ICM — an Instrument for Peace

Abstract

In an early part of this account I paid tribute to the statesmen who met in Brussels in late 1951 to create the organization that is now known as ICM and that will soon become the IOM. Clearly they displayed both wisdom and vision in establishing outside the orbit of the United Nations a strictly non-political and exclusively humanitarian international operational mechanism for the orderly migration of various categories of needy persons, including victims of persecution and conflict, as well as a forum for contacts, discussions and co-operation among like-minded governments and other entities concerned. Clearly, through their far-sighted action in Brussels, they created an instrument that equally would serve the cause of peace by contributing toward stability in a troubled world.