| 17 September 2008 Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergei Martynov and Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Brunson McKinley will discuss cooperation prospects on September 18, BelTA learnt from the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. Brunson McKinley will stay in Belarus on an official visit on September 17-20.
At present, 125 countries are the members of this organization. In 1994, Belarus acquired the status of observer. In 1998, a cooperation agreement was signed between the government of the Republic of Belarus and the International Organization for Migration which lay the legal ground for the cooperation. In 2005, Belarus became IOM member and was elected to the Executive Committee of this organization. In November 2007, Belarus was re-elected to the IOM governing body for the period of 2008-2009.
In 1996, IOM Office was established in Minsk. In 2007, under the auspices of the IOM the first international center for training, upgrading and retraining of the personnel in the area of migration and combating human trafficking was opened in Minsk.
The cooperation with the IOM is one of the priority areas of the Belarus’ foreign policy. At present, two projects $3.7 million worth are being implemented in Belarus: "MIGRABEL: Strengthening of Migration Management in the Republic of Belarus” and “Combating Trafficking in Human Beings: Belarus - Criminalization and Prosecution”.
Belarus is actively promoting the expansion of the interaction between the CIS member states and the IOM in the migration processes management on the territory of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
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