Incoming IOM Director-General Amy Pope has denounced the tendency to "demonize migrants" who are among the most vulnerable for political gain, saying she aims to transform the matter.
Bob, 49, last month became the first woman elected director-general and said in an interview this week that she was deeply concerned about how some countries and groups use migrants as "weapons" to gain political points at home.
Several countries in Europe have faced criticism for their cruel and even illegal treatment of migrants, including Britain, over plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda and Greece, where a video released last month showed what appeared to be the forcible expulsion of migrants left to sea with no specific destination.
A group of migrants, including women and children, were stranded this week at the border between Poland and Belarus, while border guards were accused of preventing them from seeking asylum.
Asked about the situation, Bob said: "What we have seen in recent years is the weaponization of people in very desperate situations and the exploitation of their vulnerability as a means of fuelling what is usually considered political conflict."
"I find this tactic very worrying because above all it is inhumane, and I think that at the end of the day it does not lead to a better outcome for any party."
Bob, who will take up her new role in October, said the "main concern is that people have an opportunity to seek protection" and therefore should be considered fairly rather than being used as political leverage.
When the agency's current deputy director won last month the race to take over her presidency against her current director, Antonio Vitorino, she vowed to adopt a more positive narrative on migration and assert that "the people we are talking about are human beings."
"We have all seen that when people recognize others as human beings, which I think is the lesson we learned from Ukraine, they show much more good faith and openness," she said.
Bob said more needs to be done to show that immigrants can be the solution, not the problem.
In parallel with warnings about how immigration is causing stress and pressure on governments, Bob pointed to the pressures caused by labor shortages.
"This is a good space," she said, noting that the organization could help connect migrants with opportunities and emphasize "the benefit of migration for economies."
"It has to start with identifying the existing needs for labour and then the skills available," she said, adding that the U.N. agency could help facilitate skill training, warning that if not, "that demand for labour will fuel irregular migration."