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The OAS to Launch Program for Prevention and Combating Crimes related to Irregular Migration in Mesoamerica

The Organization of American States (OAS) will hold the First Technical Meeting of the Program for the Prevention of Irregular Migration in Mesoamerica on January 28 and 29 in Antigua, Guatemala, with the aim of preventing and fighting crimes related to irregular migration and protecting the human rights of migrants. The event will bring together representatives of the areas of foreign affairs, migration, police, justice and civil society from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

The meeting, organized jointly by the Department of Public Security of the OAS, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID), will include an inter-sectoral dialogue to promote the exchange of experiences on the issue of irregular migration at the national and sub regional levels, and will seek to familiarize government officials and representatives of civil society from the eight participating countries with the components and activities of the prevention program.

The program, which is financed by the European Union, will run for three years and will adopt a holistic approach that aims to contribute to current efforts in the area of prevention of crimes linked to irregular migration, strengthening human and institutional capacities to combat the problem, and promoting policies for the protection of human rights of irregular migrants, with particular attention to vulnerable groups.

The event in Guatemala will feature presentations by the Director of the Department of Public Security of the OAS, Paulina Duarte, as well as senior representatives from the IOM, ILO and AECID. The meeting will be organized in a series of panels and workshops to reflect on local experiences in crimes related to irregular migration, and seeks to create an overall national overview based on key themes: Prevention, Combating Irregular Migration and Protection of Victims.

Currently it is estimated that more than 214 million people worldwide are international migrants. 27 percent (57.5 million) live in the Americas, and 15 million of them come from Mesoamerica. Migrants and their families face multiple challenges and threats, both in their travels and in their destination countries and in particular, migrants who are in an irregular situation are severely vulnerable to organized crime networks operating in the region and have included in their actions the trafficking and abduction of migrants. Through this program the OAS seeks to support countries in the subregion in the formulation and implementation of better policies to address the adverse manifestations of irregular migration.

WHAT: First Technical Meeting of the Program on the Prevention of Irregular Migration in Mesoamerica

WHEN: January 28 - 29, 2015

WHERE: Spanish Cooperation Center, Antiguo Colegio de la Compañía de Jesús - 6a ave norte entre 3a y 4a calle. La Antigua Guatemala

Reference: AVI-010/15