| 22 December 2009 On December 18, 2009 the National Press Center of the Republic of Belarus hosted the press conference devoted to the International Migrants Day. The press conference was attended by Alexey Begun, Head of the Department for Nationality and Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; Dejan Keserovic, Chief of Mission in the Republic of Belarus of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Yuriy Fedorov, Head of the Directorate for International Cooperation of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus. According to statistical data and trend analysis conducted by IOM, there are 214 million migrants in the world, which accounts for 3.1 per cent of the total population of the Earth. According to the National Statistical Committee, the number of persons entering the Republic of Belarus this year to take permanent residence accounted for 16.6 thousand people and the number of persons who left the country reached 6.5 thousand people. In total about130 thousand foreign nationals and 8 thousand stateless persons who have permanent residence authorization are registered with the internal affairs bodies. Individuals from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Lithuania constitute the majority of immigrants. According to Alexey Begun, Belarus has put in place migration legislation corresponding with international standards; a comprehensive framework of legal and social protection of migrants is in place and working, refugee legislation is being implemented successfully. Today a new draft law ‘On Status of Foreign Nationals and Stateless Persons’ has been prepared. This draft law will facilitate achievement of the main goals of the migration policy. Firstly, it will ensure control over migration flows in our territory by providing effective tools to the competent authorities. Secondly, it will allow admission to Belarus of foreign nationals and stateless persons who are of interest to our country, while putting in place a reliable barrier against undesirable persons. Besides, the Law ‘On Nationality of the Republic of Belarus’ has been amended accordingly to eliminate the gaps in the legislation and a new version of the Law of the Republic of Belarus ‘On External Labor Migration’ has been prepared. The Law of the Republic of Belarus ‘On Granting of Refugee Status, Subsidiary and Temporary Protection in the Republic of Belarus’ has entered into force since July this year. According to this instrument, refugees in the Republic of Belarus enjoy the same social and economic rights, as well as rights relating to education, as do the nationals of Belarus. Besides, they are granted the right to family reunification, financial assistance, residence in specially equipped places, exemptions in registration at the place of residence, as well as the right to judicial protection on an equal basis with the nationals of Belarus. Voluntary return is an alternative to unlawful migrants and potential refugees who were refused or withdrawn their applications for any reason. Since 2007, the IOM Mission in Belarus has implemented the program of assisted voluntary return of migrants to their countries of origin. Within the framework of the program 107 migrants applied for assistance and 67 migrants were granted such assistance (including consulting, issuance of documents for departure, payment of the reintegration grant, medical examination, etc.).
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