SIMN at the VIII South American Conference on Migrations

Between September 17 and September 19, 2008, the city of Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, hosted the South-American Conference on Migrations (SCM). The government of Uruguay with the cooperation and technical assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) welcomed the representatives of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela together with the representatives of international civil society’s organizations. Among them there was the Scalabrini International Migration Network.

During this conference, the discussion centered on the necessity of a new spirit of cooperation and regional political coordination to face the challenges presented by the present migration reality. Also, there were presentations on how better to implement common migration policies based on the human rights of migrants, the diasporas, assistance to return migrants and the fight against the human trade and  human trafficking. (See the attached final declaration in English or Spanish)