From 30 May – 1 June, more than forty representatives from South-East Asian countries’ gathered in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh to participate in a three-day regional workshop with the objective of strengthening assistance to their nationals living and working abroad in crisis situations in which international evacuations are needed.

South-East Asian countries represent a significant share of migrant labour force in all regions in the world. With a growing presence of their nationals living and working abroad, strengthening crisis preparedness and response to enhance their assistance to their nationals increasingly becomes a priority for these countries. Workshop participants included officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Ministries of Labour from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.

The workshop, organized in close partnership with Governments and non-governmental actors, was the third regional event IOM has supported as part of its engagement to socialize and implement the MICIC Guidelines. The three-day event provided an opportunity for participants to present and discuss crisis preparedness and response arrangements and practices that have been implemented thus far at country level, as well as to explore further opportunities for partnership with like-minded governments and other actors in this domain.