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./.