International Organization for Migration

Thousands of migrants remain trapped by fighting in and around Tripoli, UN agency IOM has warned, more than a month after an assault on the Libyan capital began, led by self-styled Libyan National Army commander, Khalifa Haftar.

In an interview with Daniel Johnson from UN News, Safa Msehli, from the International Organization for Migration in Libya, explains how the agency helps those held in 11 official detention facilities.

The world has every interest in managing migration better, given the expanding global population and the huge increase in people on the move.

This message was underlined by Louise Arbour, the UN Special Representative for International Migration, who is in Beirut, Lebanon, to address pressing issues related to the movement of people in the Arab region.

Experts gathered midweek at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) to identify ways of supporting the most vulnerable migrants.

The drowning of a five-year-old child in the Rio Grande river this week and the recent discovery of 10 bodies in the back of a tractor-trailer in Texas are harrowing reminders of the dangers undocumented migrants face in their attempts to enter the United States.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that so far this year, more than 230 people have died trying to cross the border from Mexico; a 17 per cent rise over 2016 numbers.

When a community breaks down, women face a heightened risk of exploitation, abuse and violence, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has found.

They also form the majority of displaced populations and often see their vulnerabilities increased, the agency says.

But far from being helpless victims, women and girls have much to contribute in responding to these crises.

That’s also the belief of Mina Jaf, founder and Director of Women Refugee Route (WRR), an NGO that focuses on women and girl refugees' access to information on their rights.

“Tragic milestone”: 1 in 5 South Sudanese children now a refugee, UNICEF

Somalia children facing “triple threat” of drought, disease and displacement: UNICEF

The “triple threat” of drought, disease and displacement is taking a terrible toll on children in Somalia, according to the UN children’s agency, UNICEF. It’s projecting that the number of malnourished children there has risen by 50 per cent since the beginning of the year, to 1.4 million. Dianne Penn has been speaking to Susannah Price, chief of communications for UNICEF Somalia, who is based in Nairobi.

In November 2016, rains failed for the third year in a row in some parts of Somalia, resulting in a drought that has put millions at risk of famine.

Muse Mohammed, a Multimedia Officer with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has returned from a month-long assignment there to document the impact on people and the efforts to assist them.

Liz Scaffidi asked him to describe what he saw.

Duration: 4'13"

It’s time for the international community to come together to “more responsibly and humanely manage the movement of people”.

That’s the view of the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), William Lacy Swing.

The agency has documented over 65,000 deaths of refugees and migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea or the Sahara desert into Europe.

Migrant slave market horrors revealed in Libya

Harrowing stories are emerging from Mosul in Iraq of life under the ISIL terrorist group, four weeks into the campaign to retake the northern city.

Some 60,000 people have been displaced so far, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The agency’s Joel Millman has travelled close to Mosul.

Daniel Johnson asked him what Iraqi people have been saying about life under ISIL.

Duration: 3’33”