IOIM provides migration training to municipal staff and social attorneys of the Costa Rican bar association

On January 29th  and 30th,  the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with support from the General Directorate of Migration and Aliens, the Ministry of Public Education and the Ministry of Work and Social Security, conducted a training for municipal staff and social attorneys of the local bar association. The participants will be providing counsel along with the Foundation for Peace and Democracy (FUMPADEM), for the strenghtening of capacities of the Municipal Migrant Centers (MMC) and the Centers for Migration Reference and Social Defense (CREDES). 

The training, which was attended by 22 people, comprised three large topics of great importance for migrants: labor, education and regularization. The end goal is to offer proper attention for migrants posing questions and starting procedures in the MMCs, currently located in Upala, Talamanca and Desamparados (and with a new location opening shortly in Escazú).  

Among the discussed issues, it was also talked the identification of possibly risky situations associated to irregular migration, such as trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling. Tools of reference were recommended for migrants in conditions of complex vulnerability.

Since 2018, IOM has coordinated with local governments in the creation of three MMCs. Through these activities, the organization wishes to promote continued training for MMC and CREDES personnel, while bolstering the  ideal mechanisms for the attention of migrants and favoring interinstitutional capacity-building.

“These training processes are essential for timely and thourough attention of migrants' needs through the municipalities. The support of State and local institutions is also basic in the process of generating truthful and safe information to provide assistance to these persons", explained Isis Orozco, coordinator for Costa Rica of the Regional Program on Migration Mesoamerica - The Caribbean. 

The program is financed by the Bureau of Population, Migration and Refugees of the United States' Department of State.