Salvadorian and Nicaraguan officials are meeting today in Managua,
the Nicaraguan capital, to discuss cross-border labour migration
management.

The two-day meeting, part of a Canadian-funded IOM project
"Improving Labour Migration Administration in Central America and
the Dominican Republic", aims to improve cooperation between the
two countries to develop a shared approach to managing labour
migration, with a view to encouraging circular migration. 

Estimates suggest that some 20,000 Nicaraguans work in El
Salvador, mainly in services and agriculture, and the number is
believed to be growing. A 2011 IOM study of nearly 2,800
Nicaraguans in the country showed 70 per cent of them working in
the service sector, with the remainder working in the informal
sector, construction and agriculture. 

In 2011, the two governments, with support from IOM, implemented
a pilot project to regularize so-called “permanent”
Nicaraguans and their families living in El Salvador. But the
project did not address the needs of large numbers of temporary
migrant workers. 

Today’s Managua meeting hopes to establish a Bi-National
Committee on Labour Migration that could draft and implement a
bi-national agreement to facilitate regular labour migration,
improve its administration and protect labour migrants’
rights in both countries. 

For more information please contact: 

Yelba Sosa

IOM Nicaragua

Tel: +505.2268.9569

Email: "mailto:yscomunicaciones@gmail.com">yscomunicaciones@gmail.com