By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, December 17 -- When hundreds of refugees from Ethiopia tried to get to Saudi Arabia through Yemen and got stuck in the desert, the International Organization for Migration got involved in returning them to Ethiopia.
On December 16, Inner City Press asked two IOM officials to justify their involvement in what to some seems refoulement, the return of refugees to the very situation they were fleeing. IOM's Permanent Observer at the UN Michelle Klein Solomon replied that IOM only gets involved in “voluntary” repatriation.
But obviously these Ethiopians wanted to get out of their country, which is accused of human rights violations, and only consented to repatriation due to Saudi Arabia blocking their entry, and Yemen providing no sanctuary at all. How can this be called voluntary?
IOM's Washington based spokesperson Niurka Pineiro acknowledged that sometimes “voluntary” means the least bad of two alternatives, or “the only choice.”
Pressed, the IOM representatives claimed that the Organization advocates for human rights, only behind the scenes, never naming or shaming countries. But what leverage does it have?
In fact, other humanitarians expressed to Inner City Press skepticism about IOM, saying that in search of funding the Organization gets involved in work that has little to do with its mandate, and tries to please its main funders. While this may also be true of the UN and its agencies, they at least are subject to more scrutiny. The IOM is a black hole that we intend to explore more. Watch this site.
