The General Directorate of Migration (DGME) and IOM Contribute to the Fulfillment of the Rights of Children in El Salvador

 
8 March, 2018

According to statistics from El Salvadoran migration authorities, between 2009 and 2016 111 boys, girls, and adolescents under the ages of 18 - primarily from Belize, the United States and Guatemala - received migration assistance.

 

El Salvador – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, and the General Directorate of Migration (DGME) of El Salvador presented the Protocol of Action and Coordination for the Care and Protection of Foreign Migrant Children and Adolescents. The protocol will allow the Salvadoran government to advance in the guarantee and fulfilment of the fundamental rights of this population present on Salvadoran territory.

The protocol was designed within the framework of the Principle of Best Interest, which establishes that in all decisions that affect children and adolescents, including those who are migrants, their physical, spiritual, psychological, moral and social development is prioritized so as to achieve the full and harmonious development of their personality (established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Law on the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents – LEPINA). The Protocol details the necessary mechanisms and procedures for the assistance, care and return of this population and their families, based on profiles that address the particularities of each case. 

The official event was headed by the General Director of Migration, Héctor Rodríguez; IOM Chief of Mission for El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Jorge Peraza; DGME’s General Secretary, Helen Flamenco; and the Chief of Immigration Control, Herbert Hernández. During the event, the authorities of DGME and IOM also signed a memorandum of understanding, which ensures continuity of actions by both parties in favor of mobile populations, particularly the most vulnerable.

“With this protocol of action, we are contributing to the government’s efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals through the application of planned and well-managed policies that facilitate migration and orderly, safe, regular and responsible mobility,” said IOM Chief of Mission for El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Jorge Peraza.

According to official statistics, 111 foreign migrants – mainly from Belize, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua – received assistance from DGME between 2009 and 2016.

The preparation of the Protocol was carried out within the framework of IOM’s Mesoamerica Program, financed by the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the Department of State of the United States of America. The objective of the Mesoamerica Program is to contribute to the development and implementation of strategies that promote regular, orderly and safe migration.