Germany - IOM and Germany yesterday (3/11) marked 60 years of the Federal Republic’s membership in the organization with a commitment to increase dialogue and cooperation on migration policies.
The two sides emphasized the importance of cooperation in emergency humanitarian aid, resettlement and the voluntary return and reintegration of migrants and failed asylum seekers back to their countries of origin. They also agreed to hold annual high level consultations alternating in future between Berlin and Geneva.
“IOM was born out of the ashes of World War II to bring people who suffered in war to a new life,” said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing, speaking at a joint press conference with German Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière.
“From the outset there has been close collaboration with the Federal Government and that relationship continues to deepen,” he added.
“IOM’s expertise, decades of experience and global network of missions makes it an outstanding partner across all the issues and challenges of global migration,” said de Maizière. “It is an especially reliable and competent partner for emergency humanitarian aid.”
At yesterday’s meeting, "in recognition of (his) many and extensive services to international understanding," Swing was presented with the Officer's Cross of Order of Merit (First Class) of the Federal Republic, on behalf of President Joachim Gauck.
The Officer’s Cross of Order of Merit is one of Germany’s highest awards honouring Germans and foreigners for their services in political, economic, social or intellectual fields.
"Germany owes you a great deal," said de Maizière. "Not only in view of your work for IOM and bilateral relations with the US, but also for your wide-ranging engagement in the crisis regions of the world, for example as UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2003 to 2008."
Germany is the second most popular country for permanent migration after the United States, according to a new Organization for Economic and Development (OECD) report. As Europe’s strongest economy, Germany has strong migration flows in and out of the country.
There has also been a near 60 per cent increase in asylum applications in the past year, with most of those arrivals fleeing the conflict in Syria. The country received 136,039 asylum applications in the year up to September 2014 – a sharp rise from the 85,325 received during the same period in 2013.
The large influx creates strains among German municipalities and Federal States as they try to accommodate asylum seekers whose applications are being processed. IOM plays a role supporting the integration of asylum seekers into German society.
The war in Syria has sent the numbers of asylum seekers spiralling upwards after many years of decline, following the end of the Balkan war.
The number of migrants arriving in German society is growing rapidly. Today nearly 20 per cent of the total population, or some 15.3 million people, have a “migration background.” As a result, migration to Germany is at its highest level for the past 20 years.
For more information please contact
Argentina Szabados
IOM Berlin
Email: aszabados@iom.int
Tel. +49 171 974 9750
Or
Leonard Doyle
IOM HQ
Email: ldoyle@iom.int
Tel. + 41 0792 857 123