Moving Beyond Migration as an Outcome of Humanitarian Crises

When most people think of migration, they are not likely to think of ways to leverage it as a way to respond to humanitarian need. They may not know that most migration in the world today is orderly and within the legal requirements of the countries involved (what is called regular migration), and that it is a powerful catalyst for a country’s development. More people are likely to focus on the tragedy of drownings in the Mediterranean or the desperate circumstances that lead people to undertake the dangerous journey through the Darién Gap to the US-Mexico border.

In countries across the world—particularly in Europe and North America—public conversation around migration narrowly focuses on border management, housing shortages, and misperceptions that migrants are fueling crime or insecurity.

Humanitarian support should be the option of last resort, not the starting point for engagement.

Yet when we lift our eyes from the headlines, it is clear that what is missing from the conversation is a more comprehensive understanding of the humanitarian crises driving migration, how to support communities impacted by migration, and ultimately how to use migration as a tool to address some of the most pressing global challenges. It is time to move the conversation away from migration as an outcome of humanitarian crises, to migration as a solution to help communities respond to them.

The Link Between Humanitarian Crises and People on the Move

At the heart of humanitarian crises is the movement of people. At this moment, conflicts have displaced millions of people across the world in places like Lebanon, Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, and within the Democratic Republic of Congo to name just a few. In Sudan alone, the civil war has displaced nearly 11 million people inside the country and about 3 million across its borders.

Yet many people do not realize that the impacts of climate change are also having a devastating effect. Last year, more people were newly displaced because of floods, droughts, and other climate-related disasters. The evidence suggests that these numbers will only continue to grow as hundreds of millions of people live in communities that are extremely vulnerable to climate change.

To make matters worse, 80% of people who have already been internally displaced are now in countries highly vulnerable to climate change. When coupled with communities already devastated by political instability, poverty, or conflict, the pressures on people to move can become overwhelming.

Dwindling Options for those in Need

As the UN’s migration agency, the International Organization for Migration’s primary objective is to save and protect lives. In emergency situations, we help meet the needs of shelter, healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene, for both the displaced and the communities that host them, providing services to tens of millions of people around the world every year. We reach the most vulnerable people with specialized help to respond to and protect them against the risk of gender-based violence and human trafficking.

Humanitarian support should be the option of last resort, not the starting point for engagement. Unfortunately, far too often, opportunities to mitigate displacement factors—particularly for those currently living in vulnerable situations—are ignored or dismissed. What’s worse, too many people are being left behind in enduring situations of distress. Once the cameras have turned from the initial crisis, they—like the Rohingya in Bangladesh or the South Sudanese in Kenya—remain in protracted displacement for years without access to proper job opportunities, necessities like food or protection, or education except through humanitarian responders.

Given the ever-growing list of crises, more and more humanitarian donors are having to choose between responding to an emerging crisis or providing life-saving support to those living in chronic displacement, leaving far too many people without options.

Changing the Status Quo

The status quo is simply not sustainable. To improve the long-term prospects for the increasing number of people on the move or facing displacement, there are three critical ways the humanitarian community can adjust the way it engages.

The first approach must be to deliberately connect the dots between displacement and development. This approach—the “root causes” approach—is one that is particularly relevant when dealing with the effects of climate change. By investing in forecasting climate vulnerability, then targeting community engagement to improve resilience, we can mitigate humanitarian crises.

Rather than waiting for millions to be displaced in Somalia, for example, investing in improved water management for current agricultural or pastoral communities can improve their ability to withstand future droughts. Rebuilding using storm-resistant design and materials can support communities in the pathways of increasingly fierce typhoons in places like the Philippines. In the Pacific Islands—where rising sea levels are an existential threat—the World Bank and other donors are supporting projects to improve infrastructure, so more people have the choice to stay in their ancestral homes. Investments in resilience today will save lives and resources in the future.

Long-term, legal, and regular labor migration pathways can not only support economic development in countries of destination and origin, they can also provide safe alternatives to dangerous journeys. 

Secondly, communities neighboring a crisis must be supported. Since the beginning of the war in Sudan, desperate people have escaped to neighboring countries, including Egypt, Chad, and South Sudan. In the wake of Venezuela’s economic and political challenges, millions there have fled to Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. After more than a decade of conflict in Syria, many Syrians still live in nearby Türkiye, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. Many of these countries face challenges supporting their own communities and are quickly overwhelmed by the influx of people fleeing crises. Given that most people will move within their own region first, tailoring long-term support to these host communities is essential to avoid secondary displacement and the segregation and isolation of newcomers.

Finally, creating safe and orderly migration pathways can be a tool for mitigating the effects of humanitarian disaster and reducing the need for distressed movements. Since the end of World War II, IOM has supported the resettlement, relocation, and humanitarian admission of refugees and migrants. Since October 2023, the organization facilitated the resettlement of more than 290,000 people to 29 countries, including more than 100,000 US-bound refugees, the highest number in 28 years.

Yet the current resettlement numbers support a tiny fraction of the millions of people who are displaced or who are vulnerable to displacement. The irony is that migration not only supports vulnerable populations, but it can also drive economic development in the countries that host them, as demonstrated by The World Bank’s 2023 Development Report.

Migration as a Solution

Importantly, in a world where many societies are seeing rapidly aging populations, migration can mitigate labor shortages that will only grow more acute. In fact, 30 of the world’s largest economies have labor shortages, and those unfilled jobs cost those economies an estimated $1.3 trillion in lost GDP.  

For example, nationals of Tuvalu—a small island nation in the South Pacific threatened by rising sea levels—can increasingly access work opportunities in Australia. This is a win-win that will directly support people impacted by climate change in Tuvalu, while also filling workforce gaps in Australia.

Long-term, legal, and regular labor migration pathways can not only support economic development in countries of destination and origin, they can also provide safe alternatives to dangerous journeys. Regular and orderly migration pathways would lessen burdens on asylum systems and reduce the market for intermediaries like smugglers and traffickers. When migration is more regular, public confidence goes up.

Humanitarians will always answer the call of duty, but the humanitarian bandage cannot address it all. Migration is, and will continue to be, an avenue people will choose in search of safety, protection, and opportunity. Waiting for people to flee in distress or focusing solely on stopping migration will only lead to the loss of more lives, fuel exploitation, and prolong humanitarian crises. To achieve greater, more sustainable development and mitigate increasingly ferocious displacement factors, migration must be one of the solutions.

Amy Pope is the Director General of the International Organization for Migration.

Cover photo: Hygiene kits are distributed among collective centers for internally displaced persons in Ivano-Frankivisk Region, Ukraine. Photo by IOM, used with permission.