It’s official: US candidate AmyEPope has been elected as the new UNmigration chief. She laid out her priorities for Africa in an exclusive interview with JulianPecquet.
Unlike the UNHCR, Pope says,Rather, the agency’s role is “primarily working with our member states to come up with sustainable solutions”.“States have […] the sovereign right to engage in whatever policies they put into place,” Pope said.
“Our job […] is to make sure that we are respecting the human rights and dignity of all people, including and especially migrants, because migrants often are easy targets,” she said. “But it’s also to make sure that when we’re working with states, that we’re doing so in a way that […] provides much more meaningful support to migrants.”
On the UK-Rwanda deal, she said: “It’s difficult to say that it would be a place where we would be involved.”Pope sees her candidacy as a chance for the US to reclaim its mantle as a world leader on migratory issues after losing ground under President Donald Trump.in apparent blowback against his anti-immigrant stance and his nominee’s history of Islamophobic comments.
“The issue of migration, refugee resettlement, humanitarian response, is something that is very important to this administration as a whole,” Pope said. “The leadership of IOM is one that’s important to the administration, in addition to my personal interest and commitment to the organisation.”“I would say, it’s more than just ’we’re back’. It’s that we’re taking it to the next level,” Pope said in reference to US efforts to re-engage African leaders.
“IOM is at this pivotal point. We are facing historic numbers of displaced people. We’re seeing increased pressures on every level, whether it’s conflict, growing economic disparity between communities, and […] climate impacts. […] this is really the US stepping up to say: Not only are we recommitting to these issues, but we recognise that IOM is uniquely situated to provide a leadership role; and we think that it’s important to do so in Africa.
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