IOM assistance sought to repatriate Sri Lankans stranded in Iran
The assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been sought to repatriate Sri Lankans stranded in Azerbaijan and Iran.
The Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Iran G.M.V. Wishwanath Aponsu met with the Chief of Mission of the IOM in the Islamic Republic of Iran Lalini Veerassamy at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Tehran and exchanged views on international migration, its impact on the socio-economic development of states, increasing trend of illegal migrants from South Asian countries to Iran, joint mechanism for the governance of illegal migration, repartition issues of Sri Lankan illegal migrants in Iran, human smuggling and trafficking.
UN Migration Chief Lalini Veerassamy expressed the view that due to the instability in various regions of the world and the economic crisis affecing a number of countries, there have been significant increase of illegal migrants and refugees especially in the West Asia region. She briefed on the ongoing work of the IOM office in Tehran.
The Sri Lankan envoy spoke about the measures that have been taken by the Embassy of Sri Lanka to tackle migration issues and assist Sri Lankan workers in the marine sector in coordination with the relevant authorities of Iran.
Apprising the Chief of Mission on the current developments in Sri Lanka, the Ambassador requested assistance from the IOM Tehran Office to speed up the repartition process of Sri Lankans stranded in Azerbaijan and Iran, providing training programmes to the Embassy staff, sharing IOM information with the Sri Lankan Mission in Iran and facilitating accommodation and other required assistance for Sri Lankans stranded in Iran.
In response, the IOM Chief stated that her willingness to facilitate IOM assistance to Sri Lankans stranded in Iran and to provide training for the Embassy staff.
Concluding the meeting, the UN Migration Chief of Mission in Iran expressed her gratitude to the Ambassador of Sri Lanka and his staff for arranging the timely discussion. (Colombo Gazette)
