INDONESIA – IOM Supports Government Response to Merapi Eruption – IOM is providing transport for the government, international and local NGOs to distribute non-food relief items for some 290,000 people displaced by the eruption of Mount Merapi in Central Java.
The eruption, which began on 26 October, has already left 141 people dead and 453 injured near the volcano, which is located some 30km north of the city of Yogyakarta.
People living within a 20 km zone of the volcano have been relocated to 90 government-run sites in Magelang, Sleman, Boyolali and Klaten districts.
IOM, which is working in close cooperation with the government, UNOCHA and partner agencies, is focusing on logistics, delivery of non food relief items and improving water and sanitation at the sites, mainly targeting Sleman and Boyolali districts.
The Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission (ECHO) has provided
IOM with funding to provide logistics and transport for the government and up to 60 local and international relief agencies bringing in aid over the next three months.
ECHO will also fund IOM to provide non-food relief items for up to 4,000 displaced people, and sanitation, latrines and improved hygiene awareness for another 3,000. In addition, it will help IOM to provide information management and coordination for up to 70 local aid agencies participating in the disaster response.
The IOM office in Yogyakarta is currently working with the Crisis and Information Centre of the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Forum and in close coordination with the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB.) An IOM GIS specialist is working with the DRR Forum to help map the damage caused by the eruption.
IOM is also launching a mass information campaign targeting affected people through radio and TV. The campaign will inform people about new developments in the crisis and how to access relief.
IOM’s emergency response capacity in Indonesia dates back to the 2004 tsunami in Aceh and subsequent earthquakes in Yogyakarta in 2006, West Sumatra in 2007 and West Java in 2009.
For more information, please contact Jihan Labetubun at IOM Jakarta. Tel. +62.8111907028. Email: jlabetubun@iom.int
EUROPEAN UNION - Economic Crisis Has Significant Impact on Migrants and Migration, Says New IOM Report – While the full effects of the economic crisis on migration may only become visible in the years to come, a new IOM report states that the crisis has had a significant impact on migrants and migration in Europe.
The report, “Migration and the Economic Crisis in the European Union: Implications for Policy” which surveys 27 EU Member States, Croatia, Norway, Turkey, and seven commissioned country case studies (Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom), found that overall immigration levels within the EU had slowed since the onset of the crisis.
However, migration rates still remained positive in 2009 for many of the major migrant-recruiting countries in the EU such as Spain, Italy, and the UK. The study shows that there is still demand, especially for skilled migrant labour in certain sectors such as health and education in many EU countries.
The report also highlighted the increase in emigration from some EU countries but stressed that the impact of the crisis on migration was not uniform across all EU countries. This trend is most notable in countries that experienced large inflows of labour migrants in the pre-crisis period. Ireland, Spain and the UK all registered decreased net migration.
In general, the crisis affected the employment of migrant workers from non-EU countries more than that of EU nationals, according to the study. While unemployment rates for migrants from EU countries increased by 2.8 percentage points between 2008 and 2009, those for non-EU migrants rose by 5 per cent during the same period. This may be explained by the high prevalence of non-EU migrants in badly-hit sectors such as construction, retail and hospitality.
Although migrants are less likely to claim social benefits, the report found that in some EU countries, increased numbers of migrants had to seek welfare support due to the high unemployment rates among them.
The report also notes that the irregular migrant population is likely to have increased as a result of the crisis, arguing that this is more a result of migrants overstaying their visa or work permits and moving into grey areas of the economy and less to do with an increase in irregular migration flows.
The gender balance of migrants was also affected by the economic crisis. Women migrants were less affected by unemployment as they dominate sectors such as education, social and health care which were less vulnerable to the economic recession. In some countries such as Spain, Italy and Ireland, the percentage of women migrants in the workforce increased.
Other impacts of crisis include the decline of remittance outflows in some EU countries and the hardening of public opinions towards migrants in countries such as Ireland, Spain and the UK.
The IOM report, funded by the EU, recommends that national and EU policies should factor in worker mobility in recovery plans if the region is to be economically competitive and that the region should also take into account both short and long-term demographic trends in economic planning. Europe is already experiencing labour shortages in many sectors due to an ageing population and low birth rates.
Other recommendations include efforts to provide greater protection and support for migrants in a bid to combat discrimination, xenophobia and to limit their vulnerability to the worst effects of the crisis.
An electronic version of the study can be downloaded from the IOM Bookstore at the following address:
http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=41_7&products_id=611
For more information, please contact Frank Laczko, IOM Geneva, Tel: + 41 22 917 9416, email: flaczko@iom.int or Christine Agharzarm tel: + 41 22 917 9363, email: cagharzarm@iom.int
