Humanitarian Border Management

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recognizes the need for appropriate border management responses at times of humanitarian crises arising from both natural and human-made disasters. Through its humanitarian border management (HBM) activities, IOM’s Immigration and Border Management (IBM) Division provides capacity-building assistance to Member States wishing to improve their preparedness and establish adequate response mechanisms to protect nationals and foreigners crossing the border while ensuring that the security of the border is maintained. Well managed crisis responses can help prevent the closure of borders and assist the international community in effectively responding to humanitarian needs.

Humanitarian Border Management is part of the IOM Migration Crisis Operational Framework (MCOF), a holistic framework developed in 2012 in order to respond to the human mobility dimension of humanitarian crises. The Framework combines IOM humanitarian activities and migration management services in 15 sectors of assistance, one being humanitarian border management.