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Add to Preferred SourcesGeneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency yesterday (05/09) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chungcheongnam-do Provincial Government of the Republic of Korea (CPG). The agreement was signed by IOM Deputy Director General Laura Thompson and An Heejung, Governor of CPG, and aims to enhance knowledge sharing on integration and inclusion of migrants in the province.
DDG Thompson welcomed the Korean delegation at IOM Headquarters in Geneva. In her initial remarks, she mentioned that IOM has experienced substantial growth over the last 20 years, increasing the list of Member States from 65 to 166. She further highlighted IOM’s engagement with local authorities around the world, as illustrated by the Conference on Migrants and Cities held in 2015.
“If national governments are interested in integration, local authorities are even more so because they are often the ones dealing with migrants directly,” said Thompson.
Chungcheongnam-do, located 150 kilometres south of Seoul, has a total population of 2.1 million, of which 90,000 are migrants. Governor Heejung commended IOM for its expansion, which he recognized as a key factor for the safety and sustainable migration of people. He mentioned that most migrants in Chungcheongnam-do come for marriage, work and study opportunities. He mentioned that the main challenges in his province relate to three areas: migrants’ safety, access to education, and the creation of enabling environments for migrant workers.
“We want to learn about the positive experiences and programmes from other countries who have worked with IOM. We made the right decision to sign this partnership, and I hope it will lead to the implementation of projects,” said Heejung.
In this respect, DDG Thompson stressed that access to education is one of the main obstacles to integration, and that the provision of free language courses for migrants is essential for guaranteeing their access to services. She complimented the Governor for being able to tailor education programmes in the province according to the needs of migrants.
“Integration is one of the major challenges of migration, and it is a two-way process that requires societies’ openness to newcomers. It is an effort from both sides,” added Thompson. She cautioned, however, that integration projects are not universally applicable, and that they should focus on the specific contexts in which they are implemented.
“In general, there needs to be systems that allow the participation of migrants in decision-making processes, so that they feel that their opinions matter,” she added.
With the cooperation agreement entering into force on the day of its signing, DDG Thompson said “We hope that this is the beginning of a long-term relationship, not only in your governorate but also expanding to the entire Republic of Korea.”
She concluded by calling attention to the 2030 Agenda and the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), two recent developments that have helped to recognize migration as an integral component to sustainable development.
Original source: IOM.
Posted on 6 September 2017.