Permanent Representative of Lithuania Met with IOM Director General
On 30 August, the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the UN Office and other International Organisations in Geneva, Ambassador Andrius Krivas, made an office call on the Director General of the International Organisation of Migration, Amb. William Lacy Swing. They discussed global migration challenges, IOM priorities and cooperation with Lithuanian institutions.
The interlocutors noted the excellent cooperation between the IOM and Lithuania and the role of the IOM Vilnius Office. They underlined the importance of the recent cooperation agreement between Lithuania’s Department of Migration and the IOM in facilitating the transfer of Syrian asylum-seekers from Turkey to Lithuania. The International Organisation of Migration will mark its 65th anniversary this December. Upon signature of the UN-IOM agreement at New York on 19 September 2016, the IOM will become a Related Organisation to the United Nations and will take a leading role in negotiating a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
As one of Lithuania’s regional priorities, Amb. A. Krivas mentioned the support for persons in Ukraine who have been internally displaced as a result of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. The IOM Director-General thanked Lithuania for the contribution to the IOM‘s humanitarian assistance programme in Ukraine.
