Costa Rica

With the aim of sharing good investigative practices among law enforcement, security, migration and judicial institutions that can strengthen the fight against crime, promote international cooperation and teach us more of the challenges faced by border police forces, Panama and Costa Rica, along with other allied states, participated in the III Binational Meeting on the Investigation of Illicit Trafficking of Migrants Linked to Cybercrime that took place on the 18th and 19th of May, 2021, in a blended session with virtual and on location participants. 

A message transmitted in time can save someone’s life. With this premise, the Commission of Migration Authorities (OCAM) of the member countries of the Central America Integration System (SICA), in conjunction with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), developed a regional workshop on emergency and migratory crisis communication. Migration officials from the areas of communication, press, migration control, and care for migrants from 8 different OCAM member countries, participated in a three-day workshop (May 18, 19, and 20) on the essential role of communication in these issues.  

To provide adequate care to migrants who use the information services of the General Directorate of Migration and Aliens (DGME) in the context of emergency due to COVID-19, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Costa Rica donated equipment that will facilitate access to reliable information validated by the users of this institution. 

With the goal of promoting social inclusion among the migrant and Costa Rican population, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched a project for urban gardens in two localities of the Costa Rican capital: La 25 de Julio in Hatillo and Relleno in Pavas. The activity was conducted jointly with the Municipality of San José.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) trained staff of the Municipal Emergency Committee of Talamanca, Costa Rica, on the importance of incorporating the migrant population in emergency plans and programmes. The activity addressed the current context of national and international migration, care and protection for vulnerable groups, migrants in emergency situations, and strategies to assist and include this population. 

This April, Costa Rica held the First Annual Meeting of Local Working Groups for the Integral Fight against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants. The activity included a presentation of the results of the work that the groups have conducted since they were formed last year, and the needs identified at the local level to combat these crimes.   

The Government of Mexico, as Pro-Tempore Chair of the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM), with the support from IOM and ILO promoted an exchange to support the design, implementation and follow-up of labour migration mechanisms within the framework of this multilateral forum. The exchange is the first part of the "Conversation for the exchange of good practices in the recruitment and labour protection of migrants".

In recent months there has been a substantial increase in migration flows from Central America to North America, making it increasingly necessary to expand the coverage of secure information channels. Chief among these are the migration information hubs, which in the first quarter of 2021 alone, reported to IOM to have assisted more than 12,000 people in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.   

On March 19, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Costa Rica trained the staff of the Municipality of Talamanca on the crime of trafficking in persons. The training was conducted in coordination with the General Directorate of Migration and Aliens (DGME), through the Municipal Center for Migrants in Talamanca.