Labour migration officials from 10 Asian countries are meeting in
Islamabad this week for an IOM training workshop on administering
overseas employment programmes.



The European Commission-funded workshop, which runs July 17-20,
focuses on how countries can market their labour and what labour
migration opportunities exist in EU member states.



Participants include delegations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
China, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand
and Vietnam.



The workshop is part of a regional programme to facilitate legal
labour migration between Asia and Europe and to enhance the
capacity of governments and the private sector to place workers
legally in the EU, to develop regional cooperation between labour
sending countries, and to communicate the risks of illegal labour
migration.



At a ministerial meeting in Bali in September 2005, Asian labour
sending countries identified a need for overseas employment market
research to create legal labour migration opportunities in
destination countries.



In addition to the Islamabad training, IOM will also organize
training workshops for private recruitment agencies, help selected
countries to update their national human resources and skills
profile in relation to foreign labour demand, implement a pilot
action to place workers legally in the EU, support the creation of
Migrants’ Resource Centres, introduce and strengthen
pre-departure orientation programmes, and organize the next
ministerial meeting of labour sending countries in Asia.



"The economic logic for migration is compelling," said Raza Hayat
Hiraj, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Overseas Pakistanis
Division. "We have to develop policies to gain advantage by
changing the brain drain into brain gain and that’s why we
are here at this important workshop organized by IOM on this
significant issue."



For more information, please contact:



Saleem Rehmat

IOM Pakistan

Tel: +92 300 856 0341



or



Michael Tschanz

IOM Geneva

Tel.: +41 22 717 9526

E-mail: "mailto:mtschanz@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">mtschanz@iom.int