UN Migration Agency Seeks $7.9B to Help 140M People
The Facts
On Monday. the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it is seeking $7.9B in 2024 to "save lives and protect people on the move."
IOM's first global appeal is reportedly aimed at strengthening efforts to support at least 140M people —including migrants and the communities in which they live — as well as reduce the growing scale of displacement.
The Spin
Narrative A
The UN's migration agency must be well-funded to protect millions of displaced people who take dangerous journeys to reach greater freedom yet contribute to global prosperity and progress by generating nearly 10% of the world's economic output. Ignoring migrants' plight comes at a greater cost — not just in terms of money but in more significant danger to the international community through human trafficking and smuggling.
Narrative B
Migrants will keep coming to the US and Europe because they flee en masse from disorder toward more stable locations. A coherent international policy is required to deal with the systemic macroeconomic issues that cause an arc of human misery and uprooting, such as poverty, conflict, and climate change — simply increasing funding to "fix" the reality will not solve the growing problem and subsequent economic burden of population displacement.
