Uruguay

The City of Montevideo commits to create its first ever early childhood care center for migrant and displaced families in recognition of the importance of prioritizing children’s needs and how their wellbeing is linked with that of their caregivers.

This action was submitted through the GFMD Mayors Mechanism Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees.

The Advisory Council on Migration (CCAM) is made up of a wide variety of social organizations and trade unions specialized in migration issues and in the promotion and defense of the human rights of migrants.

The Government of Uruguay has set up a multi-stakeholder and consultative approach to State migration policy, institutional responses and coordination in the care and protection of the rights of migrants arriving in cities. 

Uruguay has introduced specific measures to minimize administrative irregularity linked with international human mobility and is pursuing legal framework revisions to promote migrants’ rights, bilateral and multilateral social security agreements, visa waiver agreements, and various measures in line with civil society recommendations.

The most significant examples of regularization and access to residence and identity documents are the following:

Nationals of signatory States may apply for a temporary residence permit of up to two years in another country of the block, and may apply for permanent residence before expiration of the temporary residence permit. These nationals are also provided work permits, the only requirements being that they present a valid passport, birth certificate and police clearance certificate.

Ecuador has negotiated a residence agreement with the countries of Mercosur and Mercosur’s associated countries with the aim of regularizing the South American migrants that are in Ecuador as well as the Ecuadorians living in countries within the region. This enables nationals and migrants alike to stay in their countries of desitnation for a specific period of time, or apply for residency after two years.

The general objective of the Observatory is to facilitate decision making in relation to the labour markets in the region. The Observatory promotes the production, collection, analysis and dissemination of information including data related to employment, labour migration, vocational training, social security, labour market policies. The observatory also includes harmonized indicators relating to the labour market.  It has a tripartite structure, and includes representatives from Government, trade Unions, and employers’ associations, which meet biannually.

Special programs to recruit health professionals from abroad, have been created in Portugal, who sees them as “an important answer to overcome the lack of doctors and nurses,” and filling urgent needs in the health system. The supply of qualified doctors in some Latin America countries has led to bilateral and multilateral agreements between the Portuguese government, sending countries (including Uruguay, Cuba, Colombia and Costa Rica), and health institutions.

Uruguay se constituyó hasta mediados del siglo XX en un país de inmigración, recibiendo un aporte fundamental de los flujos migratorios de ultramar cuyos impactos se evidenciaron en sus estructuras demográficas, sociales y culturales. En la segunda mitad del siglo XX, las crisis económicas, sociales y políticas moldearon un nuevo patrón migratorio, esta vez orientado hacia el exterior, con sentido intrarregional, primero, y extrarregional, desde la década de los noventa.