Miriam Aertker assumed the role of Head of National Office at UNHCR in Trinidad and Tobago on June 1, 2021. She brings with her a wide range of experience, coupled with a good understanding of the cross-border mobility challenges currently facing the different Caribbean countries. Since February 2019, Miriam has been based in Trinidad and Tobago, working as a Senior Field Coordinator with the Response for Venezuela (R4V) platform, which is jointly led by UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In this role, and together with her team, Miriam has worked closely with 26 Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) partners across the Caribbean sub-region as well as with five national platforms in Aruba, Curaçao, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and in the Dominican Republic. In addition to her role as Head of National Office for UNHCR, Miriam continues to oversee the R4V platform in the Caribbean together with sub-regional counterparts from IOM.
Miriam has spent the last 14 years with the UNHCR, with posts in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, working in some of the world's most critical refugee crisis responses, including Yemen, Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Somalia, Myanmar, Greece and now Trinidad and Tobago. Miriam has held positions in coordination, management, refugee status determination and protection (including Community Based Protection). Miriam trained as a social worker in her native Germany and holds a Graduate Diploma in Forced Migration and Refugee Studies from the American University in Cairo (Egypt), as well as a Masters in Refugee Studies from the University of East London (UK).