[ARTICLE] IMA Annual Meeting of the International Coordinating Body (ICB) 2026
IMA Annual Meeting of the International Coordinating Body (ICB)
Bangkok, Thailand | 7-8 August 2026
SUMMARY ARTICLE
The IMA International Coordinating Body (ICB) met on August 7 and 8 in Bangkok, Thailand, to report on the conditions faced by migrants, refugees, and workers in their regions, review ongoing campaigns, and develop an annual plan on campaigns, education and organisational strengthening. Present in the meeting were 13 members of the ICB, 11 of whom attended in person (two of whom were proxies) and 3 attended virtually. Supporting the meeting were members of the IMA Global Secretariat.
The regional reports covered how economic crisis, war and militarisation, fascism, labour trafficking and migration policies are impacting workers in both migrant-sending and receiving countries. Across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, governments and employers continue to rely on labour export and import policies that intensify modern slavery of migrant workers. In this vein, the ICB planned campaigns to mobilise our members on the ground, to develop educational materials and primers, and to strengthen our working groups. The IMA will continue developing the Free the Migrants campaign with the All Workers United, including actions that bring migrant and local workers together. The IMA Secretariat also presented an overview of IMA Global’s activities from November 2025 to July 2026, as well as the challenges faced during this period.
IMA’s major campaigns for the rest of 2026 include campaigning against the IMF-World Bank Group and joining the Peoples Global Caravan against IMF-WBG for their week of action in Bangkok from October 9–17; actions against the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines in November, and the Nine Days of Migrant Activism from December 10–18, 2026. Political education and leadership development plans include establishing a Political Education Committee, developing an IMA School, conducting training-of-trainers programs and making materials available in different languages. Plans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the IMA are also underway.
The ICB meeting concluded with a call for greater unity and international solidarity among all workers, reaffirming that both local and migrant workers are exploited by the same imperialist interests and that our liberation must be achieved together.
