IOM today launched its online database of
international, regional and national migration law aimed at
providing government officials, researchers, migrants and the
general public easy access through the internet of international
migration law.

A large and comprehensive variety of
international and regional instruments governing migration in the
world have been incorporated in the database. International
conventions, regional and bilateral treaties are also included in
at least one of the three official languages of IOM (English,
French and Spanish).

In an effort to facilitate access to national
migration legislation, IOM has included migration laws from
selected countries in the database. More countries will be added in
the coming months.

Through the database IOM seeks to improve the
access to International Migration Law, to enhance the understanding
of this area of law, and to promote it as an important element of
comprehensive migration management frameworks.

As part of the development of the database,
IOM's International Migration Law and Legal Affairs Department
plans to incorporate resolutions and judgments of international and
regional bodies, as well as detailed information on the status of
ratifications of treaties in the database.

A list of links to other databases with
national and international law is also in planning. The database
will be regularly updated to reflect recent developments in
international and national migration law.

IOM's recently established International
Migration Law and Legal Affairs Department in Geneva developed the
database in cooperation with IOM's Website Unit in Manila. The
department focuses on research, training and capacity building in
the area of International Migration Law.

The database can be accessed through the IOM
homepage or directly through the link: "paragraph-link-underlined" href="http://www.iml.iom.int/" target=
"_blank" title="">http://www.iml.iom.int/

For further information, contact:

The International Migration Law and Legal
Affairs Department under "mailto:iml@iom.int" target="_blank" title="">iml@iom.int