Asia and the Pacific

In line with the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, IOM’s cooperation with the EU in Asia has steadily expanded with the countries of the Silk Routes Region (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan) as well as in support of the EU-China Dialogue on Migration and Mobility. Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Central Asia remain traditional sub-regions of EU support to our activities.

Across Asia and the Pacific, IOM manages a portfolio of EU-funded projects on trafficking in human beings, migrant protection and reintegration, migration and displacement data, community stabilisation, and migration management. Helping Asian countries to establish comprehensive migration policy frameworks and supporting local communities who receive high numbers of returning migrants or of internally displaced persons are at the heart of IOM's work in the region. Current regional cooperation with the EU also provides support to displaced Afghans in Pakistan, Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan, addressing the crisis in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries since August 2021.

Our regional priorities include strengthening collaboration with the EU on labour migration, forced displacement and development, and the nexus of migration, environmental degradation and climate change.