The International Organization for Migration, or IOM, sent out pink slips — notice of dismissal from employment — to 3,000 employees working on a United States resettlement program, including hundreds based at home in the latest blow to an aid and development community reeling from the Trump administration’s foreign aid funding freeze.
“The loss of funding from the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, USRAP, meant we had to notify about 3,000 of our colleagues that their jobs will be ending,” Amy Pope, IOM’s director general, told staff in an internal newsletter last week. She said that further cuts are likely.
“I said during the staff meeting two weeks ago that I would not sugarcoat the difficulties ahead, and those difficulties are apparent this week as we began making cuts in our staffing,” according to the newsletter reviewed by Devex.
About the author
Colum Lynch
Colum Lynch is an award-winning reporter and Senior Global Reporter for Devex. He covers the intersection of development, diplomacy, and humanitarian relief at the United Nations and beyond. Prior to Devex, Colum reported on foreign policy and national security for Foreign Policy Magazine and the Washington Post. Colum was awarded the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital reporting for his blog Turtle Bay. He has also won an award for groundbreaking reporting on the U.N.’s failure to protect civilians in Darfur.
