Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: Cabinet nod for full membership of international migration body

Cabinet nod for full membership of international migration body
================================================================================
NewsByte on 02 May, 2008 02:37:00
 
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) which will enable it to engage
more actively in improving conditions for Indian workers abroad. The Union
Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Thursday gave
its approval to obtain full membership of IOM, an inter-governmental
organisation dealing with the issue of migration.
In conversation with the press in the Capital, Union Finance Minister P
Chidambaram said, "India's membership of IOM will enable us to engage more
actively with this inter-governmental organisation dealing with the issue of
migration in areas of interest to us, particularly those related to improving
conditions for Indian workers abroad."
The IOM, based in Geneva, was established in 1951 as an Inter-governmental
Committee for European Migration. It has 122 states as members, with 92
observers, including 18 countries. India obtained an observer status at IOM in
1991 after the Iraq invasion on Kuwait when IOM helped to airlift several Indian
nationals.
IOM was of much help when some 300 Indian nationals had been stranded off the
coast of Mauritania and in another incident, supported 59 stranded Indian
migrants in Kamsar in Guinea Conakry and facilitated their safe repatriation.
The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, which is the Ministry in-charge of all
emigration from India to overseas countries and return of emigrants, is also
engaged with IOM in a process known as the Colombo process on Labour Migration.
(PTI)