Press Releases

Consultation on migration issues and priorities in Asia

The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), in cooperation with the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI), will organize a Consultation on migration issues and priorities in Asia in Manila on Thursday 28 and Friday 29 August 2008. This high level Conference will convene about 40 representatives of 18 countries of the region (among them several archbishops and bishops).

The main objective of the Consultation is to examine the migration issues and actions from a regional perspective by Asian Bishops’ Conferences and their Commissions on migration. The participants will also explore convergences, common orientations and possible response mechanisms within the region. The Consultation will further allow ICMC to strengthen its memberships network in Asia.

Among the specific migration themes that will be discussed are: national migration issues; labour migration and the need for protection; human trafficking; the well being of migrants and their families; migration and development - towards global governance.

Created in 1951 by the Vatican, ICMC is an international operating organisation serving and protecting uprooted people - refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants - regardless of faith, race, ethnicity or nationality. It advocates for rights-based policies and durable solutions directly and through a worldwide network of member organisations.

ICMC’s members are the Catholic Bishops Conferences and Episcopal assemblies of similar status worldwide, particularly of those countries concerned with migration and refugee issues. ICMC Headquarters is in Geneva. The organisation has liaison offices in Brussels and Washington, as well as operations offices in Kosovo, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan and Indonesia.

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 For further information on the Consultation, please contact:

- M. Marc Aellen, ICMC Head of Communications (Tel. +41 79 834 49 57)