BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The United Nations migration agency said Tuesday it is scaling back and suspending lifesaving projects around the world and firing staff following an “unprecedented” 30% funding cut led mainly by the United States.
“The reduction in funding has severe impacts on vulnerable migrant communities, exacerbating humanitarian crises and undermining vital support systems for displaced populations," the International Organization for Migration, based in Geneva, said in a statement.
The roughly $1.1 billion funding cut will halt dozens of projects including food and health care for Rohingya refugees in Thailand, a program that reunited trafficking victims with their families in the U.S. and emergency aid to more than 40,000 people affected by conflict and cyclones in Mozambique, according to an IOM spokesperson.
Cholera prevention, distribution of emergency shelters and medical care in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where millions of people have been displaced by conflict and famine, would also be cut.
“The world is witnessing historic displacement levels, yet funding to address the root causes of displacement is shrinking,” IOM said.
The agency, led by American Amy Pope, got more than 40% of its $3.4 billion budget in 2023 from the U.S.
To minimize the impact of budget cuts on migrants and displaced persons IOM said it will restructure, relocating staff to cheaper locations and reducing its headquarters personnel by more than 20%. Over 6,000 employees worldwide will be affected.
“We recognize the necessary impact these decisions will have on colleagues who have dedicated years to IOM's mission, many of whom will lose their jobs," the statement said.
The IOM measures announced Tuesday are just the latest in a series of funding cuts upending the humanitarian sector and impacting some of the most fragile regions of the world after the Trump administration vowed to eliminate more than 90% of foreign aid contracts and cut some $60 billion in funding.
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
An official from the International Organization for Migration, IOM, talks to Nigerian migrants before being deported from Tripoli, Libya, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Yousef Murad)
FILE - The logo and a view of the building which houses the headquarters of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, file)
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police on Wednesday arrested Istanbul’s mayor — a popular opposition leader and key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and several other prominent figures as part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror links. It was a dramatic escalation in an ongoing crackdown on the opposition and dissenting voices in Turkey.
The state-run Anadolu Agency said prosecutors issued detention warrants for the mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, and some 100 other people. Among those detained was Imamoglu's close aide, Murat Ongun.
Authorities also closed several roads around Istanbul and banned demonstrations in the city for four days in an apparent effort to prevent protests following the arrest. Private NTV television said two Istanbul district mayors were among those detained.
Critics say the crackdown follows significant losses by Erdogan’s ruling party in local elections last year amid growing calls for early national elections. Government officials insist that the courts operate independently and reject claims that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated.
“We are facing great tyranny, but I want you to know that I will not be discouraged,” Imamoglu said earlier in the day in a video post on social media.
Erdogan, a populist with increasingly authoritarian tendencies, has led Turkey as prime minister or president for more than 20 years and is now the longest-serving leader in the Turkish republic’s history. His current term runs until 2028 but he has indicated he'd like to serve longer — something he could achieve with the help of a friendly parliament.
Imamoglu was arrested as police searched his home, but it wasn't immediately clear if anything was confiscated. His wife, Dilek Imamoglu, told the private Now television that police arrived at their residence before dawn and that the mayor was taken around 7:30 a.m.
The Istanbul Stock Exchange’s main index dropped by 7% over news of his arrest, triggering a temporary halt to trading to prevent panic selling and stabilize the market. The Turkish lira lost some 7% of its value against the dollar.
Anadolu, the news agency, said that Ekrem Imamoglu and several others are suspected of extortion, money laundering and irregularities concerning tenders and procurements, among other crimes.
Imamoglu is also suspected of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, by allegedly forming an alliance with a Kurdish umbrella organization for the Istanbul municipal elections, the report said. The PKK has waged a decadeslong insurgency within Turkey and is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, Washington and other allies.
A day earlier, Istanbul University invalidated Imamoglu's diploma, effectively disqualifying him from running in the next presidential race — a university degree is a requisite for running in elections under Turkish law.
The mayor’s party — the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP — was to hold a primary on Sunday where Imamoglu was expected to be chosen for its candidate in future presidential elections.
With all the arrests Wednesday, that vote was in doubt but party chairman Ozgur Ozel told the opposition-aligned Halik TV channel that it would go ahead as planned. Ozel said Imamoglu’s detention was “an attempted coup against our next president.”
In a social media post in English, Imamoglu said: “The will of the people cannot be silenced through intimidation or unlawful acts. I stand resolute, entrusting myself not only to the 16 million residents of Istanbul but to the 86 million citizens" of Turkey.
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party condemned the detentions and called for the immediate release of all taken into custody.
The dawn raid on Imamoglu's home and his arrest was a "disgrace that will not be forgotten for centuries. This operation, which shatters faith in justice, is an attempt to redesign politics through the judiciary,” Tulay Hatimogullari, the party’s co-chairwoman, wrote on X.
As he was being arrested, Ongun, the mayor's aide, appealed for support on X, though he at the time did not appear to know that the mayor was also being taken into custody.
“They think they can silence us and prevent us from defending and supporting Ekrem Imamoglu,” Ongun said. “I entrust Ekrem Imamoglu to the Turkish nation. Protect, watch over and support him. They cannot be defeat the nation.”
Separately, police also detained a prominent investigative journalist, Ismail Saymaz, for questioning, the opposition-aligned Halk TV reported.
Meanwhile, internet-access advocacy group netblocks.org reported Wednesday that access has been restricted in Turkey to popular social media platforms.
In nullifying Imamoglu’s diploma, the university cited alleged irregularities in his 1990 transfer from a private university in northern Cyprus to its Faculty of Business Administration. Imamoglu said he would challenge the decision.
Imamoglu faces multiple lawsuits, including allegations of trying to influence a judicial expert investigating opposition-led municipalities. The cases could result in prison sentences and a political ban.
He is also appealing a 2022 conviction of insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council, a case that could result in a political ban.
Imamoglu was elected mayor of Turkey’s largest city in March 2019 in a historic blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. The party pushed to void the municipal election results in the city of 16 million, alleging irregularities.
The challenge resulted in a repeat of the election a few months later, which Imamoglu also won. The mayor retained his seat following local elections last year, during which his party made significant gains against Erdogan’s governing party.
Devlet Bahceli, an Erdogan ally from the Nationalist Movement Party, slammed the opposition on X, saying Wednesday that to “oppose the judiciary and law, even to debate it, is an invitation to discord and violence” and adding it was “important to accept whatever decision was made by the courts.”
Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Lorian Belanger in Bangkok and Cinar Kiper in Bodrum, Turkey, contributed to this report.
FILE.- Istanbul Mayor and Republican People's Party, or CHP, candidate Ekrem Imamoglu take photographs with supporters during a campaign rally in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, March 21, 2024.(AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
FILE - Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu addresses his supporters in front of the Istanbul courthouse, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, file)
