In this guest blog, Johannes Claes, Reporting and Advocacy Officer for Doctors of the World’s Niger Mission, tells us about its response to the relocation of vulnerable groups in Niger, supported by the Migration Emergency Response Fund (MERF).
Learn more about mixed migration flows, and how the MERF has been responding to those needs.
Launch of phase two of the Migration Emergency Response is allowing aid agencies to respond to acute needs of migrants who are travelling across the migration route in Africa.
It would be a huge understatement to say that migration response is complex. On the launch of the new Migration Emergency Response Fund (MERF) phase, Melina Koutsis, MERF Regional Coordinator, looks ahead to the future of the migration crisis.
Every year on the 20th of June, World Refugee Day is used to recognise and commemorate the strength, courage and perseverance of refugees. It is important to recognise the difficulties that refugees face, and work towards a world where all refugees receive an education, have somewhere safe to live alongside accessibility to work so they can support their families. However, the term refugee is used to categorise people on the move and with that comes a distinct definition of the term ‘migrant’.
As the first phase of the MERF was ending we commissioned an independent research report to help answer these questions, build a more robust evidence base and feed into any modifications for the next phase of the MERF. The research ‘The Migration Emergency Response Fund and Mixed Migration Flows Along the Mediterranean’ was written by Heloise Ruaudel and was released this week along with the Start Network’s Management Response to the suggestions provided.
Start Network's Hara Caracostas reviews how the Migration Emergency Response Fund (MERF) has met the complexities of the mixed migration crisis and how this affected the implementation of a rapid response mechanism.
Syamantha Asokan reports from the Harmanli refugee camp in Bulgaria, where Doctors of the World is the only medical organisation treating roughly 2,500 people through the MERF.
The tremendous challenges faced by refugees and migrants stranded at the border between Serbia and Hungary, and Oxfam's efforts to assist them.
