El Salvador

June 2nd – SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA. Civil society organizations from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama and the United States that provide human rights assistance and support to migrant workers signed a document consisting of 15 agreements to promote the principles of ethical recruitment. This declaration affirms their commitment to the migrant worker population and their rights in countries of origin, transit and destination.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has developed a series of training processes focused on providing tools for ethical coverage of migration based on international law and evidence. A total of 162 professionals from national and local print media, television, radio and digital media, as well as communicators from public institutions in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama were trained.

Due to the fundamental role diasporas play in migration, the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) held the Forum for the promotion, development, linkage and capitalization of the contributions of diasporas.  Representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Member States, as well as representatives of organizations responsible for the identification, linkage or integration of the diaspora participated in the event, which was also attended by representatives of the Salvadoran diaspora.

Officials from 7 countries were trained on protection and assistance for migrants vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse. The activity was attended by representatives of migration institutes or directorates, consulates and entities responsible for the shelter and protection systems of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Costa Rica.

An IOM study found 57 active regularization initiatives in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic. Of these, 24 had been created explicitly for people in irregular status, while the rest benefited them tangentially by allowing them to present their documentation. Despite these advances, the study identified four major challenges that must be addressed in the coming years to ensure better migration management in the region.