GENEVA: Hard-hit by US aid funding cuts, the UN migration agency’s move to lay off thousands has sparked an internal “rebellion” by dozens of staff, who are demanding its donors take action, AFP has learned.
Like many humanitarian agencies, the International Organization for Migration has been reeling since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, pushing an anti-migrant agenda and immediately freezing most US foreign aid funding.
The United Nations agency, tasked with serving many of the world’s some 280 million migrants, has moved swifter than most to lay off staff as it faces dire shortages.
The organization, which at the end of last year employed around 22,000 people, announced Tuesday that it was facing “an unprecedented 30-percent reduction in estimated donor funding” this year alone, forcing it to lay off over 6,000 staff members worldwide.
Accounting for around half of the affected staff were 3,000 people who were laid off last month, after Trump halted the US refugee resettlement program they had been working with.
More than 250 of the over 1,000 staff at IOM’s Geneva headquarters were also informed last week they were being let go.
That announcement appears to have spurred already simmering anger among some staff at changes inside the agency to boil over.
In an email, sent to diplomatic missions in Geneva, an anonymous group of over 30 IOM employees warned of serious concerns at the agency “regarding financial transparency, governance failures, and alarming reports about workplace conditions.”
AFP received copies of the email from three current and former employees, including one person behind the missive, and five diplomatic mission confirmed they had received it.
IOM “categorically rejected” allegations raised in the letter addressed to IOM’s 175 member states, which provide much of the organization’s funding and have significant sway over its structure, budget and management.
The letter warned countries that the alleged issues “threaten the integrity of the organization to which you contribute,” urging them to “collectively request a full and transparent report” from IOM management on a number of “financial decisions.”
The email lobbed a long line of accusations, which AFP could not immediately independently verify.
It among other things questioned the necessity and the cost-saving benefit of the abrupt and large-scale layoffs, pointing to significant payments for notice and severance packages, as well as legal proceedings.
“It remains unclear whether the total expenditure on layoffs has ultimately exceeded what would have been required to allow staff to complete their contracts or receive standard non-renewal notices,” the email said.
“There is no rationale,” one senior staff member who has worked at IOM for over a decade told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The US temporary cuts are just an excuse to sack people.”
Among other accusations in the email was that “the work environment at IOM has deteriorated significantly, with growing reports of harassment, intimidation and retaliation against staff.”
Several IOM staff members told AFP that the working environment in Geneva especially was “toxic,” with employees involved in the email so fearful their communications would be intercepted they carry their computers with them at all times, “even to the gym.”
“We don’t feel safe,” the senior staff member said, adding that the employees had launched their “rebellion to end impunity and a culture of fear.”
Asked about the allegations made in the letter, an IOM spokesperson stressed that the agency was “navigating a challenging moment, making difficult but necessary decisions to ensure IOM’s long-term ability to serve migrants and displaced people worldwide.”
“This process has been conducted with transparency, in consultation with our member states, donors, and staff unions, and with a deep commitment to fairness, empathy, and respect for our staff,” the spokesperson said.
“Any misleading accusations that suggest otherwise are categorically rejected.”
The mass-layoffs came after Trump’s campaign to dismantle US foreign aid contributions has put the entire humanitarian community into a tailspin.
The sudden about-face on aid funding by the country that traditionally has by far given most has dealt a harsh blow to IOM, which had been relying on the United States for 46 percent of its annual budget.
The agency voiced regret Tuesday at “the necessary impact these decisions will have on colleagues who have dedicated years to IOM’s mission, many of whom will lose their jobs,” stressing that its staff “represent the best of public service.”
IOM, which since late 2023 has been headed by Amy Pope, a US lawyer who served in the administrations of former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, did not respond to queries about specific allegations.
In an internal memo sent to the agency’s staff on Tuesday, entitled “Update on Structural Adjustment at IOM” and signed by the “Leadership Team,” the agency also criticized the “spreading of misinformation.”
“While we understand that this period of change has been unsettling and has led to anxiety for the future, the deliberate spreading of misinformation is not a legitimate means of raising concerns,” said the memo, seen by AFP.
That only “undermines trust in IOM, damages the organization’s reputation, and harms the staff and beneficiaries it serves,” it warned.
“Using the media to air grievances or reveal unauthorized information contravenes staff rules and regulations,” it said, urging employees instead to go through the “multiple internal channels” available.