The
UN’s migration agency is censoring itself on the climate crisis and
the global compact on migration, following pressure from the US
government.
An
email sent by a US-based official of the International Organization
for Migration (IOM) on 28 August to colleagues around the world
relayed that the US state department’s Bureau of Population,
Refugees and Migration (PRM) told the agency documents related to
programme activities it funds “must not be in conflict with current
[US government] political sensitivities”.
Sensitivities
include the climate crisis, sustainable development goals, the global
compact for migration and
“anything that seems at odds with the administration’s take on US
domestic/foreign issues”, the official wrote in the email.
“Documents
related to programme activities, especially those that will be
published online, may require prior review and approval by the
donor,” they went on, requesting that colleagues use “discretion”
and share relevant documents “in enough time to make any necessary
adjustments in coordination with PRM”.
The
email’s author noted that “PRM is very willing to cut funding in
areas that it deems are not in line with US foreign policy
objectives”, and asked that the substance of the email be conveyed
by regional coordinators “to all country focal points”.
The
Guardian understands from IOM sources and further communications it
has seen that the agency is avoiding direct references to climate
change in documents for projects funded by other US government
entities such as USAid.
IOM
receives about a quarter of its total budget of $2bn (£1.6bn) from
the US, $18m of which is provided by PRM.
Jeff
Crisp, a research associate at Oxford University’s Refugee Studies
Centre who previously held a senior position in the UN’s refugee
agency UNHCR, said the leaked message “raises some serious
questions about the autonomy of IOM, its sensitivity to positions
adopted by the US administration, and its ability to function as a
member of the UN system”.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/sep/11/leak-suggests-un-agency-self-censors-on-climate-crisis-after-us-pressure
No comments:
Post a Comment