Head of UN Migration Agency Says It Reaps Funds, but Worries About Politics Loom Over Aid Groups

The head of the U.N. migration agency said Thursday it has taken in hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding and diversified its donor base — an announcement that comes as aid groups have struggled to get needed money.

Results of elections worldwide, however, are also raising questions about future support, said Amy Pope, a former migration adviser to President Joe Biden who received his support for her successful campaign last year to lead the International Organization for Migration.

Pope said she’s focused on addressing all the complexities of migration — and has warned that many migrants have risked and lost their lives on perilous journeys.

“This is not about representing the Biden administration,” said Pope in an interview at the agency’s Geneva headquarters. {snip}

The IOM director-general said she resists attempts to “boil down the issue of migration simply to managing the border, because I think that’s a huge strategic mistake for governments that plays into some of the politics we’re seeing — leading to very, very negative consequences.”

Under Pope, IOM launched its first “global appeal” in January, seeking nearly $8 billion, part of her ambition to fund programs that prepare for migration flows ahead of time, not just react to them. Its support comes from sources as diverse as development banks and tech titan Microsoft.

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Pope has repeatedly talked up the benefits of migration, including the labor that migrants bring to host countries and the money that they send home, at a time when right-wing political movements in some Western countries have criticized and even demonized the newcomers.

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IOM and the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR cited the “fundamental” right to asylum after the Biden administration announced new restrictions for asylum-seekers on the U.S.-Mexico border.

She said UNHCR staffers are the “guardians of the right to asylum” and ensuring that countries respect those rights. “We very much take the lead of UNHCR when they’re assessing the decisions of governments on whether the asylum access is sufficient to meet those who are seeking it.”

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Pope is the first woman to head the IOM, and a plaque with the words “Boss Lady” sits on her desk.

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