Government starts consultations on diaspora policies

The Moldovan government started the consultations on policies concerning diaspora. The participants are representatives of the Moldovan diaspora, experts and officials from countries that have already implemented advanced models of diaspora mobilization, Info-Prim Neo reports. These consultations are an offspring of the seminar on diaspora policies organized in 2008 in Chisinau by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and the International Organization for Migration (OIM). According to a press release of the Government, one of the main recommendations made at the time was the creation of a governmental structure that would manage the relationship with the diaspora. This structure will soon be created, when the Agency for Relations with Diaspora is opened. The seminar on July 19, this year, discussed the need to increase the participation of diaspora representatives in the cultural, social, economic and political processes in the country, the need to protect the immigrants’ and their families’ rights and to maintain their attachment to Moldova, to national traditions and culture. The consultations are part of the Joint Pilot Programme "Mainstreaming of Migration into Development in Moldova", implemented by the government.