A first group of 10 Honduran migrants are today travelling to
Canada to participate in a six-month temporary labour migration
project.

The group was hired to perform seasonal agricultural work at the
El Dorado Farm in the province of Alberta.

The migrants will earn a salary seven to eight times greater
than the minimum wage in their country.

Following an agreement signed between IOM and the Honduran
government, IOM is identifying employment opportunities in North
America and Europe to help alleviate high unemployment and poverty
affecting a wide sector of the population. The agreement specifies
that priority is given to those living in extreme poverty.

IOM provides technical assistance in the selection and
recruitment stages, support in obtaining travel documents and
visas, makes all the travel arrangements and accompanies the
migrants to Canada.

According to the US Department of State Bureau of Western
Hemisphere Affairs, Honduras is one of the poorest and least
developed countries in Latin America, with nearly two-thirds of
Hondurans living in poverty. Although historically dependent on
exports of coffee and bananas, the economy has diversified over the
past 20 years with the development of non-traditional exports such
as oriental vegetables, cultivated shrimp, melons, and the tourism
industry as well as the establishment of a growing maquila industry
(assembly plants for export), which employs approximately 130,000
Hondurans.

Remittances from Hondurans living abroad, the vast majority of
whom reside in the United States, amounted to USD 2.3 billion in
2006, which represents 15 per cent of the country's foreign
exchange earnings and over 20 per cent of its GDP.

For more information contact:

Evelyn Andino

IOM Tegucigalpa

Tel: + 504 220 11 00

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