IOM, in cooperation with the Jesuit Migration Service and
Nicaragua’s Migration Directorate, is conducting today (8/6)
a one-day training workshop for migration officials on the legal
framework protecting the human rights of irregular migrants and
refugees in Nicaragua.

Some 30 officials from the central office of Migration
Directorate and from border areas, who deal with irregular migrants
and refugees entering Nicaragua attended the event, which was
supported by the Council of Evangelical Churches Proalianza
Denominacional (CEPAD).

For decades Nicaragua was considered a country of origin for
migrants with more than 10 per cent of its population living
overseas, mainly in the United States and Costa Rica.

But in the past five years it has become a country of transit
and destination for migrants and refugees notably from China,
Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, who arrive in the country by sea and
are then abandoned by smugglers who had agreed to take them to the
United States or Canada. 

In 2009, the Migration Directorate’s shelter for irregular
migrants hosted 240 persons. Since 2007 it has hosted over 700
migrants, 35 per cent of them from China.  

“These migrants are very vulnerable. The smugglers often
confiscate their passports and other documents. They have often
been robbed and physically abused and do not speak Spanish or
English.  This is why we have to educate the immigration
officers who come into contact with them,” explains Paola
Zepeda, IOM’s Head of Office in Nicaragua.  

IOM has also helped the Nicaraguan authorities to upgrade the
facilities at the shelter, with additional funding from the US
Embassy in Nicaragua. This included the renovation of the sleeping,
bathroom and kitchen facilities, and procurement of fans, beds,
mattresses, chairs and other items. It has also prepared an
information leaflet in Spanish, Chinese, English and French
informing the migrants of their rights and responsibilities while
at the shelter.

For more information, please contact 

Yelba Sosa

IOM Nicaragua

Tel. +505.2268.9569

Email "mailto:ysoza@iom.int">ysoza@iom.int