Sawt Falasteen - UN migration agency laying off around 20% of HQ staff amid US aid cuts: sources

Fresh cuts at the International Organization for Migration are expected to impact at least 20 percent of the more than 1,000 current headquarters staff, according to several sources familiar with the situation.

"This would mean over 200 staff. I believe it's more," a current IOM employee told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The news comes just weeks after the United Nations agency, which at the end of last year employed around 22,000 people, sent out pink slips to some 3,000 staff.

They were among around 5,000 who had been working with the US refugee resettlement programme, which has been halted by President Donald Trump's administration.

"I can't really describe the mood," the employee said.

Earlier this week, staff in IOM's media department were "lined up (for) 15-minute individual meetings to announce they were sacked", which "turned into less than five-minute meetings", the employee said.

People were "coming out crying".

A former employee, who also asked not to be named, said "dozens of staff" received notice on Thursday, "and more to follow", adding that "entire functional units have been cut".

- 'Necessary adjustments' -

According to sources on the inside, IOM's partnership programme and its information and communications technology section were among the hard-hit divisions.

Contacted by AFP, the IOM did not confirm the extent of the fresh layoffs.

But a spokesperson acknowledged the agency was "making necessary adjustments, including proportional and balanced workplace reductions and operational efficiencies".

"We fully recognise the profound impact this is having on both the communities we serve and our staff, and we are closely monitoring these changes and making sure that our capacity is fit for purpose," the spokesperson said.

A current employee said that informal internal communication being sent around to headquarters staff informed employees that those with fixed-term contracts would be let go in June, while other contract types would be given a minimum of 30 days' notice.

The latest layoffs come 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 hit the IOM particularly hard.

- 'Angry' -

The agency, which serves more than 280 million migrants globally, has been relying on the United States for more than 40 percent of its annual budget.

Nearly all of its funding comes in the form of voluntary contributions earmarked for specific programmes, meaning that a donor that halts the flow of cash can swiftly cripple an entire programme, as happened with the IOM's cooperation with the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).

"We have to make some really hard decisions about staff because we simply can't afford to pay staff when we're not actually being paid for our work," IOM director general Amy Pope told AFP in a recent interview.

IOM employees meanwhile expressed anger over the way the layoffs were being carried out, with one staff member charging that they appeared to target "mostly junior positions".

Staff were meanwhile sending around a video Friday apparently shot during Pope's visit to Guatemala this week, showing her happily dancing with the team there.

"The DG dancing while people are being sacked," said an employee who shared the video.

"We absolutely are angry!"

Q.Najjar--SF-PST