More than 30 consular officials from the 11 countries that make up
the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) met this week in
Nicaragua’s capital of Managua for a training workshop on
protecting the human rights of migrant workers.

The participants, from Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic,
and the United States, will focus on the need to protect the human
rights of migrant workers in countries of destination. 

They will discuss best practices and lessons learned by consular
officials working with migrant workers, as well as mechanisms to
foster increased cooperation among governments of countries of
origin, transit and destination.  

The discussions will provide input for the drafting of
guidelines and a regional plan of action to be used by consular
officials when working with migrant workers in order to ensure the
protection of their rights.  

According to official estimates, some 10.6 per cent of Central
Americans or five million people have migrated to work abroad. Some
15.5 per cent of Salvadorians are living outside their country,
followed by 12.7 per cent of Nicaraguans; 11.7 per cent of
Hondurans; 9 per cent of Guatemalans and 3.9 per cent of Costa
Ricans. 

Labour migration in Central America takes place within the
country (rural to urban migration) to neighboring countries and
outside the region.  

Internal migration, primarily in Honduras, Guatemala and
Nicaragua, is closely linked to seasonal agricultural
work.  

Cross border labour migration takes place between:
Guatemala-Belize; Guatemala-Mexico; Nicaragua-Costa Rica; Costa
Rica-Panama and Haiti-Dominican Republic. 

Destination countries for extra regional labour migration
include the United States, Mexico and Canada.  

The American Community Survey of the US Census Bureau (2010)
reports that 3.9 million people from Central America, Panama and
the Dominican Republic are living in the United States, accounting
for 9.2 per cent of the foreign born population living in the
US.  

This week’s workshop was co-funded by the Government of
Canada and complements previous training sessions held in El
Salvador and the Dominican Republic. It was part of the IOM
regional project Improving the Management of Labour Migration in
Central America and the Dominican Republic.  

For the past 15 years, the countries of the RCM, also known as
the Puebla Process, have met annually to discuss regional migration
issues, including the human rights of migrants. IOM provides
technical and logistical support to the RCM Technical
Secretariat. 

For more information please contact: 

Yelba Sosa

IOM Nicaragua

Tel. +505.2268.9569

Email "mailto:yscomunicaciones@gmail.com">yscomunicaciones@gmail.com