Migration Policy

Migration Policy Unit colleagues work on behalf of IOM to cooperate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment together with other relevant government agencies to improve and strengthen the laws and regulations of Lao People's Democratic Republic regarding the labor and migration to ensure that the rights of migrants shall be protected. 

The Migration Policy Unit focuses on four areas namely: project development, policy, implementation of migration governance-related projects, provision of technical support for monitoring and evaluation, and communications.  

The Migration Policy Unit, on behalf of the mission of IOM in Lao PDR, develops full-fledged proposals, and concept notes. The unit fundamentally supports government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic in the implementation of policies through laws, regulations and program measures with the objective to manage the migration flows, and supports the implementation of the Global Compact Migration, the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, and IOM’s Country Strategy with external partners. 

Migration Profile

IOM Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Ministry of Planning and Investment are jointly implementing the Migration Profile. Migration Profile (MP) is the country profile on migration, a basic tool for migration related data collection. MPs are funded by IOM Development Fund (IDF), IDF aims at supporting Member States to strengthen their migration management capacity. 

After over a decade since the International Organization for Migration (IOM) started its operation in Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Lao government joined as a 171st Member State of IOM in June 2018. As a new Member State, the Migration Profile could be a useful tool to have a foundation for future policy development and programming particularly the comprehensive analysis on the current status of migration and its impact. 

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the effective migration governance in Lao People’s Democratic Republic based on the evidence-based migration management policies and policy framework, which takes into consideration gender equality. The Migration Profile is both a report and a capacity-building tool, which is country-owned and prepared in consultation with a broad range of stakeholders. It promotes evidence-based policymaking and mainstream migrations in the development and policymaking process in the country. 

The Migration Profile envisages to be a reliable and comprehensive migration resource tool for the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic and relevant stakeholders to inform revisions and/or development of migration policy instruments in the near future. 

Remittance Landscape Report in Lao PDR

The remittance landscape report in Lao People’s Democratic Republic was developed jointly by the Development Research Institute, Ministry of Planning and Investment of Lao People’s Democratic Republic and IOM. The research aims to study the remittances of individuals and/or workers working abroad and transfer their incomes across a country to the individual or community covering the period of before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this report conducted, the information on the remittances of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic has been collected, analyzed and assessed. The research team also provided recommendations to improve and manage remittances effectively. The interview questions include how remittances can contribute to economic development and how remittances of workers and individuals help people in rural areas with the current difficult living conditions.