#International Organization for Migration (IOM)

[coochiequeens]

Every March 8, they remember that we women exist, but what we really need is security,” said Mirlande Lebrun, a mother of four who fled Delmas 30 during the latest escalating gang violence. “We live in this camp with no assurance that we won’t have to run again if gangs attack.”

Three women share a small space inside the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communication camp in Delmas 33, where they cook, do laundry and sleep with their children on March 8, 2025. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times

Overview:

On International Women’s Rights Day, thousands of displaced Haitian women living in makeshift camps denounced their dire living conditions and urged the government to restore security so they could return home. Many have fled repeated gang attacks in neighborhoods such as Delmas 30, Carrefour, Carrefour-Feuilles, Cité-Soleil, Solino, Bélair, Fort-National and Gressier, finding temporary shelter in public buildings like schools and the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communications (MTPTC).

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Sitting at the entrance of a cramped makeshift shelter, 21-year-old Evaïna Pierre tries to soothe her crying child while her other child sleeps. Once a resident of Solino, then a refugee in Delmas 30’s Acra Factory Outlet camp, she has now taken shelter inside the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communications (MTPTC) building. Her only wish on March 8, International Women’s Rights Day? To return home.

“I just want security,” she said during an interview with The Haitian Times. “If I could go back to my neighborhood, I would be so happy. Here, we don’t live well. Water leaks into our tent when it rains, and we can’t sleep.”

Pierre is one of thousands of internally displaced women in Haiti, where 55% of the country’s 1,041,229 displaced persons are women and girls, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Many have lost their homes, businesses and even family members to gang violence. Now living in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, they say the government’s failure to restore security has left them in limbo, vulnerable to hunger, disease and gender-based violence.

Evaïna Pierre, a 21-year-old mother, sits at the entrance of her shelter, which measures barely one square meter, at the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communication on March 8, 2025. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times

A refugee camp with no relief for displaced women

In displacement camps across Port-au-Prince, including at the MTPTC in Delmas 33, women endure dangerous, unsanitary conditions.

No privacy: Women and children shower in the open, often in the same space as men.

Lack of sanitation: Residents must pay 10 gourdes or about 76 cents just to use the toilet.

Health risks: Piles of garbage spread disease, while stagnant water creates a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Threat of violence: Women are at risk of harassment and sexual assault in the camps, where security is minimal.

A displaced woman walks past a foul-smelling pile of garbage that spreads throughout the camp, situated on the grounds of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communication in Delmas 33, on March 8, 2025. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times

“Every March 8, they remember that we women exist, but what we really need is security,” said Mirlande Lebrun, a mother of four who fled Delmas 30 during the latest escalating gang violence. “We live in this camp with no assurance that we won’t have to run again if gangs attack.”

For many women like Pierre, this is not the first time they have had to flee.

“Between running away at two times, I lost everything. Even my birth certificate is gone,” Pierre said, cradling her baby boy, who seemed to be disturbing her as he kept crying. “Before, I sold cosmetics, but now I have nothing.”

“We ask for nothing but security,” Haitian women insist

Forty-eight-year-old Bethie Joseph shares a tiny, makeshift space with her son in the parking lot of the MTPTC building. Once financially independent, she now depends on charity to survive.

“We don’t live well here. Even sleeping is difficult, but we have no choice,” Joseph said. “If the government had taken responsibility for our security, we would not be running from place to place like this.”

Like many displaced women, she no longer trusts government promises and feels abandoned.

“We are not asking for anything but security—so we can go back to our homes.”

International Women’s Rights Day overshadowed by crisis

Haiti observed International Women’s Rights Day 2025 under the UN theme “Rights, Empowerment, and Opportunities for Every Displaced Woman and Girl, Everywhere in the World.”

However, for displaced women and girls in Port-au-Prince, March 8 was just another day of survival.

“Women’s Rights Day is a time for reflection, but more importantly, action,” the IOM said in a statement. “Displaced and migrant women need urgent support and protection to rebuild their lives.”

The United Nations and humanitarian groups emphasize that displaced women must be included in discussions on Haiti’s future. Solutions must address:

Economic empowerment programs to help women regain financial independence.   

Access to education for displaced children.

Social protection systems to ensure the dignity and security of women.

The entrance to the new displacement camp for individuals fleeing violence is located on the premises of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communication in Delmas 33, as of March 8, 2025. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times

But for women like Saloude Ciméus, 44, those solutions feel out of reach.

“I have fled Canaan, Delmas 3, and the Acra camp, and now I’m here,” Ciméus said, standing in front of her small shelter at the MTPTC site. “I don’t know where else to go.”

She tries to survive by selling bottled water, but sales are slow.

Haitian women demand action

The entrance to the new displacement camp for individuals fleeing violence is located on the premises of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communication in Delmas 33, as of March 8, 2025. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times Haitian women demand action As women’s organizations gathered for panel discussions and events, displaced women felt forgotten, waiting for action instead of speeches.

Their message to the Haitian government?

Restore security, open the roads, and let us go home.

“Let the government give us security,” Ciméus said. “We don’t need aid. We just want to go home.”

[saxafimedianetwork]

@iom_somalia & @Sida launch Migration Response Center in Burao, #Somaliland to enhance protection & support for vulnerable migrants. Offering shelter, healthcare, & voluntary return assistance, the MRC strengthens rights & safety A key step in regional migration response. #MigrationMatters

[minnesotafollower]

100,000+ Cubans Obtain Humanitarian Parole in U.S.   

As of the end of September, more than 100,000 Cubans had obtained humanitarian parole in U.S. [1] In addition, the U.S. has opened a new Safe Mobility Office in Ecuador where Cubans and others may submit U.S. asylum applications. Under the ‘Safe Mobility’ program, eligible refugees and migrants will be considered for refugee and humanitarian admission programs, and other avenues for legal…

[allthegeopolitics]

The number of internally displaced people in Sudan has reached more than 10 million as war drives about a quarter of the population from their homes, the UN migration agency told The Associated Press on Monday. More than 2 million other people have been driven abroad, mostly to neighboring Chad, South Sudan and Egypt, International Organization for Migration spokesman Mohammedali Abunajela said. The IOM said the internally displaced include 2.8 million who fled their homes before the current war began. "Imagine a city the size of London being displaced. That's what it's like, but it's happening with the constant threat of crossfire, with famine, disease and brutal ethnic and gender-based violence," IOM Director-General Amy Pope said in a statement.

Continue Reading.

[khizuo]

(this article was published oct. 30, 2023.)

Geneva/Kinshasa – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is intensifying its efforts to address the complex and persistent crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the number of internally displaced people climbs to 6.9 million people across the country – the highest number recorded yet. For the first time, nationwide displacement data has been collected in all 26 provinces of the country by the United Nations through IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix.   

As of October 2023, most internally displaced persons, about 5.6 million (81 per cent of the total IDPs) live in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, and Tanganyika. Conflict has been reported as the primary reason for displacement. In the eastern province of North Kivu alone, up to 1 million people have been displaced due the ongoing conflict with the rebel group “Mouvement du 23 Mars” (M23). More than two-thirds of the internally displaced persons, nearly 4.8 million people, live in host families.   

[justbeingnamaste]

Michael Yon is a former Special Forces operator – Green Beret – and one of the world’s most accomplished war correspondents. Right now, he is at the Darien Gap in Panama – a hub for human trafficking and illegal immigration. This is where migrants are put on buses to take them further on the journey where the destination is the U.S. southern border.

The Darien Gap camp is a transit point for migrants coming from all corners of the world. It is largely managed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – a United Nations agency that promotes and facilitates migration from developing countries and China to the West.

WEAPONIZED MIGRATION

“This is weaponized migration,” Michael Yon tells The Florida Standard. “Weaponized migration is being used to change the U.S. demographic, and it’s going on in many parts of the world. It’s clearly going to destroy Europe and the United States,”

[darkeagleruins]

When they say the government isn’t paying for Haitians to come here, what they really mean is the government isn’t DIRECTLY paying for Haitians to come here.

The power of pass-through NGOs:

Agency for International Development grant (2021)

Amount: $7,000,000

Recipient: International Organization For Migration

Purpose: 24 months, incrementally funded award, FY21 $650k, logistics IOM Haiti

Country: Haiti

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Trump Cuts Suspend UN Agency Actions for Migrants in Brazil

The announcements raise concerns in programs like the Operation Welcome, which speaks of 'significant challenges'

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN arm for the issue, was forced to suspend its activities in Brazil that depend on US funding for the next three months following the cuts made by Donald Trump.

The situation directly impacts programs like the Operation Welcome, for receiving migrants from Venezuela, and projects for the integration and reception of immigrants and refugees in at least 14 states. The IOM is one of the main supports for the Brazilian government in this area.

The report confirmed with interlocutors speaking off the record that all IOM activities in Roraima are suspended. Employees of the organization also fear for their professional future. The notice from Washington arrived at the end of last week stating that, starting from last Saturday (25), any spending should be halted.

Continue reading.

[charlotte-of-wales]

The Duchess of Edinburgh visits the Qadia Camp in Duhok where she spent time with Yazidi survivors of conflict related sexual violence, who spoke about the difficulties and the stigma they face. Her Royal Highness saw how the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) provides survivors and other IDPs at the camp with skills they can use to support their families and to secure employment. While in Duhok, The Duchess also met female Shabak and Turkman survivors of CRSV. Today is the fourth and final day of the Duchess’ visit to Iraq | May 26th, 2023

[darkmaga-returns]

World Relief operates nationwide, not just in Chicago. It is an arm of the National Association of Evangelicals and one of 10 NGOs that contract directly with the U.S. State Department to resettle refugees in the U.S., a list that also includes the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops doing business as “Catholic Charities,” Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Church World Services, and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

Many of the refugees being resettled by these agencies come from countries that hate us — Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Uzbekistan, etc.

These NGOs receive tens of millions of dollars each year from the federal government to distribute foreign refugees into American cities and towns. Many of them are put to work in meatpacking plants and other undesirable jobs. The Chobani yogurt plant in Boise, Idaho, has filled out roughly 30 percent of its workforce with refugee labor supplied over the years by the U.S. federal government working in partnership with the United Nations.

What we are talking about here is a legalized human-trafficking operation, the root of which starts at the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM). The IOM, under the leadership of former Biden aide Amy Pope, coordinates the flow of refugees from the Third World to the Western nations it seeks to topple.

[tieflingkisser]

Rains and flood displace more than 20,000 households across Sudan, says IOM

August 17, 2024 (PORT SUDAN) – Rains and floods have displaced an estimated 117,835 individuals (23,567 households) from locations across 12 different states across Sudan, data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) shows. The IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) reported 60 incidents of heavy rains and floods that triggered sudden displacement between 1 June and 12 August. It further observed 31 incidents of flood-induced displacement between 6 and 12 August, which reportedly triggered the displacement of about 96,465 individuals.

[...]

Over 11,000 people, including refugees hosted in the country and local communities in the eastern Kassala state, have been impacted by severe floods and heavy rains in the past two weeks, according to the UN agency. This, it said, includes families that recently arrived after fleeing violence in Sennar state and who were sheltering in five gathering sites and reception centres. Some have been displaced three or four times since the start of the conflict.

[...]

More rainfall is expected in the eastern and western parts of the country. To mitigate similar impacts in other states including Gedaref, White Nile and Blue Nile states, UNHCR is prepositioning core relief items and shelter kits, cleaning drainages and building dikes to shore up internal roads to protect camps and sites hosting displaced people. Flooding in the Darfur region is also impacting the already limited ability of aid agencies to reach people in need, in those areas where we otherwise do have access. The humanitarian needs are reaching epic proportions in the region, as hundreds of thousands of civilians remain in harm’s way and famine has recently been confirmed in a displacement site. The conflict has already destroyed crops and disrupted livelihoods. The climate crisis is making those displaced even more vulnerable. Flooded land means people are unable to grow crops and graze their livestock, adding to food insecurity and hunger in areas also affected by drought and conflict.

At least 35 people have died in torrential floods caused by heavy rains in northern Sudan. Officials there say the needs of those affected are beyond the state’s capacity. More than 20,000 people have been displaced since late June and the ongoing conflict is hampering efforts to help those affected. Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan reports.

[saxafimedianetwork]

IOM Opens Migration Response Center to Enhance Protection for Migrants in Somaliland

Continue reading IOM Opens Migration Response Center to Enhance Protection for Migrants in Somaliland

[allthegeopolitics]

At least 40 people have died after the boat they were travelling in caught fire off the coast of Haiti earlier this week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Friday, citing local authorities. The vessel left Haiti on Wednesday carrying over 80 migrants, and was headed to Turks and Caicos, the IOM said. Forty-one survivors were rescued by Haiti’s Coast Guard, it also said. In a statement, Gregoire Goodstein, IOM’s chief of mission in the country, blamed the tragedy on Haiti’s spiraling security crisis and the lack of "safe and legal pathways for migration."

Continue Reading.

[roboe1]

News and Headlines: 2/16/2024.

In The News Today: U.S. and UN Funding Linked to Increase in Migrant Journey to Southern Border The United States government, under the Biden administration, has significantly increased its financial contributions to the United Nations’ migration-focused agencies, notably the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with allocations nearing $1.3 billion in 2023. This funding, aimed at…