Bangkok – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, is today (8 August) organizing a workshop for over 100 consular officials from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on how to assist Thai nationals abroad in times of crisis.

The Migrants in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) workshop is taking place during the Thai MFA’s World Consuls’ Meeting, which is being held from 7–10 August in Bangkok.

The training aims to strengthen Thailand’s crisis management capacity when dealing with potentially vulnerable Thai migrants living or working abroad in countries experiencing crises such as conflicts or natural disasters.

It focuses on the implementation of a set of guidelines developed by the Migrant in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) government-led initiative – co-chaired by the United States and the Philippines – to provide practical guidance for States, private sector actors, international organizations and civil society to protect migrants in times of crisis.

IOM hosts the international secretariat of the MICIC initiative and supports the dissemination of the MICIC Guidelines and the development of related capacity-building tools worldwide.

Dana Graber Ladek, IOM Thailand Chief of Mission, sees MICIC’s role as critical for vulnerable migrants abroad.

“Migrants are often affected disproportionally in times of crisis due to a lack of access to sufficient information and resources to protect themselves,” said Ladek. “The inclusion of migrants in the crisis management frameworks of countries both of origin and of destination can help reduce these vulnerabilities,” she said.

The workshop follows a series of capacity-building trainings carried out in 2016 by IOM with the Thai Ministry of Interior’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) to improve coordination and better assist migrants during emergencies in Thailand.

An estimated one million Thai nationals are believed to be living, working or studying abroad. The majority are in the United States, Taiwan (Province of China), Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom.

For more information, please contact please contact IOM Thailand:
Dana Graber Ladek, Tel: +66 2 343 9301, Email: dgraber@iom.int
Reuben Lim, Tel: +66 2 343 9370, Email: rlim@iom.int