These Guidelines are intended mainly for individual, non-clinical case managers providing direct support and assistance to migrants with protection and assistance needs, including children. Recognizing that case management for children requires specialized training and different approaches, there is a separate section on child protection case management. The Guidelines may also be useful for government officials, health-care providers, law enforcement officers and those working for service providers in the field of migrant protection and assistance. They can be applied in countries of origin, transit and destination. Given that countries face different challenges when it comes to migrant protection and assistance and have various capacities and service delivery models, it would be impossible to come up with a one-size-fits-all solution; the Guidelines are therefore intended to be incorporated into an organization’s existing policies and procedures. They aim to provide general guidance and are not region – or country – specific.

The Guidelines focus specifically on the case management process for migrants and not on general protection programming. They are not intended for use with persons with international protection concerns.

The Guidelines were developed with assistance from the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as part of the COMPASS initiative. Under the auspices of the COMPASS initiative, IOM and partner organizations will provide a range of services directly to migrants and their families, including humanitarian assistance, comprehensive case management services for migrants with identified protection needs, return assistance and reintegration services.

The Guidelines draw on the IOM handbooks on protection and assistance for migrants vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse, and on reintegration, its policy on return, readmission and reintegration, and its guidance on response planning and on referral mechanisms.