CAN General Secretariat and IOM step up efforts to implement Andean Community migration norms

Lima, Jan. 24, 2011.- The Andean Community General Secretariat and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will step up efforts to disseminate and implement Community norms on migration in the Andean subregion.

As an initial step in that direction, today the “Subregional Project to Strengthen Andean Integration by enforcing Community migration norms” was presented.  It will be carried out by the IOM through the 1035 Facility and by the CAN General Secretariat in coordination with the diplomatic missions and immigration authorities of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The project was introduced at the Subregional Meeting on Migration, Human Rights and Community Legislation in the Integration Process, opened by acting Andean Community Secretary General Adalid Contreras Baspineiro and the Regional IOM Representative for the CAN countries, Renate Held, at the Andean organization’s Lima headquarters.

The acting Secretary General of the Andean Community reported that a series of Community norms have been adopted with regard to migration, inter alia, Decision 397: Andean Migration Card; Decision 501: Border Integration Zones (BIZ); Decision 545: Andean Labor Migration Instrument; and Decision 548: Andean Cooperation Mechanism on Consular Assistance and Protection and Migratory Matters.

The fortunate fact that the desires and institutional policies of the CAN General Secretariat and the IOM coincide, he explained, means that these Community norms can be put into practice and disseminated among different public and private institutions, so that Andean citizens are made aware of and can benefit from them.  “It is our hope that this will be possible before the year is out,” he emphasized. 

The IOM Regional Representative for the CAN countries, Renate Held, for her part, underscored the importance of this regional meeting as a starting point for a project that is designed to strengthen integration and to open up spaces for the discussion of migratory matters. 

She noted that ever since the signing of the complementary agreement in 1992, the IOM has joined the CAN in carrying out different activities, like promoting Decision 545 on the Andean Labor Migration Instrument, and emphasized that the idea is to continue providing that support with this project.  

In the course of the meeting, the progress made in recent years in disseminating Community legislation on labor migration in coordination with other international organizations was noted.  This will serve as an important point of reference for any joint efforts that are undertaken by the CAN General Secretariat and the IOM.