A new agreement between IOM and Uruguay's Ministry of Social
Development (MIDES) will allow closer cooperation in developing
activities designed to protect and promote the human rights of
migrants living in the country.

As part of the new agreement being signed today in Montevideo by
Ana María Vignoli, Minister of Social Development and Juan
Artola, IOM Regional Representative for the Southern Cone, IOM and
MIDES will conduct research to document the latest migration trends
in Uruguay. This will help lawmakers design policies for the
successful integration of migrants into society.  The research
will also help the Uruguayan government to design a national
migration policy.

"Uruguay is a country with an ageing population of just over
three million people with official figures confirming that only 2.1
per cent are foreign born," explains IOM's Juan Artola.

In the 1960s, more than 60 per cent of migrants hailed from
Argentina and Brazil.  After 2001, the country saw a new wave
of immigration, mainly from Paraguay, Peru and Chile, the vast
majority unskilled and living below the poverty line eking out a
living in the informal sector of the economy.

"Working in the so-called black economy means that these
migrants do not have access to basic social services and cannot
regularize their immigration status.  Today's agreement and
the activities that will be carried out will support the government
in its endeavour to design social policies to integrate this sector
of society," adds Artola.

Uruguay is also considered a country of origin for migrants with
an estimated 600,000, mainly young Uruguayans, living outside the
country.  This outflow of the active labour force, more than
18 per cent of the population, has had a significant impact on the
country's demographics, social and health care systems due to a
largely ageing resident population.

With studies revealing that return migration was on the rise,
the government has focused on strengthening links with its
diaspora.  In 2006 the number of returnees reached 3.3 per
cent of the population (approximately 110,000 persons).  In
the past two years the impact of the international financial crisis
has prompted the return of some Uruguayan migrants, mainly those
living in vulnerable conditions.

As part of the new agreement, IOM will also provide its
technical expertise as the government designs and implements
programmes to enhance assistance to returnees, promote their
reintegration into the labour market and facilitate mobility in
border areas with Brazil and Argentina.

For more information please contact:

Alba Goycoechea

IOM Montevideo

Tel: +509 2 916 80 43

E-mail: "mailto:agoycoechea@iom.int">agoycoechea@iom.int