Malaysian Home Affairs Minister, H.E. Dato Seri Hishammuddin Tun
Hussein met on 7 May the Director General William Lacy Swing at IOM
Headquarters to discuss future collaboration on migration
management, including IOM's support for refugee resettlement
programmes and assistance to victims of trafficking in Malaysia.

The Minister and Director General Swing, who met earlier this
year in Putrajaya, confirmed their willingness to strengthen
cooperation through the official opening of an IOM Office in Kuala
Lumpur, subject to approval from the Government of Malaysia.

IOM's main activity in Malaysia is currently the resettlement to
third countries of thousands of refugees, mainly from Myanmar.
Between 2005 and 2009 it provided medical screening, cultural
orientation and transport for some 20,600 refugees from Malaysia to
11 resettlement countries. This year it expects to move at least
6,000 more.  It also provides voluntary return assistance to
rescued victims of human trafficking.

IOM first became active in Malaysia in the late 1970s during the
Indochinese refugee crisis. As a part of the Malaysian National
Security Council's Working Group on Resettlement, it provided
medical screening and transportation assistance for Indochinese
refugees leaving the country. The resettlement operation continued
until 1994, when the crisis ended with the resettlement or
repatriation of all the refugees.

IOM subsequently continued to work with the Malaysian
government, implementing an Assisted Voluntary Return Programme for
failed asylum seekers. It also assisted various Malaysian
government agencies between 1984-1995, in cooperation with the
Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department, under
the German Integrated Expert Programme.

Malaysia is also an active participant in the Bali and Colombo
Regional (Migration) Processes, for which IOM serves as the
Secretariat. 

The Bali Process is a regional cooperation mechanism to combat
people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational
crime. Malaysia has been a member since its launch in 2002.

Malaysia also participates as a labour receiving country in the
Colombo Process on the Management of Overseas Employment and
Contractual Labour for Countries of Origin in Asia. In 2008, with
19 other countries, it signed the Abu Dhabi Declaration on Overseas
Employment and Contractual Labour for Countries of Origin and
Destination in Asia.

Malaysian officials also regularly participate in a variety of
migration management training workshops that IOM organizes in Asia
and globally.

For further information, please contact:

Jean-Philippe Chauzy

IOM Geneva

Tel. +41.22 717 93 61, +41 79 285 43 66

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