Crisis Response

Conflicts, armed violence, disasters, epidemics, pandemics and other crises force millions of people to leave their homes and communities, sometimes for years or even decades. Millions of people are currently living in displacement within and across borders with disasters displacing around 25 million on average each year. Economic downturns, political instability and other drivers also compel large population movements.

As the leading UN agency working on migration, we are committed to saving lives and helping populations move out of harm’s way. We protect and assist those displaced or stranded by crisis, and support populations and their communities to recover. We work to mitigate adverse drivers that force people from their homes, help build resilience and focus on reducing disaster risk so that movement and migration can be a choice.

The Organization is among the world’s largest humanitarian actors and one of the few international organizations directly impacting programmes across the humanitarian, development and peace nexus to provide comprehensive responses at all phases of crises. 

IOM Belarus support to migrants and refugees affected by crises

The following types of assistance are provided as part of the humanitarian package in case of crises and emergency situations:

• Accommodation support and sheltering solutions;
• Distribution of food, non-food, hygiene items;
• Psychosocial support and psychological assistance;
• Referral  of people with serious medical conditions to medical institutions;
• Procurement of medications;
• Transportation support;
• Accommodation support;
• Referral of people to other organizations and institutions for the best durable solutions. 

The following protection solutions are provided:

• Support with the return to the country of origin through the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme;
• Assistance with employment, including payment for state fee for special employment permit, payment for vocational training and re-training, legal assistance related to employment issues in Belarus;
• Reintegration assistance for victims of trafficking including free of charge stay at the IOM Rehabilitation centre. 

Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM)

To address gaps in data related to refugees and third country nationals (TCNs) fleeing Ukraine, as well as stranded migrants in Belarus, IOM rolled out DTM methodology which gathers and analyzes data to disseminate critical multi layered information on the mobility, vulnerabilities, and needs of displaced and mobile populations and to enable decision makers and responders to provide these populations with better context specific assistance.

The second DTM report on displacement patterns, needs and intentions of Ukrainian nationals and TCNs was published in September 2022. According to the report, over 7,200 Ukrainian refugees and 1,100 third country nationals are present in Belarus