On 09 April 2014 the delegation of IOM Moscow headed by Cheif of Mission Zlatko Zigic had a meeting with Aleksandr Shishlov, the Ombudsman in St. Petersburg.

Aleksandr Shishlov spoke about the migration situation in St. Petersburg and confirmed readiness for constructive cooperation with IOM in the sphere of protection of migrants’ rights.

The Ombudsman has repeatedly stated that managing the situation in the field of migration, protecting the rights of foreign nationals, who often live and work in inhumane conditions and receive low wages, the government helps to reduce the uncontrolled growth in number of labour migrants and escalation of social tensions, thereby protecting the rights of the Russian citizens.

IOM Moscow Chief of Mission has spoke about the current programme activities of IOM in particular about the implementation of joint IOM and the Russian Red Cross project aimed at provision of assistance to the vulnerable groups of foreign nationals and victims of violence and exploitation on base of St. Petersburg Red Cross shelter for the temporary accommodation and reintegration support for the above categories of population.

Zlatko Zigic has supported an idea of Aleksandr Shishlov to establish a special prize of IOM Moscow for the annual Ombudsman contest of creative students’ works in the field of human rights. Since 2013 the students’ contest “Human Rights” was supported by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Russian Federation.

In the end of the meeting Aleksandr Shishlov handed IOM delegation a new Annual Report on Human Rights in St. Petersburg.