IOM was established in 1951 as an intergovernmental organization to resettle European displaced persons, refugees and migrants but has since grown to encompass a variety of activities that manage and support safe migration throughout the world. With  127   125 Member States, over 2,000 active projects and some 7,000 operational staff members, IOM is active on every continent.

Sri Lanka became a member state of IOM in 1990. That same year, the agency took a lead role in organizing the safe return of approximately 95,000 Sri Lankan migrant workers who were stranded in the Middle East at the start of the Gulf War. Throughout the 1990s, IOM continued to work with the government on projects to support migrant workers. This cooperation paved the way for the opening of an IOM office in Colombo in 2002. Currently IOM has six field offices including  Ampara, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Mannar, Trincomalee and Vavuniya with experienced national and international staff across the country.