International Catholic Migration Commission
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Formation | 1951 |
|---|---|
| Type | International non-governmental organization |
| Purpose | Humanitarian assistance, refugee resettlement |
| Headquarters | Geneva (Switzerland) |
Secretary General | Davide Bernocchi (2024-present) |
President | Christine Nathan (2022-present) |
| Website | www.icmc.net |
The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) is an international organization that serves and protects uprooted people, including migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people, regardless of faith, race, ethnicity or nationality. With staff and programs in over 40 countries, ICMC advocates for sustainable solutions[buzzword] and rights-based policies directly and through a worldwide network of 132 member organizations.
ICMC's expertise and core programming consists of refugee resettlement, humanitarian assistance and prevention (shelter, health, non-food items, cash assistance, disaster risk reduction, assistance and prevention for victims of sexual and gender-based violence, anti-trafficking), advocacy on migration and development.
ICMC has ECOSOC consultative status since 1952 and was granted public juridical status by the Holy See in 2008. In 2011, ICMC has been selected as the coordinator of the Civil Society network of the Global Forum on Development and Migration, which in 2015 brought together over 500 government delegates from more than 140 countries, 300 leaders of civil society worldwide and high-level delegates from UN and international agencies to discuss the relation between migration and development, share experiences and forge practical cooperation.[1]
The founding of ICMC followed the end of the Second World War and the great displacement of peoples caused by the international conflict. By 1949, in Eastern Europe thousands were forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in the Western countries: it soon became clear to the Holy See in Rome that a systematic effort was needed on the part of Catholic organizations to respond to the needs of these migrants.
In 1951, German, Italian, and American laity and clergy – most notably Pope Pius XII, the Secretary of State Archbishop Giovanni Battista Montini (the future Pope Paul VI), Mr. James J. Norris and Cardinal Josef Frings – initiated the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC). The following year, Pope Pius XII formally established ICMC through a papal letter, Exsul Familia,[2] which brought worldwide attention towards the needs of migrants and invoked the support of the Catholics to welcome and assist foreign nationals fleeing their home countries.
In its early years, the work of ICMC focused on the administration of migrant travel loan funds. ICMC soon gained comprehensive expertise in assisting the migrants and increased its network of member organizations and local partners, thus becoming a worldwide movement.
1960s and 1970s
ICMC kept growing in the 1960s, expanding its activities through offices in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina and Chile. By the early 1970s, the migration phenomenon had become more complex and international: the end of the war in Vietnam, the attempted genocide in Cambodia and violent events elsewhere caused massive and unprecedented migration flows. ICMC continued to assist European refugees relocate in new countries, while also starting new programs in South and Southeast Asia, the Near East, Africa and Latin America.
In 1979, while thousands of "boat people" fleeing Vietnam were perishing at sea, ICMC played a key role in the UNHCR Orderly Departure Program (ODP),[3] while also providing legal and safe means of emigration for those Vietnamese migrants (mainly through resettlement in the United States).
In 1975, James Norris – one of the ICMC founders, who had by then been President of the organization for over 20 years – won the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award.[4] the highest UNHCR recognition for "extraordinary service to the forcibly displaced".
1980s and 1990s
ICMC continued its operations in the Soviet Union during the 1980s, assisting Eastern European refugees resettle in Western countries. In the 1990s, ICMC played a lead role during the war in Yugoslavia: the ICMC office in Zagreb (Croatia), opened in 1993, processed thousands of resettlement applications – mainly by Bosnian Muslims seeking support to emigrate towards the United States. In 1997, ICMC initiated three micro-credit institutions (in Serbia-Montenegro and Kosovo) providing business loans, training and counselling to the uprooted people wishing to start a new life after the conflict.
In 1998, ICMC initiated a close partnership with UNHCR through the ICMC-UNHCR Resettlement Deployment Scheme, a roster of skilled resettlement experts, managed by ICMC, who play a key role in identifying and assessing the eligibility for resettlement of the most vulnerable refugees.[5] In 2015, the Scheme deployed a total of 189 experts to 78 UNHCR field offices in 39 countries; ICMC deployees submitted 33,656 Syrian refugees for resettlement.
In the late 1990s, ICMC started a closer collaboration with African organizations (including the Organization of African Unity and Caritas Congo), thanks to which new programs begun in Guinea and Burundi. ICMC was also present in East Timor in 1999, when severe turmoil followed its declaration of independence from Indonesia.
