Thirty-one Honduran migrants, selected for the IOM-managed labour
migration programme with Maple Leaf Foods in Canada, this week
received pre-departure cultural training.

The group will travel to Canada on 12 and 19 October.  They
will join another 177 Hondurans previously selected and currently
employed at Maple Leaf plants in Manitoba, Alberta and
Saskatchewan. 

Both groups will be accompanied by an IOM staff who will help
them settle into their new apartments, apply for social security
numbers, open bank accounts, and accompany them to the employment
orientation sessions held by Maple Leaf staff.

"I am very excited to be taking part in this programme. 
This is a great opportunity for me.  But at the same time I am
a bit afraid to leave my family behind and to travel to a new
country," says Gustavo, a Honduran selected for the labour
migration programme.

Following a request from the employer, IOM's labour migration
selection process begins with advertisements in local media,
processing and screening of applications, pre-selection interviews,
visits to the applicants' homes, and medical check-ups.  The
final selection is carried out by the employer during a
face-to-face interview with the potential candidates pre-selected
by IOM.

After the final selection, the applicants receive IOM assistance
in gathering documents and filling in forms to obtain travel
documents, support in case of questions regarding their employment
contracts, medical exams, language training and cultural
orientation.

"Pre-departure orientation sessions are vital for those selected
to work in Canada.  IOM provides important information on
culture, social norms, their rights, climate, housing, taxes and
other information that will ensure a successful integration into
Canadian life," explains Norberto Girón, IOM Chief of
Mission in Honduras.

In this first year of the labour migration programme, carried
out in close cooperation with the Honduran government, IOM has
assisted 230 Hondurans to travel to Canada and Spain.

According to official statistics, Honduras has an unemployment
rate of 17 per cent after reaching a peak of nearly 28 per cent in
2007, while a total of 46 per cent of its population is
under-employed.  It is estimated that almost one million
Hondurans who work full time make less than the minimum
wage. 

For more information, please contact:

Evelyn Andino

IOM Honduras

E-mail: "mailto:eandino@iom.int">eandino@iom.int

or

Jeremy Mac Gillivray

Tel: +504.220.1100 1510 and 1516

E-mail:  "mailto:jmacgillivray@iom.int">jmacgillivray@iom.int