spanish. According to its own figures, the organization's budget in 2020 was around two billion US dollars. This is made up of voluntary contributions from the member states and donations.[5]
The Director General of the organization is elected by the delegates of the IOM member states for a five-year term. The following table lists the previous directors of the IOM and its predecessor organization, the ICEM.[6] The current Director General is Amy Pope from the United States of America, with Ugochi Daniels from Nigeria serving as Deputy Directors General.[6]
The organization's global mandate includes assistance to migrants, including migrant workers, refugees and internally displaced persons. This broad mandate of the organization has earned it praise for flexibility in crisis situations,[2] but also criticism for legal accountability in protection issues.[7] Due to complementary mandates, IOM often cooperates with the UNHCR.[8]
For example IOM coordinates work in response to the situation in Venezuela through the Office of International Organization for Migration Director General's Special Envoy for the Regional Response to the Venezuela Situation working with UNHCR and 17 countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), IOM is one of the central actors in humanitarian aid within the UN system, especially in the context of displacement.[9] IOM's main aid measures include shelter, protection, the provision of basic medical and sanitary care, life safety, coordination, telecommunications and logistics. On the instructions of the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, IOM, together with UNHCR, is primarily responsible for camp coordination and management in humanitarian emergencies.[10] The organization is also active in stabilization, peacebuilding and development[11] in the context of migration.
As of 2023, the International Organization for Migration has 175 member states and 8 observer states.[12] Member states:
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Holy See
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Norway
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
South Korea
Republic of Moldova
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
Tajikistan
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United Republic of Tanzania
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Viet Nam
Yemen
Zambia
ZimbabweObserver States:
Bhutan
Indonesia
Kuwait
Malaysia
Qatar
San Marino
Saudi ArabiaNon-Member States:
Equatorial Guinea
Hong Kong
Iraq
Lebanon
Macau
Oman
Singapore
Syria
Taiwan
United Arab EmiratesIn 2003, both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were critical of the IOM's role in the Australian government's "Pacific Solution" of transferring asylum seekers to offshore detention centres.[13][14] Human Rights Watch criticized the IOM for operating Manus Regional Processing Centre and the processing centre on Nauru despite not having a refugee protection mandate.[13] Human Rights Watch criticized the IOM for being part of "arbitrary detention" and for denying asylum seekers access to legal advice.[13] Human Rights Watch urged the IOM to cease operation the process centres, which it stated were "detention centres" and to hand management of the centres to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[13]
Amnesty International expressed concern that the IOM undertook actions on behalf of governments that negatively impacted the human rights of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants.[14] Amnesty International cited an example of fourteen Kurds in Indonesia who were expelled from Australian waters by Australian authorities and relocated to Indonesia.[14] Amnesty International requested an assurance that the IOM will abide by the principle of non-refoulement.[15]
In 2022, the role that the IOM played in housing refugees in Indonesia was described by the Refugee Council of Australia as presenting a "humanitarian veneer while carrying out rights-violating activities on behalf of Western nations” by researchers Asher Hirsch and Cameron Doig in The Globe and Mail.[16]
The community housing that the IOM operated, using Australian government funding, was described by the Refugee Council of Australia "inhumane conditions, solitary confinement, lack of basic essentials and medical care, physical and sexual abuse, and severe overcrowding".[16] Rohingya John Joniad described the housing as an "open prison".[16]
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