Peru - The IOM Regional Office for South America, with support from IOM Peru, is hosting human rights experts from nine South American countries to discuss the protection needs of migrants in the continent.

The two-day event, ending today in Lima, brought together representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela to share experiences and policies from their respective countries and discuss ways to provide protection and improve the human rights of migrants and their families.

“This gathering is key for South American human rights experts to share best practices, exchange ideas and develop policies that will benefit migrants, especially those most vulnerable and in need of protection,” explained Diego Beltrand, IOM Regional Director for South America.

Peru’s Ombudsman, Dr. Eduardo Vega, said problems faced by Peruvians abroad are diverse and include a lack of access to basic services and housing, high levels of informal employment and abusive employment situations. 

In South America migration often takes place between countries with similar levels of development.  In Peru, 30.3 per cent of the 2.4 million Peruvians who have migrated have chosen a South American country as a place of residence (mainly Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Brazil.)  Of the 63,316 foreigners living in Peru, 7.2 per cent hail from Argentina, 6.3 per cent are Bolivian, 5 per cent are from Chile and 4.7 per cent from Colombia.

A recent IOM study points to Paraguay-Argentina and Bolivia-Argentina as the main regional migration corridors.  Other migration corridors are Peru-Argentina, Peru-Chile, Colombia-Venezuela, Colombia-Ecuador and Bolivia-Brazil.

The study: IOM Migration Panorama for South America, available in Spanish at /files/live/sites/iom/files/pbn/docs/Panorama_Migratorio_de_America_del_Sur_2012.pdf, also confirms that the economic crisis has resulted in an increase in intraregional migration, with Argentina and Chile as the main countries of destination. 

In Argentina, the largest migrant communities are Paraguayans (550,713) and Bolivians (345,272).  In Chile, most migrants are from Peru (130,859), while other Andean countries (Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia) account for some 56,000 people.

Brazil is also host to an increasing number of migrants from the region, as well as extra-regional migrants.  Approximately 1.5 million migrants are living in the country – most of them arrived in the last decade attracted by the booming economy.

Migrants from Africa and Asia have also been arriving in South American in the past few years.  The main countries of origin in Africa are Ethiopia, Somalia, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal. Asian migrants are arriving from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, China and Japan.

A final document, which will include recommendations, will be presented at the next meeting of the South American Conference on Migration scheduled to take place later this year in Colombia.

For more information, please contact

Carolina Santos
IOM Peru
Tel: (51-1) 221-7209 Ext. 145
Email: casantos@iom.int