Last month, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh C. Johnson and a delegation from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) visited the International Catholic Migration Commission’s Resettlement Support Center for Turkey and Middle East (ICMC RSC TuME) at its main office in Istanbul and met with refugees awaiting resettlement to the United States.
Hisham Ababneh works as Project Officer at the ICMC office in Irbid, in Northern Jordan. As part of his duties, Hisham coordinates the field visits of ICMC’s caseworkers, who identify vulnerable Syrian and Jordanian families and refer them to ICMC for assistance. He is also responsible for overseeing all identification activities and ensuring the quality of service provision.
At the 106th Council Meeting of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which was held in Geneva from 24 to 27 November and which brought together 162 governmental members as well as representatives from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations, ICMC highlighted once again the need for a global response to address the current refugee crisis in Europe.
During a follow up visit to a Syrian refugee family living in Northern Jordan, ICMC’s staff discussed with the family members about the violent attacks which took place in Paris last Saturday. The head of the family, a middle-aged Syrian lady called Zeinah, shared her impressions. “I feel devastated about the news. But why do people blame refugees for what happened? We have nothing to do with that. We are horrified, like everyone else”, she commented.
As part of an official visit to Jordan, the European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides visited yesterday a project managed by the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) in Northern Jordan and funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO).
Abu Kurke Kabeto is a young man from the Oromo region of Ethiopia. He currently lives in the Netherlands with his wife and his two years-old child. Escaping from discrimination and repression against Oromo people in his country, Abu Kurke left Ethiopia in 2008 and went to Sudan. Through the Sahara desert he then reached Libya in 2009. In 2011, he crossed the Mediterranean in search of a better life in Europe: he spent two weeks stranded at sea, without food or water.
Over 140 representatives from 20 European countries including regional and local authorities, cities and municipalities, civil society organizations, citizens’ initiatives, previously resettled refugees and international organizations gathered in Brussels on 20 October to discuss experiences and lessons learnt during the three years since the SHARE Network was established.
The Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), held this week in Istanbul, brought together over 500 government delegates from more than 140 countries, some 300 leaders of civil society worldwide and high-level delegates from UN and international agencies to discuss the relation between migration and development, share experiences and forge practical cooperation.
turkey
The International Catholic Migration Commission released today its 2014 Annual Report, which outlines the main achievements of the past year in the areas of protection and prevention, humanitarian assistance, refugee resettlement, and migration and development and gives an overview of the activities ICMC is currently developing.
