GENEVA
\nHit hard by US aid funding cuts, the UN migration agency is battling claims from current and former staff of now pandering to Washington and providing cover for mass deportations.
\nLike many humanitarian agencies, the International Organization for Migration has been reeling since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, pushing an anti-migrant agenda and immediately freezing most US foreign aid funding.
\n\u201cThese funding cuts directly affect IOM\u2019s ability to support some of the world\u2019s most vulnerable people,\u201d an IOM spokesperson said, warning this would \u201clead to more suffering, increased migration, and greater insecurity.\u201d
\nThe United Nations agency, which at the end of last year employed around 22,000 people, has already laid off thousands.
\nIt has also been accused of allowing its assisted voluntary return (AVR) program to be used to \u201cbluewash\u201d \u2014 or give a UN stamp of approval \u2014 to Trump\u2019s mass deportation scheme.
\nIOM announced on February 1 that it was scaling up its efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean \u201cto help migrants return home, reintegrate and rebuild their lives.\u201d
\nIt said it had resumed its AVR programs in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, as well as Panama, which with Costa Rica has reached an agreement to take in migrants from other countries deported by the United States.
\nDescribing its activities as \u201ca lifeline for stranded migrants,\u201d it said it aimed to provide \u201curgent support\u201d to those \u201cunable or unwilling to remain where they are and need help to return home safely and with dignity.\u201d
\n\u201cWithout this vital support, conditions for the people impacted would be far worse,\u201d the spokesperson insisted.
\nBut one of the thousands of IOM employees who received notice last month warned it looked \u201clike there is an effort to align ourselves with the administration.\u201d
\nThis was \u201cvery concerning,\u201d she said, asking not to be named.
\n\u201cIt really looks very bad for IOM\u2019s reputation,\u201d agreed a former agency staff member, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
\nThe criticisms come as the IOM seeks its footing after the threat that all US funding \u2014 accounting for around 40 percent of its total financing \u2014 could evaporate indefinitely.
\n\u201cWe have to make some really hard decisions about staff because we simply can\u2019t afford to pay staff when we\u2019re not actually being paid for our work,\u201d IOM chief Amy Pope said recently.
\nThe biggest impact so far has been seen in connection with the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), since the Trump administration has suspended all refugee entries into the country.
\nTrump\u2019s predecessor Joe Biden embraced the program designed to facilitate legal resettlement of vetted refugees, resettling over 100,000 refugees in the United States last year.
\nTrump\u2019s sudden about-face prompted the IOM last month to send pink slips to 3,000 staff, warning more \u201cadjustments\u201d were likely.
\n\u201cIt was quite a shock,\u201d the dismissed staff member said.
\nAnother former employee said staff were \u201cappalled\u201d by the swift pace of the layoffs.
\nThose at IOM headquarters in Geneva were especially bracing for more mass job cuts.
\nAccording to an internal memo from the IOM\u2019s Global Staff Association Committee, seen by AFP, management last month ordered directors to slash a certain percentage of their department costs.
\nWord inside headquarters is that around one third of around 550 staff there will soon get the axe, the former employee said, with \u201cmanagers under huge pressure to meet quotas.\u201d
\n\u201cPeople are terrified… They\u2019ve got laser beams pointed at their heads.\u201d
\nIOM staff and union representatives have sent complaints to management about the abrupt layoffs, warning of detrimental impacts on employees and on many of the tens of millions of migrants the organization serves.
\nAlso sparking outrage was a report by the Devex news organization last month suggesting IOM had scrubbed its website of content that could be construed as promoting Trump\u2019s bete noir \u2014 DEI (diversity, equality and inclusion).
\nIOM did not respond directly to that allegation but said it had \u201crecently relaunched its global website following a year-long review, refining content to align with evolving contexts and in accordance with United Nations humanitarian principles.\u201d
\nThe laid-off employee said the Devex report \u201creally hurt.\u201d
\n\u201cWe can align ourselves with certain priorities of this (US) administration,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cBut we shouldn\u2019t lose our identity in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GENEVA Hit hard by US aid funding cuts, the UN migration agency is battling claims from current and former staff of now pandering to Washington and providing cover for mass deportations. Like many humanitarian agencies, the International Organization for Migration has been reeling since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, pushing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-466573","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n