Migrants 'silenced' in Athens global forum on migration - group

Organizers of the third annual international meeting on global migration are being criticized for allegedly silencing the sector that they were supposed to serve.

An advocacy group claimed that the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) recently held in Athens, had “deliberately sought to alienate the role of migrants in the discussion process."

“(It) has demonstrated a clear lack of transparency and accountability where many non-binding agreements are made in closed-door meetings outside the scrutiny of rights-based observers," the Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility Asia (CARAM) said in a statement.

While the group acknowledges the GFMD as the largest platform for international dialogue on issues related to migration, CARAM said the annual meeting had failed to address the real problems of migrants.

“The GFMD will never become a platform of positive change in the field of migration until it seeks to engage directly with migrants and their communities and halt their continued promotion of failed economic policies," CARAM said.

The group is opposed to the promotion of migration as a means to generate remittances and keep the economies of developing countries afloat.

Citing a recent study by the United Nations Development Programme on the Human Development Index, CARAM said that in many cases, the quality of education, health, and overall standard of living in developing countries still decreased despite the record-level remittances generated by these nations.

The forum met similar criticisms when it was held in Manila in October 2008. Migrant groups said the GFMD was nothing more than a shoptalk event meant for labor-sending nations to market migrants in other countries.

But organizers of the event in Manila said the forum was a success in ensuring the welfare of migrants especially at the onset of the financial crisis.

CARAM urged participants of the GFMD to undertake several measures to make it more relevant for migrants. It said countries participating in the GFMD should sign and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

The group likewise urged GFMD organizers to improve transparency and accountability in the dialogue process.

“This must include the participation of grassroots organisations to address the wider social issues related to migration including addressing gender specific vulnerabilities," CARAM said, adding that some non-binding agreements should not be made behind closed doors.

CARAM also said that countries hosting female migrant workers must adhere to the latter's existing rights as laid out in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. - GMANews.TV

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