New UN Migration Chief to Visit Africa on First Trip

New Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Amy Pope attends a press conference at the United Office in Geneva, on October 2, 2023. (AFP)
New Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Amy Pope attends a press conference at the United Office in Geneva, on October 2, 2023. (AFP)
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New UN Migration Chief to Visit Africa on First Trip

New Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Amy Pope attends a press conference at the United Office in Geneva, on October 2, 2023. (AFP)
New Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Amy Pope attends a press conference at the United Office in Geneva, on October 2, 2023. (AFP)

The new head of the UN's migration agency will visit Africa on her first official trip from Sunday to highlight the scale of migration happening around the continent.

Amy Pope, the first woman elected to lead the International Organization for Migration, will then head to Brussels as the 27-member EU bloc deals with a recent influx of migrant arrivals in Italy.

The American, who took office on October 1, will visit the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, before meeting Ethiopian officials.

She will then travel to Kenya and Djibouti.

"Over 80 percent of the migration takes place in Africa," Pope said at a press briefing in Geneva, at a time when attention is particularly focused on migrants trying to reach Europe.

She also spoke of the large number of African migrants heading for the Gulf, highlighting "very, very troubling reports" about their treatment there.

"Ensuring that there is better protection and access for migrants to services in that context is important," she added.

"The evidence is fairly overwhelming that migration actually benefits economies... on the whole is a benefit," Pope went on, citing its role in "fueling the renovation or revitalization of ageing communities," while providing manpower and innovation.

"It's critical that IOM begin to engage these partners who recognize the benefits of migration and demonstrate to our member states how that can work in a very pragmatic way, rather than in a political way."

Pope meanwhile insisted she would "refrain from getting into any direct conflict with Elon Musk," who courted controversy this weekend in claiming that Berlin-funded migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean could be seen as an "invasion" of Italy.

The tech billionaire is a migrant himself, having been born in South Africa, has Canadian nationality and lives in the United States.

"We hear especially in the technology space, there is an overwhelming need for new ideas (and) for people for a sustainable workforce.

"And frankly, migration is our most obvious way to build out a sustainable workforce," said Pope, urging investment in skills training as climate change encroaches on ever greater numbers of people.

Pope is to discuss with the African Union the best way of guaranteeing the movement of people, in particular to support the free trade agreements promoted by the organization.



Germany Must Honor Visa Obligations to Afghan Refugees, Rules Court

An activist depicting Chancellor Friedrich Merz shows a broken "promise" lettering in a symbolic protest action for the continuation of visa issuance under the admission programs for vulnerable Afghans, in connection with the first wave of lawsuits against the Federal Foreign Office and the suspending and reassess all refugee programs of the German government, in Berlin, Germany June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
An activist depicting Chancellor Friedrich Merz shows a broken "promise" lettering in a symbolic protest action for the continuation of visa issuance under the admission programs for vulnerable Afghans, in connection with the first wave of lawsuits against the Federal Foreign Office and the suspending and reassess all refugee programs of the German government, in Berlin, Germany June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
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Germany Must Honor Visa Obligations to Afghan Refugees, Rules Court

An activist depicting Chancellor Friedrich Merz shows a broken "promise" lettering in a symbolic protest action for the continuation of visa issuance under the admission programs for vulnerable Afghans, in connection with the first wave of lawsuits against the Federal Foreign Office and the suspending and reassess all refugee programs of the German government, in Berlin, Germany June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
An activist depicting Chancellor Friedrich Merz shows a broken "promise" lettering in a symbolic protest action for the continuation of visa issuance under the admission programs for vulnerable Afghans, in connection with the first wave of lawsuits against the Federal Foreign Office and the suspending and reassess all refugee programs of the German government, in Berlin, Germany June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

A German court ruled on Tuesday that the government is obliged to issue visas to Afghan nationals and their family members who were accepted into a humanitarian admissions program that the new center-right coalition intends to shut down.

A foreign ministry official said the government was reviewing the decision, which is not yet legally binding.

After the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 by Western allies, Germany established several programs to resettle local staff as well as particularly vulnerable Afghans.

Since May 2021, Germany has admitted about 36,500 vulnerable Afghans including former local staff by various pathways.

Some 2,400 Afghans approved for admission are waiting in Pakistan to travel to Germany without a clear idea of when, as the programme has been suspended pending a government review, the foreign ministry in Berlin said this month, Reuters reported.

The court decision, in response to an urgent appeal by an Afghan woman and her family, ruled that the government was legally bound to honour its "irrevocable" commitment to them.

"The applicants assert that they are entitled to a visa and can no longer remain in Pakistan. They face deportation to Afghanistan, where they fear for their lives," it said.

However, the government is within its rights to end the program for Afghans and refrain from issuing any new admission commitments going forward, according to the court in Berlin.

NGOs have said that an additional 17,000 Afghans are in the early stages of selection and application under the now-dormant scheme.

The court's decision can be appealed.

Germany's new government has pledged a tougher stance on migration after several high-profile attacks and the rise of the far right made it a pivotal issue in February elections.

As a part of that push, conservative Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has vowed to halt refugee admission programs and to deport people to Afghanistan and Syria.