El Salvador passes new Migration Law

 
El Salvador
7 May, 2019

 

On April 5, the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of El Salvador passed the Special Law on Migration. The objective of this law is to regulate matters relating to the movement of citizens and foreign nationals, including citizenship, naturalization, and expediting travel documents within a framework of respect for human rights, in accordance with the Constitution, laws, and international instruments. It likewise covers the organization and functions of the General Directorate of Migration (DGME).

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), through the Regional Migration Program: Mesoamerica-The Caribbean, supported technical discussions during the development of the Law.  It will now provide financial and technical support for discussion spaces and methodologies for disseminating and implementing the law in different sectors. IOM will likewise provide assistance for the development of regulations.

“IOM is starting to develop with the Government an instructional module to train all DGME staff on the Law, and will later support training spaces using a trainer of trainers methodology,” explained Cecilia Ramírez, national coordinator of the IOM Program in El Salvador.

The president of the Commission for External Relations, Central American Integration, and Salvadorans Abroad, Representative Karina Sosa, highlighted the consensus reached by different parliamentary groups and the support of entities such as IOM and the DGME to achieve it. “This is not an achievement of the commission for external relations, but an achievement of the country; we have given El Salvador a law that guarantees human rights. This is an opportunity to give back a little of what our compatriots in countries of transit or final destination give,” she emphasized.

This activity has been made possible by financing from the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) of the Department of State of the United States, within the framework of the Regional Migration Program: Mesoamerica-The Caribbean.