The International Organization for Migration marked its 40-year-long collaboration with the Government of Indonesia during a meeting Thursday with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla. 

“It was a sincere pleasure to be able to extend my personal appreciation to Vice President Kalla for the partnership that has been forged since we were first invited to work in Indonesia in 1979 in response to the Indo-Chinese refugee crisis,” IOM Director General António Vitorino said.    

“We look forward to strengthening this enduring relationship in the years to come.”   

During the meeting at IOM’s Geneva headquarters, the Vice-President expressed his gratitude for IOM’s extensive emergency and reconstruction work in the wake of the 2004 Asian Tsunami and its support to ethnic Rohingya refugees arriving by boat in the sprawling archipelagic nation of 260 million people.   

“Indonesia remains one of our largest missions with more than 300 staff working closely with our government partners to assist migrants around the country. We are also collaborating on a wide range of other issues including combating the scourge of human trafficking and supporting the government’s response to natural disasters,” DG Vitorino added.   

For further information, please contact Paul Dillon, IOM Geneva. Tel.:  +41 22 717 94 31, Email: PDillon@iom.int