IOM Director General William Lacy Swing is in India this week at
the invitation of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

The visit is his first since India became an IOM member state in
June 2008 and he is expected to meet with senior officials from the
Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs and Overseas Indian
Affairs (MOIA).

The visit aims to further strengthen relations between IOM and
India and to explore areas of future collaboration in migration
management.

IOM and the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs have a
Memorandum of Understanding which serves as a platform for the
joint implementation of programmes and activities enhancing the
management and facilitation of overseas employment of Indian
workers worldwide.

This includes the joint implementation in India of an IOM
programme funded by the European Commission that promotes both
regional dialogue and programmes aimed at enhancing managed labour
mobility between Asia and the European Union.

Under this programme, IOM and the MOIA will jointly create
labour mobility management projects such as the establishment of an
Overseas Workers Resource Centre to disseminate information on
legal opportunities for potential overseas workers and the
implementation of mass information campaigns.

Other ongoing IOM projects in India include an initiative to set
up public-private partnerships designed to reintegrate victims of
human trafficking into society.

Previous IOM projects in India have included the return of
stranded Indian nationals following the first Gulf War in 1991 and
provision of transitional shelter and livelihood support for
migrant salt workers following the 2001 Gujarat earthquake.

India is one of the world's largest migration economies. In 2010
some 11.4 million people legally left the country to work abroad,
while another 5.4 million came to India to work.

According to the World Bank, in 2010 India was the world's
largest recipient of migrant worker remittances, receiving USD 55
billion, up from USD 49.6 billion in 2009.

For more information please contact:

Nitin Kumar

IOM New Delhi

Tel: +91 11 24 19 79 90

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