IOM has this week opened an office in Paraguay's capital,
Asunción. Speaking at the opening ceremony, IOM's Regional
Representative Eugenio Ambrosi said: "Migration issues and ways to
better manage migration have, in the past few years, become a
priority for the government. Therefore, this IOM presence in the
country marks a new stage in the cooperative relationship between
Paraguay and IOM."

Migration issues in Paraguay include the outflows of Paraguayan
nationals, mainly to Argentina which hosts the largest Paraguayan
diaspora as well as Spain.  At the same time, Paraguay
receives migrants from neighbouring countries, including Brazil and
Argentina, amongst others.

Current IOM programmes in Paraguay include: a counter
trafficking programme in the triple border region (Argentina,
Paraguay and Brazil); a human trafficking prevention project in
schools, implemented in cooperation with the Office of the First
Lady and the Inter-American Development Bank; research on the
extent of human trafficking in the country; a reintegration
assistance programme for victims of trafficking in cooperation with
the Ministry for Women in Asunción and the Ministry for
Children and Adolescents in Ciudad del Este; and a technical
cooperation programme to support the Prosecutors' Office in
Paraguay and Argentina to process and convict alleged
traffickers.

At the opening ceremony, Paraguay's Minister of Foreign
Relations, Rubén Ramirez Lezcano, welcomed the opening of
the new IOM office.  Also present were Paraguay's National
Immigration Director, the Executive Secretaries of the Ministries
for Children and Adolescents, the Ministry for Women, and the
Ministry for Returnees and Refugees, as well as several ambassadors
representing countries including Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Spain,
the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela, amongst others.

For more information, please contact:

Guillermo Sosa

IOM Asunción

Tel: +595.981.495870

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