Mr. Anuson Chinvanno, Director-General of the Department of International Organisations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mrs. Christine Schraner Burgener, Ambassador of Switzerland to Thailand, presided over the opening ceremony of the two-day ‘Workshop on Migration and Immigration’, which took place on 28-29 October 2010 at Vithes Samosorn, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
(Opening remarks by the Director-General of the Department of International Organisations)
http://www.mfa.go.th/internet/information/25776.pdf
The Workshop represented the collaboration between Thailand and Switzerland and arose out of the initiative of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya following his visit to Switzerland in February 2010. The event, which received the generous support of the Swiss Government, had the goal of exchanging knowledge and sharing insights as well as experiences on issues related to migration and immigration. It has enabled Thai officials, policy advisors and practitioners, to gain valuable first-hand exposure to the Swiss approaches on these matters.
The 100-odd participants of the workshop included representatives from key government agencies such as the Ministry of Interior, the Office of the National Security Council, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, the Ministry of Labour, the Royal Thai Police, the Immigration Bureau, the Royal Thai Army, and the Royal Thai Navy; totaling 15 agencies.
The guest speakers for this event were Mr. Eduard Gnesa, Special Ambassador for International Cooperation in Migration, and Mr. Mark Engler, Policy Advisor, Swiss Federal Office for Migration. During the two-day workshop, the various topics covered included the management of foreign labour, the screening of asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking, combating people smuggling and human trafficking, nationality verification for migrants, and channels for intelligence and information sharing and inter-state cooperation in the context of regional connectivity. These are issues pertinent to Thailand in its efforts to build capacity of the agencies concerned and better manage the complex issue of migration and immigration.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th