A Vietnamese delegation led by Nguyen Minh Vu, Deputy Director of the
Consular Department under the Foreign Ministry attended the 100 th
session of the International Organisation for Migration Council in
Switzerland from Dec. 5-7.
This was the
largest-ever ministerial-level meeting of the International Organisation
for Migration with the participation of more than 700 delegates from
159 member countries and observers.
Addressing the event, the
Vietnamese head delegate said Vietnam always attaches importance to
promoting humane and orderly international migration as well as
supporting vulnerable migrants and victims of human trafficking,
especially women and children.
Over the past
years, Vietnam has cooperated closely with the International
Organisation for Migration in a number of projects relating to
migration, including building a dossier on migration and utilizing the
link between migration and poverty reduction.
He recommended that the IOM enhance its role in protecting migrants,
building capacity, collecting information, promoting cooperation among
its member nations, and preventing illegal migration by increasing legal
migration channels.
He also urged IOM member nations to perform
their active role in raising public awareness of the need to protect
migrants and help them integrate into society.
According to the
IOM office in Vietnam , the country’s rapid economic growth is
creating an inflow of people from rural areas to cities and urban
regions. Domestic migrants often face difficulties in accessing
accommodation, education and healthcare services.
Vietnam now has about 3 million people living abroad and 400,000 of them are temporary labourers.
According to the 2011 World Migration Report released at the session,
the recent global economic crisis has highlighted the resilience of
migration and further confirmed that human mobility forms an integral
part of the globalised world. Migration is one of the ways in which the
exchange of talent, services, skills and diversity of experience is
achieved.
During the three-day session, which took place on the
occasion of the organisation’s 60th anniversary, IOM admitted 14 new
members, increasing its total members to 146./.