Argentina - International migration experts from Europe and Latin America are this week meeting in Buenos Aires to discuss the latest developments and challenges in migration policy.

The event, hosted by the IOM Regional Office for South America and the Institute of Migration and Asylum Policies (IPMA by its Spanish acronym), is bringing together international migration experts, government officials, academia and civil society to exchange ideas and best practices related to current migration policies in the world and the challenges faced by South America as migratory flows become more dynamic and complex.

Experts from South America will share lessons learned from regional integration efforts in the region, and how these have impacted on the mobility of labour migrants and increased awareness and respect of their human rights.

Participants from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean will share details of the migration processes that take place in their respective regions and discuss how irregular migration impacts most of their countries. 

The group will examine the links between the world economic crisis and migration policies instituted by the European Union and the United States, main destination countries for migrant from Central and South America and the Caribbean.

“In the past decade, migration policies have undergone significant changes, mainly to address security concerns.  The financial crisis which began in 2008 has also impacted the migration policies of many countries.  Some have introduced more restrictive entry procedures and increased border control. Others, from a rights-based approach, have put more emphasis on creating legal channels for the movement of migrants, and the development of measures in favour of the social integration of migrants and the return and reintegration of their nationals,” explains Diego Beltrand, IOM Regional Director for South America.

After September 11, 2001, when increased immigration controls were put in place in the United States, the traditional destination for Latin American migrants, Spain became an alternative destination. Migration from South America to Spain experienced a fourfold increase from the end of the 1990s, reaching a total of 2.1 million of migrants by 2009.

But the global economic crisis has led to visa regimes and more restrictive immigration policies, beginning with the approval of the 2008 European Union return directive, which requires that every migrant detained without proper immigration papers be detained for up to 18 months while deportation orders are finalized. This includes unaccompanied minors. 

This has led to a significant increase in intraregional migration within South America, with Argentina, Chile and Brazil being the main countries of destination.

For more information, please contact

Ezequiel Texidó
IOM Buenos Aires
Email: etexido@iom.int
Tel: 54 1 14 815 51 94