The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Niger - IOM calls for a humanitarian corridor to help stranded migrants home
The UN migration agency (IOM) strongly advocated on Friday for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to organize the safe, dignified and voluntary return of migrants stranded in Niger to their countries of origin and facilitate aid delivery to conflict-affected areas.
“We are appealing for resources to make sure that we can continue providing essential services to these stranded migrants,” said Chris Gascon, IOM Regional Director for West and Central Africa, when briefing journalists at the UN in Geneva.
Following the 26 July military takeover, neighbouring countries closed their borders and flights were suspended.
According to the UN, Niger hosts more than 710,000 forcibly displaced people including refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons. The majority of the migrants staying at IOM's transit centres across the country are from western Africa: Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Nigeria.
In his call for the humanitarian corridor, Mr. Gascon stressed that at this time, “there are no possibilities for us to organize charter flights and consequently people will remain there for weeks and months.”
“Our capacity to assist them will, of course, depend a great deal on the resources that we can garnish to reach populations who are obviously vulnerable and in great need. At this time, we are somewhat limited in our capacity to do so,” Mr. Gascon said.
IOM’s operations in Niger are constrained by limited funding. The $430 million humanitarian appeal for Niger is currently only 30 per cent funded and to provide assistance to migrants in transit centers, the UN agency requires at least a million dollars a month.
Mr. Gascon underscored that the agency was managing seven transit centers, the main one being in Agadez in the northwest of the country. In total, IOM was hosting 4,800 migrants, he said, and the transit centres were 40 per cent over capacity.
The reported announcement of the country’s military leaders late Wednesday to bar UN agencies as well as non-governmental organisations from working in military operation zones will have further impacts on the aid delivery in Niger.
The UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday that it was reaching out to the de facto authorities in Niger to better understand the implications of this announcement.
Some 4.3 million people in Niger, mainly women and children, are dependent on aid.
-ends-
STORY: Urgent action for Niger crises - IOM
DURATION (TRT): 1’47”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH, NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 1 September 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
FORMAT: HYBRID PRESS BRIEFING
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley, UN Geneva
- Wide shot: speakers behind podium, attendees at the press conference, screens with attendees
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Chris Gascon, IOM Regional Director for West and Central Africa: “We are appealing for resources to make sure that we can continue providing these essential services to these stranded migrants. In this vein as well, IOM is advocating for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor so that we can return people to their countries of origin. At this time, there are no possibilities for us to organize charter flights and consequently people will remain there for weeks and months.”
- Wide shot: attendees at the press conference, screens with speaker
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Chris Gascon, IOM Regional Director for West and Central Africa: “We are managing a number of transit centers, the principal one is in Agadez in the North-West of the country. We are presently hosting 4,800 migrants. This overwhelms pretty much the capacity that we have. The Agadez center itself can hold about a thousand people, the other transit centers are seven in total. We are all 40% over capacity at this point.”
- Wide shot: attendees at the press conference, screens with attendees, cameramen and sound engineers in the background
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Chris Gascon, IOM Regional Director for West and Central Africa: “Our capacity to assist them will, of course, depend a great deal on the resources that we can garnish to reach populations who are obviously vulnerable and in great need. At this time, we are somewhat limited in our capacity to do so.”
- Wide shot: speakers and attendees at the press conference, screens with speakers
- Medium shot: cameramen and sound engineers at the press conference
- Close shot: attendee asking a question at the press conference
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News , B-roll | OCHA
Gaza: ‘Worst-case scenario’ unfolds as two-month aid blockade deepens suffering - OCHA
Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
/Includes OCHA footage from Gaza City/
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Children in Gaza are going to bed starving, says aid agency
The biggest UN aid agency in Gaza on Tuesday condemned the two-month Israeli blockade on Gaza that has left families sharing a single tin of food at mealtime and the sick and injured without lifesaving medical help, amid daily bombardment.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine force frontline areas to empty: UNHCR
With Ukrainian cities still reeling from this week’s deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, communities on the front line continue to be targeted too, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. “We also see attacks on frontline regions increasing and it's, as always, civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Funding and supply shortfalls for the UN World Food Programme (WFP)'s work in Ethiopia will halt lifesaving treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children at the end of the month. “We are at the breaking point,” it said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians, the UN Human Rights Office warned today.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNWOMEN , UNDP
Sudan: Aid teams report massive displacement after latest Darfur atrocity; women’s bodies ‘turned into battlegrounds’
In Sudan’s North Darfur, tens of thousands of people have fled a displacement camp following the massacre of civilians and aid workers as the country enters the third year of a conflict marked by horrific levels of sexual violence, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITC
Global trade could shrink by three per cent as a result of the United States’ new tariff measures which in the longer term could reshape and boost as-yet untapped regional commercial links, a top UN economist confirmed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Warring parties in Sudan are overseeing a wholesale assault on human rights amid global inaction, the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday, as the conflict is about to enter its third year.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said Israel’s increasing issuance of so-called “evacuation orders” for Palestinians in Gaza have resulted in their forcible transfer.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNHCR , UNWOMEN , WFP , WHO
Two years of war in Sudan have created epic suffering, aid agencies say
Two years since Sudan’s brutal conflict began, UN agencies warned that famine is spreading and civilians of all ages continue to suffer shocking abuse, including rape and gang rape.
1
1
Edited News | UNMAS
In Gaza, ongoing Israeli military operations and the aid blockade have continued to add to daily fears and hardships confronting those in the devastated enclave, the UN Mine Action Service, UNMAS, said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP
Dangers grow for Myanmar earthquake survivors, health system 'overwhelmed' - UNDP
In earthquake-shattered central Myanmar people are sleeping in the streets in fear of buildings collapsing, facing early monsoon rains and the risk of waterborne diseases, the UN Development Programme warned on Tuesday.