The Vice President of WLA-CdM led a mission to the Dominican Republic between 9 and 12 June aimed at promoting sensitive ways to communicate the benefits of an inclusive migration policy. Chinchilla, who is the former President of Costa Rica, was joined by Dra. Flor Rojas, Executive Director of the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) of the Caribbean country and a Member of NetPLUSS, a network of experts promoting Shared Societies.
During the mission, which took place in Santo Domingo, the country’s capital, Laura Chinchilla rose awareness among political leaders, media and civil society of the use and management of information linked to migration, using a human rights and social approach.
La intención de la visita: “básicamente de contribuir al intercambio de experiencias, observar las buenas prácticas, que son bastante, que se están aplicando aquí para el manejo del flujo migratorio”. @Laura_Ch pic.twitter.com/70lFIh7aPV
— PresidenciaRD (@PresidenciaRD) June 10, 2019
President Chinchilla met with the Dominican President, Danilo Medina, in an exchange of experiences and good practices on migration. She then met with the Vice President, Margarita Cedeño and with Miguel Vargas, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“I was delighted to share reflections with the Vice President Margarita Cedeño who has built a strong and compassionate leadership that goes beyond the barriers of the country and which still has a lot to provide”, said Chinchilla.
Agradezco al Presidente @DaniloMedina el valioso tiempo dedicado a la misión del @clubdemadrid que encabezo en su país sobre temas de desarrollo inclusivo y #migración
— Laura Chinchilla M. (@Laura_Ch) June 11, 2019
Muy complacida por los avances realizados en ambos temas en #RepúblicaDominicana pic.twitter.com/RkFi3ucAqW
Laura Chinchilla participated in the Conference Comprehensive Migration Policy: an experience from Costa Rica designed as an exchange of experiences on issues related to the importance of promoting messages and narratives on migration with a social and human rights perspective.
Organized by the INM-RD, the conference benefited from the participation of Dominican government representatives involved in migration management, civil society and Dominican society.
The former President of Costa Rica spoke on how the inclusive approach to migration management that WLA-CdM’s Shared Societies Project promotes should be part of the democratic development of every country.
Speaking from experience
Before leading Costa Rica between 2010 and 2014, Laura Chinchilla was President of the country’s Migration National Council (1996-1998). During her mandate, Costa Rica made significant progress in inclusive development and migration. She shared key messages in relation to the need of an inclusive approach of the migration policy, for example highlighting the need to ensure the fundamental rights of the migrant population.
Laura Chinchilla also raised her concern to several stakeholders about the dramatic situation of Venezuelans having had to flee their homes in recent years given the current crisis in the country. The Venezuelan diaspora has caused four million refugees fleeing mostly to other Latin American countries, including the Dominican Republic.
The Vice President of WLA-CdM also presented a campaign developed by six former Presidents of Costa Rica titled “Somos hermanos”, which calls against discrimination of Nicaraguan migrants in the Central American country.
The WLA-CdM delegation also held several meetings and interviews with main local media including television and newspapers, as well as a conference organized at the Universidad Católica de Santo Domingo, focused on the perception about migrants worldwide.
This was the second mission of the WLA-CdM jointly organized with the INM-RD, following the positive outcome of the first mission led by President José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in 2017. The Institute’s main function is to provide technical assistance to the Migration National Council in the design, promotion and execution of migration studies and reports.
