Officials tag global migration meet successful
MANILA, Philippines - Although many government and non-government officials have tagged the recently concluded the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) to be a successful meeting of 163 countries and 1,100 delegates overall, its results remain a blur.
The forum's chair, Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr., on Thursday said that the four-day forum was productive.
"This is not a forum about making speeches, but a forum about taking action," he told reporters during a press conference after the closing session of the conference at the Philippine International Cultural Center in Manila.
Vice President Noli De Castro specifically said during his closing address of the event on Thursday that he was impressed with the discussions over the past four days of the global forum.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a speech before delegates to the forum, called on governments to strengthen laws to protect migrant workers, saying, "All eyes may be glued to stock markets, but we can't lose sight of the poor."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also enjoined governments to protect the rights and livelihoods of millions of migrant workers especially in the face of a global slowdown.
Ban warned that as countries slip into recession, migration flows have started to reverse, with foreign laborers leaving the construction and tourism sectors in industrialized nations.
He cited a slowdown in remittances — the backbone of poor nations' economies like the Philippines — and the risk of discrimination as national financial crises caused a rise in unemployment, personal hardship and anxiety.
Rather than a curse, Ban said migration should be seen as a tool to lift economies because human mobility makes them more efficient "even if they are not growing by ensuring that the right skills can reach the right places at the right time."
Migration "also helps redress the enormous imbalances that have led to harsh economic realities" as the developing world's young adults provide a counterbalance to an aging and shrinking population in the developed nations, he said.
Ban said that constraining migration will only make lives more miserable for an estimated 200 million laborers, but will never stop them from crossing borders.
Increasing interdependence
Greek Deputy Minister of Interior Athanassios Nakos, in his speech during the closing ceremonies, said that in “migration there is an increasing interdependence of all countries."
With that in mind, he said Greece aims to maximize the benefits from international migration and minimize its impacts.
“We should work so that migration becomes a choice instead of a necessity," he said.
He also pointed out that since Greece will host the 3rd GFMD on Nov. 4 and 5, 2009 they will focus their efforts “on the fact that international migration cannot be a substitute to development."
Nakos also announced that the European Union, of which is country is a member, has adopted a global approach for its migration policy, which “ attaches the greatest importance to guaranteeing respect for the human rights and the human dignity of all migrants, and to fighting against racism, xenophobia and human trafficking, particularly in the context of its migration policy."
“Thus, our regulations have established the conditions of entry, stay, residence and return of third-country citizens in the countries of the EU. At the same time, migrant workers who are legally present in the EU benefit from the same labor laws, and the same principles of non-discrimination, as do the citizens of the EU," he said.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has also earlier pointed out that empowering migrants can lead to an increase in their "development impact" in both migrant sending and receiving countries.
However, he said that empowering migrants would entail a focus on human rights protection and the welfare of migrant workers and their families.
He said that migrant workers were the source for more than US $240 billion or almost P13 trillion in remittances, $104 billion or about P5 trillion in official development assistance, and $460 billion or more than P22 trillion in direct investments to developing nations in 2007.
Frank exchange
"The frank exchange of ideas, the open flow of communication, the desire to accommodate new approaches in solving age-old problems – these made this conference truly interesting and productive," Conejos said.
He said that the informality of the process, which is not aimed at forging agreements, has helped achieve international debates on principles and norms.
"(This is) bringing us closer from a consensus of understanding to a consensus of action," said the DFA official during the closing session of the GFMD on Thursday.
On the other hand, De Castro said that he will take the insights from the conference and "bring them out" to policy-makers.
"Migration and development are shared responsibilities of the countries of origin and destination. We know that one of the more tricky aspects of managing migration is the need for coordination between two governments," he said.
The vice president also expressed his support for the recommendations of the civil society groups presented during the first two days of the GFMD.
"I join them in making the call for governments to seriously undertake measures that will protect, support, and empower migrant workers abroad," said De Castro.
However, Conejos said that the global forum remains to be a process to be completed, to be continued.
"Doing important things is the same as doing things right," he said.
This, he said, will change way countries deal with the two complex but intertwined subjects – migration and development.
Recommendations
Meanwhile, the reports of the general rapporteurs for the three roundtable discussions during the government days of the forum were bound by the creation and effectiveness of current government policies.
Rapporteur for roundtable one Patricia Sto. Tomas said that migrants need to be covered by more laws and international conventions.
"In the absence of binding, bilateral agreements, there must be a layer of protection," she said.
Moreover, she said that there was a need for the exercise of political will to turn legal policies into action.
Likewise, rapporteur for roundtable two Han-Maurtis Schaapveld said that comprehensive policies relative to the country of origin are needed to address brain drain.
"No one size fits all," he said.
He said that models differ from country to country and that the possibility of implementing rules would vary.
"We often talk of the governments but we don't talk about the migrants," said Schaapveld.
Rapporteur for roundtable three Judith Macgregor suggested that an ad-hoc data and research group improve the data and researches done about migration.
"Accurate data is needed in better understanding the impact of migration," she said.
She also recognized the role that policies played in the development of a better setting for migrants.
"Policy and coherence are considered crucial for maximizing the benefits of migration," said Macgregor.
The Philippines as a host country
Peter Sutherland, the United Nations Secretary-General’s representative, complimented the Philippines over and over for what he said was a "genuinely superb hosting."
"There's no more important country involved in migration than the Philippines," he said.
With more than 8 million overseas workers, the Philippines is among the world's top exporters of human labor, together with Mexico, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Some $14 billion remittances last year amounted to 10 percent of the Philippines' gross domestic product.
The Philippines supplies one-third of the world’s shipping manpower with about 270,000 Filipino seamen employed by foreign maritime agencies, according to the Department of Labor and Employment. - GMANews.TV
The forum's chair, Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr., on Thursday said that the four-day forum was productive.
"This is not a forum about making speeches, but a forum about taking action," he told reporters during a press conference after the closing session of the conference at the Philippine International Cultural Center in Manila.
Vice President Noli De Castro specifically said during his closing address of the event on Thursday that he was impressed with the discussions over the past four days of the global forum.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a speech before delegates to the forum, called on governments to strengthen laws to protect migrant workers, saying, "All eyes may be glued to stock markets, but we can't lose sight of the poor."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also enjoined governments to protect the rights and livelihoods of millions of migrant workers especially in the face of a global slowdown.
Ban warned that as countries slip into recession, migration flows have started to reverse, with foreign laborers leaving the construction and tourism sectors in industrialized nations.
He cited a slowdown in remittances — the backbone of poor nations' economies like the Philippines — and the risk of discrimination as national financial crises caused a rise in unemployment, personal hardship and anxiety.
Rather than a curse, Ban said migration should be seen as a tool to lift economies because human mobility makes them more efficient "even if they are not growing by ensuring that the right skills can reach the right places at the right time."
Migration "also helps redress the enormous imbalances that have led to harsh economic realities" as the developing world's young adults provide a counterbalance to an aging and shrinking population in the developed nations, he said.
Ban said that constraining migration will only make lives more miserable for an estimated 200 million laborers, but will never stop them from crossing borders.
Increasing interdependence
Greek Deputy Minister of Interior Athanassios Nakos, in his speech during the closing ceremonies, said that in “migration there is an increasing interdependence of all countries."
With that in mind, he said Greece aims to maximize the benefits from international migration and minimize its impacts.
“We should work so that migration becomes a choice instead of a necessity," he said.
He also pointed out that since Greece will host the 3rd GFMD on Nov. 4 and 5, 2009 they will focus their efforts “on the fact that international migration cannot be a substitute to development."
Nakos also announced that the European Union, of which is country is a member, has adopted a global approach for its migration policy, which “ attaches the greatest importance to guaranteeing respect for the human rights and the human dignity of all migrants, and to fighting against racism, xenophobia and human trafficking, particularly in the context of its migration policy."
“Thus, our regulations have established the conditions of entry, stay, residence and return of third-country citizens in the countries of the EU. At the same time, migrant workers who are legally present in the EU benefit from the same labor laws, and the same principles of non-discrimination, as do the citizens of the EU," he said.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has also earlier pointed out that empowering migrants can lead to an increase in their "development impact" in both migrant sending and receiving countries.
However, he said that empowering migrants would entail a focus on human rights protection and the welfare of migrant workers and their families.
He said that migrant workers were the source for more than US $240 billion or almost P13 trillion in remittances, $104 billion or about P5 trillion in official development assistance, and $460 billion or more than P22 trillion in direct investments to developing nations in 2007.
Frank exchange
"The frank exchange of ideas, the open flow of communication, the desire to accommodate new approaches in solving age-old problems – these made this conference truly interesting and productive," Conejos said.
He said that the informality of the process, which is not aimed at forging agreements, has helped achieve international debates on principles and norms.
"(This is) bringing us closer from a consensus of understanding to a consensus of action," said the DFA official during the closing session of the GFMD on Thursday.
On the other hand, De Castro said that he will take the insights from the conference and "bring them out" to policy-makers.
"Migration and development are shared responsibilities of the countries of origin and destination. We know that one of the more tricky aspects of managing migration is the need for coordination between two governments," he said.
The vice president also expressed his support for the recommendations of the civil society groups presented during the first two days of the GFMD.
"I join them in making the call for governments to seriously undertake measures that will protect, support, and empower migrant workers abroad," said De Castro.
However, Conejos said that the global forum remains to be a process to be completed, to be continued.
"Doing important things is the same as doing things right," he said.
This, he said, will change way countries deal with the two complex but intertwined subjects – migration and development.
Recommendations
Meanwhile, the reports of the general rapporteurs for the three roundtable discussions during the government days of the forum were bound by the creation and effectiveness of current government policies.
Rapporteur for roundtable one Patricia Sto. Tomas said that migrants need to be covered by more laws and international conventions.
"In the absence of binding, bilateral agreements, there must be a layer of protection," she said.
Moreover, she said that there was a need for the exercise of political will to turn legal policies into action.
Likewise, rapporteur for roundtable two Han-Maurtis Schaapveld said that comprehensive policies relative to the country of origin are needed to address brain drain.
"No one size fits all," he said.
He said that models differ from country to country and that the possibility of implementing rules would vary.
"We often talk of the governments but we don't talk about the migrants," said Schaapveld.
Rapporteur for roundtable three Judith Macgregor suggested that an ad-hoc data and research group improve the data and researches done about migration.
"Accurate data is needed in better understanding the impact of migration," she said.
She also recognized the role that policies played in the development of a better setting for migrants.
"Policy and coherence are considered crucial for maximizing the benefits of migration," said Macgregor.
The Philippines as a host country
Peter Sutherland, the United Nations Secretary-General’s representative, complimented the Philippines over and over for what he said was a "genuinely superb hosting."
"There's no more important country involved in migration than the Philippines," he said.
With more than 8 million overseas workers, the Philippines is among the world's top exporters of human labor, together with Mexico, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Some $14 billion remittances last year amounted to 10 percent of the Philippines' gross domestic product.
The Philippines supplies one-third of the world’s shipping manpower with about 270,000 Filipino seamen employed by foreign maritime agencies, according to the Department of Labor and Employment. - GMANews.TV
Comments