Tuesday 3 December 2002

Press Briefing Notes
Tuesday 3 December 2002
Spokesperson: Jean-Philippe Chauzy

1. GENEVA - 84th Session of the IOM Council
2. COTE D'IVOIRE - Repatriation to Sierra Leone
3. TIMOR-LESTE - West Timor Information Campaign
4. KOSOVO - Small Business Initiative for Minorities
5. GENEVA - Trafficking of Women & Children in Europe

Geneva - 84th Session of the IOM Council - The 84th session of the IOM governing body enters its second day today. Yesterday, the Council accepted five new Members States - the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Rwandese Republic, and the Republic of Zimbabwe. This brings the number of IOM Member States to 98. The Republic of Burundi, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International were also accepted as Observers.

As part of its ongoing International Migration Policy Dialogue, the Council is focusing on partnerships in managing migration. IOM's Director of Migration Policy and Research Programme, Gervais Appave, delivered a presentation on migratory trends and migration policy trends.

This was followed by a plenary discussion on Elements of a Managed Migration System led by the Egyptian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Farouk Ghoneim, and Peter van Wulfften Palthe of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This morning, several workshops on integration, irregular migration and the role of diaspora in development will take place. They will be followed this afternoon by a general debate, which will include discussions on the future direction of IOM as an international organization, focussing specifically on relations between IOM and the United Nations system. The question of whether IOM should join the UN system will also feature on the agenda and a list of Questions & Answers associated with the topic is attached to this briefing note.

A Press Conference with IOM's Director General Brunson McKinley and the Deputy Director General Mme Ndioro Ndiaye will be held on at 14.00 on Wednesday 6 December in Salle de Presse 3. Prior to the press conference, Mr Gervais Appave will deliver an interactive presentation on migratory trends and migration policy trends at 13.30 in Salle de Presse 3.

COTE D'IVOIRE - Repatriation to Sierra Leone - Over the weekend, IOM repatriated 44 Sierra Leonean refugees to Freetown. This is the second such repatriation undertaken by IOM and the UNHCR. Fourteen of the refugees fled the western town of Danane before it fell into rebel hands, 23 were from the neighbouring town of Guiglo and 7 from Abidjan.

Prior to their repatriation, all were housed in the IOM Transit Centre at Deux Plateaux. An IOM Operations Assistant accompanied the refugees as they travelled on board a Ghana Airways flight. Once in Freetown, they were met by UNHCR and government officials.

Currently, the World Bank is working out modalities for financing the relocation of some 2,000 people from Cote d'Ivoire.

In the economic capital Abidjan, the number of people rendered homeless is steadily increasing. While no precise figures are available, current estimates suggest that over 40,000 people are affected. Of these, 1,033 are staying in transit centres run by IOM and the UNHCR.

According to IOM Abidjan's David Coomber, most people at the IOM shelter desperately want to return home. "The IOM-organised returns have raised expectations among the refugees, especially the Liberians and Sierra Leoneans, who feel particularly threatened at the moment," he says.

The events, which followed the 19 September attempted coup have triggered population movements throughout the region. Burkina Faso reports that more than 30,000 people have returned from Cote d'Ivoire. Guinea says that more than 17,000 of their nationals have also fled the country.

TIMOR-LESTE - West Timor Information Campaign - The joint IOM - UNHCR information campaign to persuade the remaining East Timorese remaining in West Timor refugee camps to return home gathered pace last week with the production of the first of a series of radio programmes and information pamphlets.

The weekly radio programmes will be broadcast from Dili by Radio Timor-Leste in Tetum and Bahasa languages to camps in the Atambua border region. Indonesian radio stations in Kupang will broadcast CD copies of the programmes to refugee audiences in and around the West Timor capital.

The programmes will include interviews with Timor-Leste leaders addressing security, socio-economic conditions, property ownership, Indonesian pension payments, reconciliation initiatives and other issues influencing the refugees' decisions whether or not to return home.

The pamphlets, which will be distributed in the camps this week, will explain to the refugees why they should opt to return home before year-end - the preferred option of the Indonesian and Timor-Leste authorities and the international community.

Despite financial and other incentives, fewer than 300 of the estimated 30,000 remaining refugees returned in November. Many of those staying on opposed Timor- Leste's decision to opt for independence from Indonesia and still fear reprisals from neighbours and the authorities for atrocities committed before and during the September 1999 ballot.


Incentives to return currently include a "Christmas Bonus" of Rp.1.5 million (US$162) per family paid by the Indonesian government and a threat from the UN to revoke their status as refugees in need of international protection in the New Year.


IOM currently works closely with the Indonesian East Timorese Refugee Taskforce (SATLAK) to facilitate refugee returns from West Timor. Its assistance includes the hire of trucks to take returnees to the border.


At the border, IOM Timor-Leste trucks pick up the returnees and take them back to their home villages. Returnees are also given a UN repatriation package comprising a one-month supply of food, a kitchen set, plastic sheeting, soap, a bucket, blankets, jerry cans and plastic mats.


Since October 1999, IOM has helped some 175,000 East Timorese refugees to return home to Timor-Leste by land, sea and air. Another 50,000 have returned spontaneously.





KOSOVO- Small Business Initiative for Minorities - IOM Kosovo in cooperation with the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) has launched a
fourteen-month project to help vulnerable minority communities in the north and west of the province to develop income-generating small businesses.


The EU-funded, EAR-managed Euro 850,000 initiative will target Albanians (who are a minority in Northern Kosovo), Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians, Bosniaks and Serbs, and will provide training and small start-up grants for entrepreneurs from the marginalized minorities.

The programme will support a wide range of small business initiatives in both urban and rural areas, including manufacturing, services, agriculture and agri-businesses designed to process and market farm produce. By supporting small businesses and creating economic growth, it hopes to reintegrate the communities into Kosovo's socio-economic mainstream.

It aims to create 70 micro-enterprises; seven larger community development projects; 140 full time and 240 part-time or seasonal jobs in a region where unemployment is currently running at 65%. Some 70 aspiring entrepreneurs are expected to sign up with the programme for training in the areas of business administration, accounting, marketing, business communications and languages.

The project is a part of IOM Kosovo's Stabilization for Minority Communities (SIMC) programme. Since July 1999, IOM has implemented a wide range of programmes in Kosovo to help reintegrate displaced populations. The programmes have directly or indirectly benefited over a million people.

GENEVA - Trafficking of Women & Children in Europe - "Journeys of Jeopardy: A Review of Research on Trafficking of Women and Children in Europe" is the latest report published in the IOM Migration Research Series. Written by University of North London Professor Elizabeth Kelly, it provides an overview of existing research and identifies priorities for further study. The report concludes that existing information on the scale of trafficking, the methods used and the most effective means to counter it is extremely limited.

**********************************************************************************

IOM's Relationship with the United Nations System - Q & A

Q. What is the legal status of IOM?

A. IOM is an intergovernmental international organization, created outside the UN system in 1951. IOM does, however, have a Cooperation Agreement with the UN, signed in 1996, that provides a formal basis for closer collaboration between the two secretariats. General Assembly Resolution 51/148 of 13 December 1996 confirmed the importance of strengthening links with IOM. IOM also holds memoranda of understanding with a number of UN agencies. IOM has held observer status at the UN General Assembly since 1992, and IOM is included in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee as a « standing invitee ». IOM currently has 98 Member States and 33 Observer States. Its mandate is found in its Constitution, which is adopted by its Members.

Q. Why was IOM created outside the UN system?

A. IOM was created in 1951 when the Iron Curtain seriously constrained the freedom of movement of some of the world's population. As freedom of movement is a basic tenet of the IOM Constitution, it was decided to place IOM outside of the UN system and to open its membership to States adhering to the principle of free movement of persons. The reasons for placing IOM outside the UN system are no longer relevant.

Q. Why is there now consideration of IOM's relationship to the UN?

A. The international community is becoming more and more interested in migration management and policy issues. Governments and the UN Secretariat have raised the question as to whether there should be a focal point for dealing with migration within the United Nations. The question of IOM joining the UN is one option being considered.

Q. What are the options?

A. The options being discussed are:

· Maintaining the status quo, with enhanced cooperation with the UN.
· Becoming a Specialized Agency or a Related Agency of the UN.

Q. What is a « Specialized Agency » and a « Related Agency » ?

A. A Specialized Agency is an intergovernmental organisation recognised by the UN as having « wide international responsibilities » in economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and related fields. It has its own Constitution, its own membership, mandate, budget and governing bodies. Although not clearly defined, a « Related Agency » includes autonomous international organizations having a working relationship with the UN, but whose mandate may not fall under Article 57 of the UN Charter on Specialized Agencies.

Q. What would be the consequences for IOM if it joined the UN in either of these capacities?

A. There would be disadvantages and advantages. At present, IOM has a well developed set of ties with the UN, its programmes and agencies: within this framework, IOM has been treated on various occasions as if it were a UN Specialized Agency, while retaining freedom of action and its own character. There is some risk that by joining the UN, some operational response capacity and flexibility may be lost. However, as a member of the UN system, IOM would not need to spend extra time and energy on working to gain acceptance and recognition in many inter-agency fora.

Q. Should IOM join the UN system, what would be the advantages for IOM?

A. As an outsider to the UN system, IOM frequently has to work harder to gain acceptance and recognition, to join inter agency planning processes and assessment missions and to acquire the international legal status that comes automatically to UN agencies. Furthermore, decisions taken by the UN secretariat, in particular through internal co-ordination mechanisms affect IOM, but IOM has no voice in their formulation. Moreover, the status and nature of an international organisation which is outside the UN system, yet works closely with the UN, is not always readily understood by IOM's partners and others in the international community.

Q. What is the IOM administration's position on joining the UN?

A. It is not for the IOM Administration to decide whether to join the UN or not. This is a decision, in the first instance, for IOM's Member States. The Administration sees plusses and minuses for either option. IOM could remain an efficient service provider with its current status and, under appropriate conditions, could equally remain vibrant and healthy as part of the UN system, where it might better contribute to policy development and consensus building on migration issues. This could equally be achievable if IOM were to maintain its own Constitution, governing structure, administrative structure and operational flexibility.

Q. Who would ultimately make the decision for IOM to join the UN?

A. A decision or wish to seek Specialized Agency or other status with the UN must initially come from IOM Member States. The agreement whereby the UN would recognize IOM as a Specialized Agency would have to be approved by the UN General Assembly, following discussions with, and based upon a resolution of, ECOSOC.

Q. Are there already enough organizations within the UN system dealing with migration?

A. A number of organizations, many of which are close partners of IOM, address certain aspects of migration. The ILO is active in the field of labour migration, in particular through various international labour conventions. The OHCHR is involved in promoting migrant rights and is involved in promoting ratification and implementation of the 1990 UN Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. The WHO takes a growing interest in migration and health issues. As part of its demographic work the UN Population Division deals with migration statistics. The UNHCR has a specific mandate to protect and assist refugees. However, there is no single organization within the United Nations system which takes a global, strategic and comprehensive look at all of the issues related to migration.

Q. Could IOM not merge with an existing UN organization, instead of creating yet another UN body?

A. Consolidation with a UN body or Specialized Agency has been considered, but does not appear to be a viable or cost effective option. A merger or consolidation could be possible only among agencies having similar mandates - for instance in the protection field - and expertise. This option would entail the dissolution of the organizations concerned, with the simultaneous establishment of a new entity, with all the consequences, costs and procedural hurdles attached to such an operation. This would include liquidation of assets, liabilities and claims, termination or transfer of staff, winding up of financial and operational functions.