Head of UN migration agency says it reaps funds, but worries about politics loom over aid groups
GENEVA — The head of the UN migration agency said Thursday it has received hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding and diversified its donor base, a move that comes as aid groups struggle to access needed money.
However, the results of elections around the world also raise questions about future support, said Amy Pope, a former migration adviser to President Joe Biden who won his support last year for her successful campaign to lead the International Organization for Migration.
Pope said she is focused on addressing all the complexities of migration – and warned that many migrants have risked and lost their lives on dangerous journeys.
“This is not about representing the Biden administration,” Pope said in an interview at IOM headquarters in Geneva. “This is about bringing a comprehensive, 360-degree approach to the migration issue, recognizing that narrowing down to one leg of a migrant’s journey is a big mistake.”
The IOM director-general said she opposes attempts to “reduce the issue of migration to just border management, because I think that is a huge strategic mistake by governments that plays into some of the politics that we see, which leads to very, very negative consequences.”
Under the Pope’s leadership, the IOM launched its first “global appeal” in January, seeking nearly $8 billionpart of its ambition to fund programs that prepare for migration flows in advance, rather than just reacting to them. Support comes from a variety of sources, including development banks and tech giant Microsoft.
Pope said “more than a third of the appeal has been funded so far.” Sister groups of the UN, such as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, have complained about a shortage of funds for crises such as the war in Sudan, even though some wealthy countries have made efforts to improve it.
Pope has repeatedly emphasized the benefits of migration, including the labor that migrants bring to host countries and the money they send home, while right-wing political movements in some Western countries criticized and even demonized the newcomers.
“I think every UN agency is grappling with the impact of elections that are happening right now around the world,” Pope said. “There’s no guarantee that whoever comes into a position of power will have the same regard for the role that the UN and various multilateral institutions play.”
“Our goal is to make sure we have a diverse group of donors” and explain IOM’s role, she added.
Some critics have raised questions about a new European Union “Migration Pact” which aims to improve screening of migrants and deport them if necessary. They also say that EU funds have gone to programs in places like Libya, where UN experts have denounced human rights violations against migrants.
The IOM would not support some projects “if they are not consistent with our protection standards,” Pope said.
“At the same time, we are an organisation of member states, and one of the values that I think we bring is our ability to engage directly with governments,” she said. Such conversations can “hold them to account” and provide governments with evidence, and help them manage migration.
“It’s very easy to point fingers and walk away,” Pope said. “There’s a balance here that we’re constantly balancing to make sure that we’re addressing the fundamental needs of those who really don’t have anyone else advocating for them.”
The IOM and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, cited the “fundamental” right to asylum after the Biden administration announced new restrictions for asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border.
She said UNHCR staff are the “guardians of the right to asylum” and ensure that countries respect those rights. “We take UNHCR’s lead as they assess governments’ decisions on whether access to asylum is adequate to meet the needs of those seeking it.”
“So our goal is not to get in the middle of that assessment,” she said. “That’s their job, and we’re going to stand with them and behind them.”
Pope is the first woman to head the IOM. On her desk is a plaque with the words “Boss Lady.”
IOM’s role in many of its 560 field offices is to provide migrants with food, water, shelter and assistance with government-mandated paperwork. It also collects and shares vast amounts of data on people flows to governments and advises them on policy decisions.
Nine of the 11 Directors General since the IOM’s founding 73 years ago have been Americans.
Pope also has criticisms.
Jeff Crisp, a visiting professor at Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Centre and a former UNHCR official, wrote on the X platform that Pope “seems to have taken over from WFP’s David Beasley as the most publicity-hungry head of a UN humanitarian agency,” referring to the former head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning World Food Programme.
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