Deputy Director General Laura Thompson met Dominican Vice President
Rafael Francisco Alburquerque de Castro at IOM Headquarters on 4
June 2012 to discuss issues of mutual interest.

Ambassador Thompson thanked the Vice President and the people of
the Dominican Republic for welcoming and supporting Haitians
displaced by the devastating January 2010 earthquake.

Ms. Thompson underlined the many positive contributions of
Haitians to the Dominican Republic and pledged IOM’s support
for labour migration programmes.

Emphasizing the need to promote and protect the rights of
migrants, Ms. Thompson noted the importance of providing temporary
worker status to Haitians in the Dominican Republic in line with
the recently signed Regulation for the Application of the General
Migration Law.

She recalled that on 15 May 2012, IOM had witnessed the formal
submission to the Ministry of Labour of the first 42 Haitian
migrants’ applications for temporary workers status.

Ambassador Thompson also highlighted the excellent cooperation
between IOM and the Dominican authorities to provide voluntary
return and reintegration assistance to Haitians who choose to go
home.

 

Cooperation in the field of border management was also discussed to
build the capacity of the authorities to better manage borders and
protect and assist victims of human smuggling and trafficking.