Global debate on migration, development and human rights should return to UN

Trade unions and other civil society organisations supporting migrants' rights have criticised the direction of this week's meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Brussels as ignoring the rights and interests of migrants, focusing instead on a narrow agenda dealing only with temporary forms of migration and the contribution of migrant workers' remittances to economic development. Representatives at a preparatory meeting on 9 July objected to the fact that, apart from the chance to present a statement to the Global Forum, civil society is being excluded from the Forum's main discussions. The agenda for the Forum also ignores many of the most urgent and serious migration issues.


In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on the occasion of the Global Forum, the ITUC, together with Migrants Rights International and the "December 18" group expressed their criticism of the intergovernmental Forum and called for the discussion to be brought back within the UN framework, to ensure that the human rights issues are properly dealt with. The UN's consultative processes would also ensure that the debate takes account of the views of migrants themselves. "The World community has to act effectively and together to help the millions of migrants who are suffering under inhumane living and working conditions," declared Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary. "This global debate started in the United Nations, and must now return there". The UN framework offers benchmarks against which national and regional migration policies and legislation could be measured, and the civil society representatives urge the UN Secretary General to reclaim this process, which is "so critical to sustainable economic growth and well-being and to the lives of millions of migrant workers and their families."

More than 200 civil society representatives attended the Civil Society Day, 9 July to discuss relevant issues and to offer organised input to the following governmental discussions on 10 and 11 July. The results of the deliberations are summarised in a 33-pages report.

Global forum on migration and development in Brussels: The migration-development nexus

Social dialogue and a rights based framework must be at the heart of migration policy - this is the message representatives will take to the "Civil Society Day" of the Global Forum on Migration and Development that takes place in Brussels from 9 to 11 July. Civil society actors such as diaspora organisations, advocacy groups, trade unions, the private sector, and researchers from around the world will participate in the event, to exchange ideas and experiences and make recommendations to governments.

Millions of migrant workers are subject to severe exploitation in countries, while the "brain drain" from developing to industrialised countries is cause for serious concern, hampering efforts to reduce poverty. Financial remittances from migrant workers to their home countries must also be taken in serious consideration, given the importance of this revenue for many people in developing countries. In a statement released by ITUC and its Global Unions partners, as representatives of workers world-wide including migrants and as defenders of their rights and interests, made a series of recommendations to the Global Forum. These include a call on governments to shoulder their social and human rights responsibilities and set up regulatory frameworks that respect the fundamental rights of migrants regardless of their status, in keeping with the UN and ILO instruments that regulate the human and labour rights of migrant workers.

According to the Global Unions, migration policies must not compromise the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Furthermore, they must be consistent with national-level policies to implement the decent work agenda. The international trade union movement also declared that Policy frameworks must recognise that the decent work deficit in developing countries, and the failure of the global economy to create jobs where people live, are critical push factors in the "migration by necessity" syndrome. Provision of quality public services, particularly in education, health and social protection, are a clear priority for the international trade union movement. The adoption of a tripartite model of consultations between governments, employers and trade unions in partnership with migrant workers is also recommended by the Global Unions. Within this framework, agreements should be reached to extend union membership and protections to migrant workers, and to use collective bargaining as an instrument to ensure equal rights and treatment of migrants with nationals.