Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates,

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) appreciates
the opportunity to address the Third Committee on the "Report of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees" on questions
related to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and
humanitarian questions. (A/61/12).

As the High Commissioner underlined in his introduction
yesterday, the protection of refugees is in many parts of the world
increasingly intertwined within broader international migration
movements. This phenomenon - which is evidence of the increased
complexity of population flows - calls for mutual complementarity
and coherence of purpose, clarity of roles and close collaboration
between UNHCR and IOM. 

Recognizing the need to promote greater information sharing and
consistency of action among the key international institutions
concerned with international mobility, IOM and UNHCR were among the
founding members of what in 2003 was the six-agency Geneva
Migration Group (GMG).  At the prompting of the UN Secretary
General, the original GMG evolved in 2006 to become the Global
Migration Group to represent a high-level inter-institutional group
of agencies involved in migration-related activities. 

The establishment of the GMG has been widely welcomed, notably
in numerous statements at the High Level Dialogue on International
Migration and Development.  IOM and UNHCR work closely
together in the GMG context and are both committed to developing it
as an effective collaboration mechanism. 

Mr. Chairman,

We would like to refer to recent developments in the evolving
collaboration between UNHCR and IOM which respond to the need for
enhanced cooperation, as we have highlighted above and indeed has
been characterized by a renewed commitment to strengthening
cooperation and coordination between our two institutions:

The first development I would like to mention relates to
IOM/UNHCR cooperation to address humanitarian crises, deriving from
large scale mixed population movements, with their often tragic
outcomes. These kinds of emergencies require both policy
coordination as well as operational responses. A working group was
set up to address these issues in the West Mediterranean region. In
the field, the role of the respective organizations jointly with
the Italian Red Cross on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa has
been portrayed as a successful example of the interagency approach,
offering some relief and protection to the thousands of battered
people landing on the shores of this small, under-equipped, island.
This joint approach could be extended to other similar
situations.

In this context of so-called ‘mixed-migratory
flows’, the primary role of UNHCR would be to ensure asylum
seekers would have access to proper status determination procedures
and appropriate responses, while IOM would work to ensure that
effective migration management legislation and implementation
practices are consistent with relevant international provisions.
Such cooperation and coordination are clearly essential on the
policy level. At the same time, it is important that they are
effectively implemented in situations of humanitarian crises, where
one cannot afford delay or duplication.

This leads me to the second point I would like to make today:
The evolving IOM/UNHCR cooperation in the implementation of the
cluster approach within the Inter-Agency Standing Committee
(IASC).

In conjunction with a new cluster framework for collaborative
action to respond to internal displacement, UNHCR has accepted -
inter alia - the lead in the Camp Coordination and Camp Management
Cluster (CCCM) for conflict-induced internally displaced persons
(IDPs).  IOM has been entrusted with the lead in corresponding
to situations which result from natural disasters. In order to
increase effectiveness, exploit synergies and avoid overlap, UNHCR
and IOM agreed early on to a unified approach, with joint
leadership of cluster proceedings at the global level. This
approach prevents duplication while recognizing the primary
responsibility each has in its respective area.  For its
implementation, a joint (virtual) secretariat has been
established.  IOM and UNHCR share all aspects of its
functioning and see this cluster as a partnership to oversee the
daily operations that support the global cluster activities and
encourage the broadest possible participation.  Illustrative
of this is the creation of a cluster working group and training
activities to build camp management capacities among all interested
partners and to create a pool of qualified staff readily deployable
at the onset of an emergency. Under the coordination of the
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), a Camp Management Toolkit was
developed and two joint “training of trainers” seminars
have been conducted this year, one in Ethiopia and one in the
Philippines. Both brought together participants from many different
regions and agencies to share a wealth of experience and examples
that strengthen both the training itself and future humanitarian
team work.

Mr. Chairman, I have cited two examples among many of how UNHCR
and IOM are adapting, how we work together in the face of changing
needs.  We look forward to further developing this
constructive relationship in order to collaborate effectively in
meeting the new challenges that human mobility may - indeed, will -
hold in the future. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.