Geneva – The people of Syria entered their tenth year of conflict in March, only to be confronted with another looming threat: the COVID-19 pandemic. The disease compounds an already devastating crisis that has left 11 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. 

Brussels – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcome the commitments made by donors today, amounting to USD 2.79 billion, including USD 653 million in grants,  during the International Donors Conference in Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Geneva - As the world faces the economic and broader development repercussions of COVID-19, remittances to low- and middle-income countries are projected to fall sharply in 2020 - by about 20 percent or US $110 billion. A reduction in remittances, in particular for remittance dependent countries, communities and households, can have substantial socio-economic impacts.   

Buenos Aires – The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) reached South America later than other regions, but as of 21 May, of the 563,550 of COVID-19 cases reported in Latin America by the World Health Organization (WHO), 491,499 are in this region (87 per cent of all cases). Brazil has become the country with the highest number of coronavirus infections in Latin America. Worldwide, only the United States and the Russia Federation have recorded more cases. 

Washington DC – The Government of the United States is providing nearly USD 28.5 million in new funds to support the International Organization for Migration (IOM) COVID-19 response globally. The contribution will provide vital humanitarian assistance to refugees, vulnerable migrants and host communities in almost 30 countries.  

Berlin/Brussels – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched a new data platform to better understand migration and human mobility in times of crisis through new data sources and methodologies such as satellite imagery, artificial intelligence and machine learning, social media and mobile phone data. 

Geneva - Few crises in our collective memory have had the global reach of COVID-19. Across our societies, communities have responded to this pandemic with strong cooperation and solidarity. Some, however, have found in it a pretext to scapegoat foreign nationals including migrants, and others living on the fringes of society, blaming them for the virus’ spread.