Mexico City, Mexico, March 29, 2019 – The Scalabrini International Migration Network participated in the Forum “Labor, Civic and Social Insertion of the Migrant in an Open Mexico,” held in the National Institute of Migration in Mexico City on March 28, 2019.

The purpose of the Forum was to show the authorities and government representatives a holistic solution to the current migratory context, through the Scalabrinian Model that allows regular migratory documentation and alternatives to promote skills development and labor technical certification that allows migrants to insert themselves in the labor market.

Participants of the vent were Dr. Tonatiuh Guillén López, Commissioner of the National Migration Institute, Dr. Andrés Alfonso Ramírez Silva, General Coordinator of the

Mexican Commission of Assistance to Refugees, and the Minister Maximiliano Reyes Zúñiga, Assistant Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, among others. During the first part of the event, the participants focused the discussion on the new migration policy in Mexico. Later, the meeting addressed the new challenges of migration for Central America and Mexico during the intervention of Fr. Flor Maria Rigoni, Director of Casas del Migrante in Guadalajara and Mexico City, who also presented the Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Models for Migrants and Refugees, a program implemented by SIMN in the countries of the region.

“The laws protecting migrants and refugees are not only a perspective of kindness or friendship but rather, compliance with laws and international agreements that must be fulfilled,” said Fr. Jairo Guidini, SIMN’s Executive Director.

About SIMN – SIMN is supporting more than 250 Scalabrini centers, shelters, and programs that are providing lodging, food, training, and employment programs; psychological and religious services; protection to victims of human trafficking; and support in the integration process to migrants, refugees and seafarers on five continents. In 2017, Scalabrini centers supported 136,319 migrants and refugees and 227,785 seafarers around the world. SIMN also supports a network of schools providing education, supplies, and food to thousands of vulnerable children. SIMN is an accredited Non-Governmental Organization at the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the Organization of American States (OAS), and from this perspective is providing research and support for regional and global policies to protect and promote the dignity and the rights of migrants and their families.