Movements

The movement of people supplemented by other activities to facilitate orderly migration around the world has been a substantial part of IOM’s operational programs over the years. IOM provides transportation assistance to individuals or groups either from or to their places of origin under variety of programs such as resettlement, or return operations.

IOM works closely with the governments, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders. IOM’s movement and travel operations ensure that migrants are transported smoothly to their final resettlement destinations.

IOM Minsk programmes

IOM Minsk arranges the following services to migrants heading abroad:

• Providing counseling and information support to migrants;
• Providing operational assistance to various categories of migrants, including persons admitted for resettlement, asylum seekers, stranded migrants;
• Arranging transportation of certain categories of migrants to the United States, including the following services:
  • counselling, document processing, airline bookings at reduced fares to the final destination and special seating arrangements if required in accordance with IOM MHS and air carriers’ policies and regulations;
  • verification of travel documents prior to the departure and facilitating immigration formalities;
  • conducting pre-embarkation verification that migrants are fit to travel;
  • medical escorting for migrants with medical limitations;
  • arranging transit assistance and visa waivers as needed;
  • providing departure assistance for migrants.

•  Managing movements of self-payers category migrants admitted for resettlement to the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, providing opportunity for purchasing one-way tickets at reduced fares which are granted by the IOM global agreements with certain air carriers. Requests of passengers are carefully considered in order to choose the most suitable and cost-effective possible routings;
• Providing movement assistance to migrants admitted for resettlement, who are referral cases from other partner agencies, such as UNHCR, etc.;
• Facilitating movements under Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) for migrants who have failed to gain asylum or stranded migrants en route to their home countries.