Guatemala

Two new Information Hubs on Migration in the municipalities of La Libertad and Melchor de Mencos, in Petén, will provide information and clear, reliable, and direct advice to migrants and promote safe and orderly migration. Municipal corporations will be responsible for the operation of these Hubs, and the activities planned include training sessions with community actors on the risks of irregular migration and mechanisms for regularization, training processes for migrants and their families, and continuous work to prevent irregular migration in the department’s 14 municipalities. 

As part of the efforts to protect the rights of migrants, the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) launched a regional training programme focused on the protection and assistance of vulnerable migrants in conjunction with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who in 2019 developed the Handbook on Protection and Assistance for Migrants Vulnerable to Violence, Exploitation and Abuse.

The second part of the technical exchange of practices on fair recruitment and labor protection of migrant workers was held the 24 May 2021, as part of the Regional Conference on Migration. The session was led by the International Labour Organization, jointly moderated with the International Organization of Migration, and gathered the participation of 61 participants from 11 RCM Member Countries’ representatives, private sector and civil society organizations, as well as observer agencies.  

The Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM), with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has initiated a series of trainings for more than 260 officials who work at border control posts. The goal of these trainings is to enable public servants to identify migrants who are in a vulnerable situation and in need of protection or any other humanitarian assistance, according to the adverse circumstances they may be facing. 

A message transmitted in time can save someone’s life. With this premise, the Commission of Migration Authorities (OCAM) of the member countries of the Central America Integration System (SICA), in conjunction with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), developed a regional workshop on emergency and migratory crisis communication. Migration officials from the areas of communication, press, migration control, and care for migrants from 8 different OCAM member countries, participated in a three-day workshop (May 18, 19, and 20) on the essential role of communication in these issues.  

The Government of Mexico, as Pro-Tempore Chair of the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM), with the support from IOM and ILO promoted an exchange to support the design, implementation and follow-up of labour migration mechanisms within the framework of this multilateral forum. The exchange is the first part of the "Conversation for the exchange of good practices in the recruitment and labour protection of migrants".

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM) launched the online Course on the Migration Code and its regulations, a tool aimed at the staff of government institutions involved in the migration process, civil society, academia and interested citizens. 

Mobility restrictions due to covid-19 have had a direct effect on migratory flows, due to border closures and quarantine measures, as well as isolation and social distancing. For this reason, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized the II Exchange of Experiences between Local and Cross-border Networks of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

In recent months there has been a substantial increase in migration flows from Central America to North America, making it increasingly necessary to expand the coverage of secure information channels. Chief among these are the migration information hubs, which in the first quarter of 2021 alone, reported to IOM to have assisted more than 12,000 people in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.