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de v elopment
Why migration
matters in the global
development agenda
William Lacy Swing, Director General,
International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
de v elopment
Less than a month after the St. Petersburg G20
Summit, the UN General Assembly in New York
will host two linked events that may garner fewer
headlines, but will in some measure determine the
future governance of one of the megatrends of our
time - international migration.
In late September and early
October UN member states will
meet to discuss the post-2015
development agenda - the global
development blueprint that
will follow the soon-to-expire
Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) - and will convene the
Second High Level Dialogue
on International Migration and
Development (HLD.)
The meetings will - inter alia - examine
the contribution of the world’s 214
million international migrants to the
three pillars of sustainable development
- economic, social and environmental.
They will also address the need to
protect the human rights of migrants,
too many of whom still suffer from
exploitation, abuse of their human rights
and discrimination.
As the global lead agency in the field
of migration, IOM has been asked by
its 151 member States and the UN
General Assembly to contribute its
thinking on these issues to the HLD, in
close collaboration with 15 UN partner
agencies belonging to the Global
Migration Group.
It is difficult to overestimate the
importance of this task. In IOM’s view,
international migration is inextricably
linked to global poverty reduction -
one of the central goals of any
development agenda.
Migration, in fact, is one of humanity’s
oldest adaptation strategies to escape
poverty and seek out opportunities.
It can enable individuals to access
education, broaden professional
opportunities and generate income.
But it is also now an integral part
of the global economy, which has
come to depend on labour mobility.
Migrants energise innovation and
entrepreneurship in countries of
destination; they care for children, the
elderly or the sick; and keep entire
sectors of industry, such as agriculture
and hospitality, afloat.
In 2012 international migrants sent home
over US$400 billion to their families in
developing countries - three times the
total official aid given by the OECD club of
rich countries a year earlier. Remittances
flowed from rich countries of the north
to poor countries of the south, but also
between poor countries of the south,
visibly reducing extreme poverty.
Migration, in fact,
is one of humanity’s
oldest adaptation
strategies to escape
poverty and seek out
opportunities
Migrants and diasporas - communities of
migrants living abroad - also contribute
more than just money. IOM’s first
Diaspora Ministerial Conference held in
Geneva in June 2013 revealed them to
be both a bridge between the developed
and the developing world, and a
potential pool of human, social, cultural
and political capital.
IOM’s recognition of the contribution of
migrants to both sending and receiving
countries is widely shared by its
membership. But in times of economic
crisis, austerity and high unemployment,
public perceptions have often turned
against migrants and migration and
many have become scapegoats and
victims of discrimination and abuse.
The HLD and the post-2015
development agenda represent
an opportunity for the UN General
Assembly to publicly refute the widely
held misperception that migration is
simply a problem to be solved.
Migration is in fact a powerful tool
for development with the same
transformative power as trade or
technology transfer. It can be managed
for the benefit of all through partnerships
at all levels, bringing together sending
and receiving countries.
The HLD must therefore recognise the
relationship between migration and the
economic, social and environmental
pillars of sustainable development that
will form post-2015 UN development
agenda and set targets for the inclusion
of migration in that agenda.
It should also recognise that migrants’
rights will have to be an integral part of
all migration and development-related
policies and programmes if everyone is
to benefit fully from the process.
This is never more important than in
times of humanitarian crisis, when the
vulnerability of migrants, typified by
the exodus from Libya in 2011, is shown
in stark relief on TV screens around
the world.
The HLD therefore also needs to
recognise this challenge and consider
how the international community can
best respond, particularly in the context
of the recommendations contained
in the Migration Crisis Operational
Framework adopted by IOM’s governing
Council in November 2012.
Against this backdrop, IOM believes
that countries of origin, destination
and transit, should opt for the high
road scenario on human mobility at the
HLD. They must incorporate migration
into their development policies, reduce
remittance transfer costs; make legal
migration simpler, more accessible and
more transparent; and work harder
to protect the rights of all migrants,
particularly the most vulnerable.
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