Geneva – IOM and UNHCR are working closely to address the needs of people on the move even as they require different levels of protection, António Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (UN Migration), told the inaugural Global Refugee Forum yesterday (17/12) in Geneva. 

As a result, he said, there is a need to find alternative, less traditional mechanisms to offer solutions to refugees and migrants such as humanitarian visa issuance, family reunification, and labour mobility programming. 

The GRF provides a platform for heads of state, UN leaders, refugees, civil society and business representatives and others to meet and discuss ways to transform the global response to refugee situations, and the doubling of the number of refugees over the past decade to at least 25.9 million. 

Director General Vitorino reiterated the long, well-established relationship between IOM and UNHCR, and highlighted that the complementary work on refugee resettlement and repatriation is where coordination is closest. 

Resettlement is not the only solution for refugees, he noted. Across the world, displacement has become protracted, and refugees often cannot return without jeopardizing their safety and protection. While both agencies have engaged in large scale repatriation exercises over the years, conditions today in many places are not conducive for this to occur. 

“We need to recognize that more people will be stuck in protracted situations,” DG Vitorino said. 

Complex migratory flows, which often involve mixed populations, have led to the enhancement of IOM and UNHCR’s coordination efforts. There is no single model, but in all the purpose is the same: avoid duplication and find synergies for more effective operational and protection responses to have a greater impact on the communities we aim to serve. 

“Better coordination between the two agencies represents added value to our cooperation with governments and civil society,” he concluded. 

The three-day Forum, which ends today (18/12) on International Migrants Day, comes one year after the historic adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the affirmation by the United Nations General Assembly of the Global Compact on Refugees.