On 4 August 2016 at 10.40 hours, H.E. Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand handed over 100,000 USD to H.E. Ambassador William Lacy Swing, Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to support the Regional Information Campaign to Address Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean, where they also reaffirmed the longstanding partnership between Thailand and IOM in addressing migration challenges both in Thailand and in the region.

On the occasion, the Vice Minister thanked the IOM for accepting to co-host “the Prince Mahidol Award Conference on Addressing the Health of Vulnerable Population for an Inclusive Society”, which will be held from 29 January – 3 February 2017 in Bangkok. Ambassador Swing in turn expressed his gratitude to Vice Minister and congratulated him on Thailand’s upgrade from Tier 3 to Tier 2 watch-list in the latest Trafficking in Persons Report as well as expressed IOM’s readiness to cooperate with Thailand to further combat human trafficking.

The two also shared the common views on technical assistance in Myanmar to support development in the Rakhine State and other areas, which plays a crucial role in preventing irregular migration and promoting sustainable reintegration of 120,000 displaced persons from Myanmar currently seeking shelter in nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, as well as possible cooperation on ASEAN’s labour migration situation.

Thailand and IOM’s partnership dated back since the past 30 years. IOM’s strong presence in Thailand is indicative through having its largest regional office located in Bangkok that oversees 39 countries in Asia Pacific region. In the past 12 years, IOM has assisted in the resettlement of some 129,000 migrants from Thailand to third countries. The aforementioned Regional Information Campaign is a collaboration project between Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the IOM with aims to inform potential migrants in the region on the risks and danger involved in irregular migration, as well as to promote safe and legal migration especially among the Muslim communities in Rakhine State, minority groups in Bangladesh, and the five most affected countries, namely Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. In addition to provision of funds to support the Campaign, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand currently is also in close collaboration with the IOM to develop and produce animated media on safe migration to be further disseminated in the mentioned five countries.