Mexico holds Meeting on Municipal Migration Information Centers
Tapachula, Chiapas. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Migration Policy Unit, and municipal governments, held the 2nd Meeting on Municipal Migration Information Centers, in Chiapas, Mexico on April 8-12.
Participants, mainly staff of these municipal centers, met during an entire week to be trained on how to improve their services and counselling to migrants to promote orderly and regular migration and socio-economic integration. Specifically, trainings were held on labor procedures for migrants and other topics such as data collection and reporting, communication for development, and psychosocial assistance.
“IOM’s goal, through the Mesoamerica Program, is migrants’ labor integration, now that Mexico is becoming a destination country. For approximately five years, the Information Hubs have served as a safe place where migrants can receive information about regularization, health services, international protection, and other community services,” explained Christopher Gascon, Chief of Mission of IOM Mexico.
For her part, the Head of the Migration Policy Unit, Rocío González Higuera emphasized that, “It is important to mention that the counseling provided at each of the Hubs makes a difference for migrants, empowering them with information about requirements and migration processes, and helps us to create safer environments for them.”
The services most requested by migrants at the Information Hubs are those related to migration requirements and procedures, followed by questions about applying for asylum in Mexico.
This activity was held within the framework of the Regional Migration Program: Mesoamerica-The Caribbean, which operates with support from the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) of the Department of State of the United States.
For more information, contact Gustavo Gutiérrez, National Coordinator of the Regional Migration Program: Mesoamerica-The Caribbean, email: gugutierrez@iom.int, or phone +52 55 5536 39 Ext. 103. Or, the Communication & Media department of IOM Mexico, email: iommexicocomunica@iom.int, or phone: + 52 55 5536 39 22 Ext. 119.