International Organization for Migration

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Context: At least 49 migrants died and 140 others were missing after their boat capsized off the coast of Yemen, the U.N. migration agency said on June 11.

 Details

News Detail

• At least 49 migrants have died and 140 others remain missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Yemen. The vessel carrying 260 migrants capsized on 10 June near Alghareef Point in Shabwah governorate. Carrying 115 Somali nationals and 145 Ethiopians, with 90 women among them.

The migration

• IOM's Missing Migrants Project has recorded 1,860 migrant deaths and disappearances along the Eastern Route from the East and Horn of Africa to the Gulf countries, including 480 due to drowning.
• This mirrors the recent rise in migrants from the Horn of Africa travelling to Yemen, spurred by political and economic instability, alongside severe droughts and other extreme weather events in countries like Ethiopia and Somalia.
• The Eastern Horn of Africa to Yemen is one of the world’s busiest and most perilous mixed migration routes, frequented by hundreds of thousands of migrants, the majority of whom undertake irregular journeys. Often relying on smugglers to navigate the journey, migrants are frequently at an increased risk, including of human trafficking, during the perilous boat journey to Yemen’s shores.
• Despite the ongoing conflict in Yemen, thousands of migrants continue to transit through Yemen in hopes of reaching the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.
• In 2023, IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) observed more than 97,200 migrant arrivals to Yemen, surpassing figures from 2022 when was just over 73,000 migrants arrived in Yemen.

International Organization for Migration

History

• The International Organization for Migration (IOM) earlier known as the Provisional Intergovernmental Committee for the Movement of Migrants from Europe (PICMME), was established in 1951.
• Initially it was mandated to help European governments to identify resettlement countries for the estimated 11 million people uprooted by the World War II, it arranged transport for nearly a million migrants during the 1950s.
• A succession of name changes from PICMME to the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM) in 1952, to the Intergovernmental Committee for Migration (ICM) in 1980 to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 1989, reflects the organization's transition over half a century from logistics agency to migration agency.

Objective and Mission

IOM is part of the United Nations System and stands as the leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration.

• Member and Observer: With 175 member states, a further 8 states holding observer status and offices in 171 countries.
• IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing support to migrants across the world, developing effective responses to the shifting dynamics of migration and providing advice on migration policy and practice. 
• The organization collaborates with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners to improve the resilience of people on the move, particularly those in situations of vulnerability.
• It also works closely with governments to manage all forms of mobility, and their impacts. This work includes operations in some of the most complex emergency settings in the world.
• The IOM Constitution recognizes the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement.

IOM’s work is focused on the following three objectives:

• Saving lives and protecting people on the move: To fulfill this objective, IOM puts the safety, dignity and protection of people first in the most challenging crisis response contexts in the world.
• Driving solutions to displacement: In response to this aim, IOM endeavors to reduce the risks and impacts of climate change, environmental degradation, conflict and instability for communities affected by or at risk of displacement.
• Facilitating pathways for regular migration: To address this pursuit, IOM prioritizes whole-of-government, whole-of-society approaches to safely connect people, goods, services, knowledge and innovation.

Governing body

• IOM possesses full juridical personality and has its Headquarters in Geneva.
• The Organization’s organs are the Council and the Administration.

The Council

• The Council, on which each Member State has one representative and one vote, is the highest authority and determines IOM policies.

The Standing Committee on Programmes and Finance

• The Standing Committee on Programmes and Finance (SCPF) is a subcommittee of the Council.
• It is open to the entire membership and normally meets twice a year to examine and review policies, programmes and activities, to discuss administrative, financial and budgetary matters and to consider any matter specifically referred to it by the Council.

The Administration

• The Administration, which comprises a Director General, two Deputy Director Generals (a Deputy Director General for Operationsand a Deputy Director General for Management and Reform) and such staff as the Council may determine, is responsible for administering and managing the Organization in accordance with the Constitution and the policies and decisions of the Council and the Standing Committee on Programmes and Finance.
• The Director General, who is the Organization's highest executive official, is independently elected by the Council for a period of five 5 years.

IOM In INDIA

• IOM has been operational in India since 2001 when the organization established a project site to provide transitional shelter and livelihood support for migrant workers adversely affected during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake.
• On 18th June 2008, India officially became one of the 175 member states of IOM. Since then, the Organization has been actively involved with the government and other partners to assist and provide technical support in the areas of labour migration governance, counter-trafficking, pre-departure orientation trainings, assisted voluntary return and reintegration services, migrant settlement, shelter, and livelihood recovery.
• It pioneered the establishment of migrant resource centres, first set up in Kochi in 2008, aiming to provide a one-stop service on all migration issues.
• IOM, in collaboration with government bodies and civil society, strives to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promote the 2018 Global Compact for Safe and Orderly Migration (GCM).
• In India, the Organization acts as the Secretariat of the UN Migration Network, an inter-agency body that aims to ensure that effective, timely, and coordinated support is provided to the Government of India to prioritize and protect the rights and well-being of migrants and their communities in their place of origin, transit, and destination.

 Sources:

International Organization for Migration

PRACTICE QUESTION Q. Discuss about the role of International Organization for Migration in Indian ocean region. 150 words