IOM EU OfficeVerified account

We have learned during #COVID19 that no one is safe until everyone is safe. We have a responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone, not only citizens, as viruses do not distinguish according to nationality or legal status.

With news of a potential vaccine, we now need urgent and dedicated efforts to ensure equitable access to a #COVID19 vaccine for migrants and displaced populations to protect their human rights and also the safety and well-being of host communities.

IOM has high expectations for the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact to strengthen internal coordination, coherence and consistency, including in cooperation with partner countries, particularly its neighbours and especially in Africa.

Thousands are dying trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea & the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to Europe. IOM, alongside @Refugees, call for concerted action to reinstate an EU-led search & rescue capacity & predictable disembarkation.

Libya is not a safe port of disembarkation. There are terrible humanitarian conditions that migrants continue to experience in Libya.

We have growing concerns about emerging instability across the Sahel, with millions internally displaced as a result of armed conflict and terrorism.

This is having a negative impact across the larger West African region, including economically, and pushed greater numbers to seek solutions further afield, including across the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

There is an urgent need for the EU to give clear signs about their priorities in partnerships with African countries, including through the next financial perspectives and in guaranteeing the continuity of ongoing programmes and projects.