PH Embassy in Moscow Meets with Chief of Mission of International Organization for Migration
Philippine Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission and Consul General Robert O. Ferrer, Jr. (rightmost) and Third Secretary and Vice Consul Mary Grace I. Perpetua (leftmost) flank International Organization Migration (IOM) Chief of Mission Ambassador Abdusattor Esoev after their meeting. (Moscow PE photo)
MOSCOW 09 October 2020 – Consistent with the Philippine Government’s global partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) the UN migration agency all over the world, the Philippine Embassy in Moscow had a meeting with the Head of Mission of the IOM in the Russian Federation, Ambassador Abdusattor Esoev of Tajikistan, who assumed in 2018.
The meeting, held on 07 October 2020, touched upon existing partnerships with IOM. Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Ferrer mentioned that work with IOM Turkey, IOM, Azerbaijan and now IOM Kazakhstan, for example, provided crucial interventions in the protection and promotion of Overseas Filipinos who are vulnerable to exploitation, such as debt bondage, human trafficking and labor malpractices.
In Russia, Chief of Mission Esoev mentioned to the Philippine Embassy that Russia is soon to become the 174th member of IOM. The migration situation in Russia is unique; the country is on top of two lists: as a country for migration destination, and for origin. Statistically, 17 million people cross Russian borders yearly. The two countries contributing most to the migration flow into Russia are Uzbekistan, with Tajikistan slightly behind.
Both the Philippine Embassy in Moscow and IOM Russia committed to actively cooperate, now that IOM’s political and administrative issues with the Russian Federation have reached a positive conclusion.
The areas for potential cooperation are as follows: 1) Help advocate with Host Government to ease exits of overseas Filipinos (OFs) overstaying before 15 March 2020 which was the start of the grace period for visa violations; IOM works with the Federal Directorate for Migration Services of the Ministry of Interior of the Russian Federation on a daily basis; 2) Help advocate regularization of OF workers in Russia, consistent with President Vladimir Putin's order during the grace period which is until 15 December 2020, allowing foreign workers to apply for regular work visas; 3) IOM can send experts to speak in one of Embassy’s regular E-Kapihans; and 4) Partner with the Philippines in advancing IOM's "education migration" goals; according to Ambassador Esoev, foreigners who study in Russia for five years can apply for citizenship (because of demographic challenges of the Russian Federation and their goal of attracting the best minds).
Ambassador Esoev was also gifted by the Embassy Cultural Section with famous Philippine dried mangoes, which he appreciated very much. END
IOM’s Chief of Mission thanked the Embassy for meeting, and expressed his admiration for Philippine labor migration policies and protection for its overseas workers. He promised to partner with the Embassy in pursuit of mutual goals in Russia. (Moscow PE photo)
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