UNDERSTANDING POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT LINKS VITAL TO DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES, COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT TOLD
Press Release
POP/636
UNDERSTANDING POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT LINKS VITAL TO DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES, COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT TOLD
19970224 Director of Population Division Urges Strengthened Means of Analysis; UNFPA Executive Director Says Migration Should Be Based on Choice, Not CoercionUnderstanding links between population and development was vital to development strategies aimed at reducing disparities between countries and alleviating poverty within countries, the Commission on Population and Development was told this morning, as it began its thirtieth session.
The Director of the Population Division, Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Joseph Chaimie, said that as a result of the diverse migratory trends in different areas of the world, international migration would become an even more contentious political issue in the future. During the last 10 years alone, the number of refugees and asylum-seekers had more than doubled. In that context, he urged the Commission to strengthen its efforts at dealing with population and development issues in an objective, scientific and comprehensive manner.
The Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Nafis Sadik, told the Commission that migration issues should be based on the reality of choice, not on coercive measures or measures which invited coercion. As in other areas of population policy, quotas were neither appropriate nor effective. Emphasizing that pressures to migrate had been increasing due to the growth of a global economy, she said it was often assumed that most migrants were men. In reality, women made up nearly half of the international migrant population. She stressed that the effects of female migration had to be considered in the context of economic, as well as social, change.
Also this morning, the Secretary-General's Concise Report on World Population Monitoring was introduced by Assistant Director of the Population Division L. Heligman. The Secretary-General's report on Monitoring of Population Programmes was introduced by the Director of the Technical and Evaluation Division of the UNFPA, Sethuramiah Rao.
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Statements were made by the representatives of Norway, Turkey, Peru, United States, Jamaica on the Secretary-General's Concise Report on World Population Monitoring. The representatives of the United Kingdom, Egypt, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Japan spoke on the Secretary-General's report on Monitoring of Population Programmes. In addition, statements were made by the representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
Also this morning, José Gomez de Leon (Mexico) was elected Chairman of the Commission, and Jenny Gierveld (Netherlands) was elected its Vice- Chairman. The elections of the remaining two Vice-Chairmen and the Rapporteur were postponed to a later date.
The Commission will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue its discussion of follow-up actions to the recommendations of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo.
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Commission Work Programme
The Commission on Population and Development met this morning to begin its general debate and review follow-up actions to the recommendations of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo. (For background, see Press Release POP/635 issued 21 February.)
Before the Commission is the Secretary-General's concise report on world population monitoring, 1997: international migration and development (document E/CN.9/1997/2), prepared by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis. It states that due to growing demographic and labour-market imbalances, widening disparities in growth and development between countries and regions, and sweeping changes in global political and economic systems, migration pressures intensified in the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s. As a result, new areas of concern emerged.
The report emphasizes three common threads running through all discussions of migration: the lack of migration data; the absence of a coherent theory to explain international migration; and the very weak understanding of the complex interrelationships between migration and development.
It states that international migration occurs when a person who lives in one country moves to another. However, not every person who crosses an international border is an international migrant. Therefore, it is necessary to set criteria to differentiate international migrants from general international travellers. It goes on to say that data on international migration can be obtained from three types of sources: administrative sources; border statistics; and household-based inquiries.
Commenting on the role of international migration in the growth of population, the report states that 45 per cent of the overall population growth in the more developed regions from 1990 to 1995 was attributed to net international migration. On the other hand, international migration lowered slightly the overall growth rate of the population in the less developed regions by 3 per cent. The number of international migrants (foreign-born stock) in the world rose from 75 million in 1965 to 120 million in 1990. Despite such accelerating growth, by 1990 international migrants accounted for just 2.3 per cent of the total population of the world. However, their distribution is far from uniform, says the report.
The report states that as of 1995, 29 per cent of the developed countries considered immigration levels to be too high, as did 18 per cent of the developing countries. As immigrants became long-term residents, the host societies had to adapt to the presence of ethnically, culturally, linguistically, religiously and socio-economically diverse groups in their
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midst. That could pose challenges to traditional notions of national identity and could lead to hostility to foreigners.
The report emphasizes that worldwide refugee population has also risen substantially over the past 30 years -- from under 2 million in 1965 to some 13.2 million today. Another notable trend in the 1990s has been the feminization of labour migration, particularly Asian labour migration, according to the report. As to the causes of international migration, there is no comprehensive theory which explains it. Wage differentials, excessive population, environmental change, poverty and violation of human rights were some of the possible reasons for migration.
Since the Population Conference, several countries have formulated international migration policies, passing legislation or modifying laws in response to the Conference's Programme of Action, according to the Secretary- General's report on monitoring of population programmes (document E/CN.9/1997/3). Other States have addressed such issues as: protecting basic human rights and eliminating discrimination against migrants, particularly women; promoting integration; and refugee concerns. Cooperation and dialogue between countries of origin and countries of destination has been reported.
However, little activity has been reported on policies regarding admission of family members for reunification purposes, although some countries reported policies in place before the Conference. Similarly, few countries have reported implementing special programmes to promote social and economic integration of documented migrants or passing anti-discrimination laws to protect them.
Moreover, the large number of refugees and asylum-seekers in the world today have placed considerable strain on the institution of asylum in industrialized countries. Many countries are concerned with the increasing number of persons who abuse the asylum system by claiming that they are refugees when, in reality, they are economic migrants attempting to circumvent immigration restrictions.
Following the Population Conference, there have been several regional and subregional meetings to address the issue, including: the Regional Conference on International Migration in Northern and Central America, held in Puebla, Mexico, in March 1996; the Mediterranean Conference on Population, Migration and Development, held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in October 1996; and the Ministerial Session of the Southern African Ministers Conference on Population and Development, held in Pretoria, South Africa, in October 1996. Moreover, international migration has been on the agenda of every major international conference since the Population Conference.
The challenges in implementing international migration policies, especially at the national level, are many, according to the report.
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Governments must resolve such basic issues as how to: formulate policies that will balance the interests of the migrant, the State and the international community; strengthen migration controls while remaining open and democratic; and place migration in the larger context of foreign and domestic policy goals. In addition, they must study the options available to curb the flow of undocumented migrants and, at the same time, ensure that persons who need international protection receive it. Moreover, they must resolve the problem of addressing labour shortages by importing foreign labour or turning to solutions such as exporting jobs.
Further, as pointed out in the report, financial constraints remain an obstacle to the implementation of programmes in international migration for many developing countries. Historically, the majority of funding for population programmes has been earmarked for reproductive health/family planning programmes. As a result, scant financial resources remained for international migration activities. Therefore, donor agencies and governments must be encouraged to allocate a certain percentage of their funding for population assistance to migration activities. In addition, more information, education and communication were necessary concerning international migration.
The Commission on Population and Development should urge governments to concern themselves with questions of migration and development, and to identify the causes of migration so that they can formulate more responsive policies, the Secretary-General's report states. Governments should be urged to ensure that population movements, both temporary and permanent, are orderly, and that migrants are treated not as commodities, but as human beings with basic human rights. Of particular concern is the situation of women and children migrants, who must be protected from discrimination, abuse and exploitation. There is also an urgent need to address gender issues and the special concerns of the family. Towards that end, governments should be urged to collect migration data by gender, and particular attention should be paid to the special needs of refugee women and children.
The report of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) Task Force on Basic Social Services for All on follow-up actions to the recommendations of the International Conference on Population and Development: International Migration (document E/CN.9/1997/4) was completed in response to resolutions 1995/55 and 1996/2 of the Economic and Social Council. It summarizes the replies from 12 member organizations of the Task Force to a request for information on the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference with respect to the theme of the Commission on Population and Development at its current session.
The mandate of the Task Force, which was formed by the Secretary-General as a follow-up mechanism to the Cairo Conference, encompasses the following concerns: population, with an emphasis on reproductive health and family planning services; basic education; primary health care; drinking water and
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sanitation; shelter; and social services in post-crisis situations. According to the report, the Task Force established two working groups, one on basic education, led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the other on primary health care, led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). It also agreed to continue three of the working groups of the earlier Inter- Agency Task Force on reproductive health, international migration, and a common approach to national capacity-building in tracking child and maternal mortality.
During their discussions, the working group on international migration, with the International Labour Organization (ILO) as the lead agency, emphasized that migration issues were of concern not only to developing countries, but also to developed countries, where there was generally no presence of the United Nations Resident Coordinator system. That necessitated information and data-sharing and required effective channels of communication and other ways of facilitating collaboration and coordination.
Following its discussions, the working group agreed to prepare a set of guidance notes for the United Nations Resident Coordinator system, dealing with key issues in international migration and including a brief profile of each agency and a glossary of agreed terminology pertaining to international migration. The working group also agreed to organize an international technical symposium in 1998, covering international migration and refugees.
The report states that the United Nations system had a key role to play in dealing with the development-migration nexus by: addressing the root causes of migration; strengthening national, regional and global efforts to achieve sustainable development; and supporting efforts to ensure orderly migration while promoting and protecting the human rights of migrants. To be effective, international migration policies needed to take into account the economic constraints of the receiving country and the impact of migration on the host society and on the country of origin. Orderly international migration could positively impact on both sending and receiving countries, providing the former with remittances and the latter with needed human resources. Migration could also respond to needs in the international labour market by moving skilled and unskilled workers from labour-surplus countries to those experiencing labour shortages, thereby benefiting both.
The report states that, as a result of the Cairo Conference, United Nations bodies and other organizations were adjusting their programmes to align their activities with the orientation of the Programme of Action adopted at the Conference. In addition to the collaborative efforts undertaken in the context of the Task Force, several members had intensified their activities in international migration, in keeping with their respective mandates. The report summarizes information supplied by members of the Task Force concerning their activities with regard to international migration. Those members are:
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the United Nations Secretariat; the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); ILO; Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); UNESCO; United Nations International Drug Control Programme; United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); World Bank; WHO; and International Organization for Migration (IOM).
In providing information about their programmes and initiatives in international migration, members of the working group on international migration underscored the importance of collaboration and coordinated efforts in searching for solutions to international migration issues, including those concerning refugees, displaced persons and asylum-seekers. An analysis of responses from Working Group members indicates that the following elements contribute to successful collaboration and coordination: regular meetings and consultations; the sharing of information and data; complementarity of guidelines; memoranda of understanding; joint participation in programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; and partnerships with non-governmental organizations.
As described in the report, on 15 November 1996, the UNFPA announced an emergency reproductive health-care initiative for refugees in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, expected to benefit some 200,000 women. The project would be funded with $500,000 from the UNFPA and would be executed and coordinated by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in full cooperation with the UNHCR and non-governmental organizations. That collaborative effort marked the first time that reproductive health-care services for refugees had been planned at the beginning of an emergency operation.
In reporting on difficulties encountered in collaboration and coordination, members of the working group noted that lack of knowledge about the mandates and capabilities of agencies and organizations sometimes hampered or delayed optimal cooperation among agencies. Working group members stressed that there should be more systematic and regular electronic networking and exchange of information among agencies, instead of the frequent production of position papers recapitulating existing knowledge. They stressed the importance of agencies being able to participate collaboratively from an early stage, both in crisis management/problem resolution and in regular programme planning and implementation.
According to the report, non-governmental organizations working in international migration should be sensitive to the dynamics of cultural relations and to gender issues, including the special needs of women migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers. Overall, gender-sensitivity and culture-sensitivity training should be a requirement for all intervening organizations and bodies. Special efforts must be undertaken to provide gender-sensitive human rights education and training to public officials,
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including police, military personnel, health personnel and others who deal with migration and refugee issues.
Statements
Dr. NAFIS SADIK, Executive Director of the UNFPA, said governments, policy-makers, social scientists and the general public were equally concerned with the perceived and real consequences of migratory flows on both the communities of origin and the communities of destination. To that end, the Cairo Conference had drawn the attention of the international community to the significance of migration and development linkages, as well as the importance of gender and family issues. Principle 12 of the Programme of Action had called on countries to provide proper treatment and adequate social welfare services for documented migrants and their families and to guarantee to all migrants all basic human rights, as included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pressures to migrate had been increasing, she continued. The growth of a global economy had emphasized rather than reduced inequality between nations. Images and information through the global communications media and social networks strengthened the pull of the richer countries. It was often assumed that most migrants were men. In reality, women made up nearly half of the international migrant population. Lack of education or skills, and customary limitations on their freedom of action outside the family or ethnic group were factors that led women to the decision to migrate. Gender differences in social and economic roles often affected migration decision- making, household strategy and the sex composition of labour migration. Although women were often thought of as "passive movers", migrating only to join or follow family members, research had found that economic, rather than personal or social, conditions predominated.
The effects of female migration had to be considered in the context of economic, as well as social, change, she said. In that regard, certain investment patterns contributed to the integration of migrant women into the paid labour force. The export processing zones in many parts of the world attracted a large number of unskilled female workers, and the regulations in such zones commonly suspended labour laws protecting workers, especially women, from long hours and poor working and living conditions.
The human rights framework in which the Programme of Action was anchored extended to migration, as well as reproductive and sexual health, she said. An important human rights concern for female migrants was the absence of reproductive health services. To that end, the UNFPA had signed an agreement with the International Federation of Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies and the UNHCR that would bring reproductive health services to refugees and people in emergency situations. In that regard, it was also working with other organizations and non-governmental organizations and had recently signed an agreement with the IOM on those issues.
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Migration issues should be based on the reality of choice, not on coercive measures or measures that invited coercion, she said. As in other areas of population policy, quotas were neither appropriate nor effective. The UNFPA had supported a number of activities pertaining to international migration. It had supported the research efforts of the Population Division and the IOM, in the context of various country programmes. She emphasized the importance of resources and said the developing countries had been doing their part. While international assistance for population had increased in 1995, it had lagged in 1996. She strongly urged the international donor community to increase its financial assistance to population, in line with the commitments agreed to in Cairo.
JOSEPH CHAMIE, Director of the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, in a general statement to the Commission, said declines in rates of mortality and fertility were occurring at a rapid pace in a large number of countries, largely as a result of improvements in levels of social and economic development, improved technology and population programmes. However, there were a number of countries and regions where the pace of demographic transition had been relatively slow, and their lack of progress in lowering and maintaining low rates of mortality was particularly worrisome.
With declines in fertility and mortality rates, the structures of many populations, including those in less developed regions, were rapidly aging, he said. The sharp rise in the numbers and relative proportion of elderly persons, particularly the "oldest old", would continue to have far-reaching economic and social consequences, especially for social security and health delivery systems.
Due to the diverse migratory trends in different areas of the world, it was highly likely that international migration would become an even more contentious political issues in many countries, he said. During the last 10 years alone, the number of refugees and asylum-seekers had more than doubled. The accelerating migration into large urban areas, especially into the world's largest cities, also presented many challenges that had never been experienced at such magnitude and scale. Further, understanding the vital linkages between population and development would contribute to the much- needed development strategies aimed at reducing disparities between countries and alleviating poverty within countries.
Identifying more clearly the role of population within those interrelationships remained a critically important task, he said. During the coming years, the effective follow-up to the Cairo Conference would certainly contribute to the international community's ability to confront those pressing issues. In addition, the Commission must strengthen its efforts to deal with often politically sensitive population and development issues in an objective, scientific and comprehensive manner.
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In a second statement to the Commission, prior to the introduction of reports, Mr. Chamie said international migration had been an important issue for the Commission since its founding. During the past 50 years, the significance and the complexity of international migration movements had increased tremendously. From a geographic perspective, as the number of Member States had risen, so had the possibilities for international migration to occur. From a policy perspective, States had moved towards tighter regulation of international migration.
Furthermore, whereas in the 1950s emphasis was put on the analysis of demographic aspects of international migration movement, today the economic and social aspects occupied centre stage, he said. There was a great deal of misinformation and deliberate distortion regarding the consequences or effects of international migration, for both sending and receiving countries. Unfortunately, it appeared that there were increasing instances where such misinformation and distortion were used to fuel xenophobia, racism and intolerance. Therefore, in the area of international migration, it was essential that the relevant bodies of the United Nations system continue their ongoing collaboration.
Concise Report on World Population Monitoring
L. HELIGMAN, Assistant Director of the Population Division, introduced the Secretary-General's Concise Report on World Population Monitoring 1997: International Migration (document E/CN.9/1997/2). He said the report provided a comprehensive and up-to-date description of what was known about international migration, its levels, trends, government policies and their evolution over time and the relationship between international migration and development. The report was the result of basic, traditional research undertaken by the staff of the Population Division of the Secretariat.
GUSTAVO LOPEZ-OSPINO, of UNESCO, said international migration movements had become a major issue of public concern in the developed and developing world. Environmental crisis and degradation were leading causes of mass migration. Under the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, UNESCO had provided support to research and training on disaster prevention and its application to educational buildings, as its contribution towards averting migration due to environmental degradation.
Conflict was another leading cause of migration, and an increase in the number of potential refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons could be expected in the coming years, particularly women and children, he said. The UNESCO had launched pilot projects designed to pay special attention to the enhancement of learning opportunities for young men and women, particularly demobilized youth in countries in post-conflict situations and out-of-school youth and other vulnerable groups in the least developed countries and countries undergoing rapid social and political change. The strategies that
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UNESCO had applied included: innovative approaches to skills-training adapted to the learner's needs and circumstances; educational materials designed to guide educators in providing marginalized youth with skills training; and development of prototype materials in the learner's mother tongue.
Migration also had health implications, especially for children and adolescents recruited illegally to serve as workers in other countries, he said. The UNESCO, in partnership with UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the ILO, had paid special attention to continuing to enhance the access of street and working children to basic education. Among the activities in that programme was the building of capacities through the organization of training workshops. HELGE BRUNBORG (Norway) said the Secretary-General's concise report on world population monitoring had concluded that a lack of migration data was a major problem. The report had also drawn attention to the non-existence of a commonly agreed definition of the word "migrant". In addition, data- collection methods varied in countries.
According to the report, he continued, data on international migration could be obtained from three types of sources: administrative; border statistics; and household-based inquiries. As administrative sources and border statistics were unreliable, the census method was perhaps the most reliable. He suggested that in their census efforts all countries include questions about residence for as much as a year earlier.
He stressed the need for international cooperation in the compiling and checking of data. Moreover, he said, data should be collected by one international organization with expertise. He recognized that, while in theory organizations involved in the area of migration were keen on cooperating, in practice that had not worked well. All organizations had to compromise to make cooperation work. Therefore, efforts to improve cooperation in the collection of data should continue.
SAMIRA YENER (Turkey) said that contrary to the images of Turkey from the 1960s and 1970s, the most striking feature of Turkey from 1980 onward was that it was a hospitable and safe country for asylum-seekers, refugees and migrant workers. Many asylum-seekers from Africa and the Middle East resided in Turkey as a transitional country, while waiting to migrate to Europe or other countries.
The report neglected to capture the diversity of Turkish female migrant workers, she said. Female Turkish migrant workers were comprised of three main groups: spouses of migrant workers; migrant workers; and entrepreneurs. While Turkish female migrant workers generally took jobs that had low pay and greater difficulty, there were a number of professional female workers who migrated to western Europe. Those women were achieving the status of entrepreneurs and contributing to local markets and the private sector.
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CARLOS ARAMBURO (Peru) said he was concerned that the Secretary- General's report had not paid the requisite attention to the subject of "return migration". Return migration had a lot of positive elements, especially for the countries of origin. It was beneficial in terms of investment, among other things. Moreover, countries of origin could encourage return migration by fiscal measures and tax credit. In addition, it was the best indication of stabilization and democratization in the countries of origin. That was specially true in the case of Peru.
BEATRICE VON ROEMER, of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), said the Secretary-General's concise report demonstrated the extent to which migration had become a truly global issue, with large new flows of migrant workers between developing countries, in addition to the established patterns of migration from developing to industrialized countries. The new universality of international migration made it all the more urgent that the major international conventions to protect migrant workers be ratified by all Member States. It was regrettable that the United Nations International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families, which was adopted in 1990, had so far been ratified by only seven countries and signed by three more, while it needed a minimum of 20 ratifications to enter into force. She urged the Commission to reiterate the importance of ratifying the Convention, as well as the conventions of the ILO.
The report states that most international migrants were not poor, but belonged mostly in the middle range of the income scale of their country of origin, she said. The absence of those people from their own countries constituted a major handicap for development efforts in those developing countries. Furthermore, the migrants were almost always employed in occupations far below their full potential in terms of contribution to society and the economy. For example, western Europe had many illegal migrants from central and eastern Europe and Asia who possessed professional skills and qualifications as teachers, doctors, or skilled artisans, but who were forced to accept employment of the most menial kind. That was a tragic waste of human resources.
THOMAS McDEVITT (United States) said the final chapter of the report on world population monitoring was very impressive, and his Government wished to underscore its support for the United Nations Statistical Commission's 1996 recommendations on international migration. The international community had a collective interest in understanding the causes and consequences of international migration, but weaknesses in data could compromise efforts. Given the magnitude and difficulty of the task of preparing the monitoring report, it was possible for inaccuracies to occur.
Regarding international migration trends involving the United States, his delegation had two points to make, he said. First, there was a
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misinterpretation of trends of new immigrants in the report's description of changes of immigration, and it presented an incomplete picture of trends of international migration into the United States. The dip in migration noted in the report was a temporary change in a long-term trend, due in part to processing backlogs. The number of immigrants in 1996 would be approximately 900,000, which would surpass the 1993 level by approximately 20,000 persons.
In Chapter 7, referring to the attitudes of people in receiving States towards migrants, the report states there was a possible bias against migrant workers, and that immigrants' access to social services was advocated in the work of the radical fringe. His delegation wished to state that host nations had the right to voice legitimate concerns regarding the burden of immigrants on social services.
EASTON WILLIAMS (Jamaica) said in recent years some developed countries had placed fees on the retrieval of data on documented migrants in their countries. A facility for the collection of data should be created at the United Nations, so that developing countries would have access to such data. He emphasized that the availability of such data was essential for planning and policy purposes. Responding to the statements made, Mr. HELIGMAN, Assistant Director of the Population Division, said he appreciated suggestions concerning the Secretary-General's concise report. A number of issues raised by Member States had to do with the difficulties of data collection.
The Population Division was involved in data analysis of population, while the Statistical Division was responsible for data collection, he said. Both the Divisions worked closely. Thanking the representatives of the United States and Peru for their comments on making documents scientifically stronger, he said he agreed with Peru on the importance of "return migration". The concise report would be published in a revised version, he added.
Monitoring of Population Programmes
SETHURAMIAH RAO, Director, Technical and Evaluation Division of the UNFPA, introduced the Secretary-General's report on Monitoring of Population Programmes (document E/CN.9/1997/3). The report had been prepared in accordance with the topic-oriented and prioritized multi-year programme of the Commission endorsed by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1995/55. Information for the report had been gathered from an inquiry sent to 107 UNFPA representatives/country directors in developing countries. Fifty- two of those had replied. In addition, inquiries had been sent to the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of 26 developed countries. Ten replies had been received. A number of responses -- five from developing countries and four from developed countries -- had been received after the deadline and had not been included in the report. However, findings from those inquiries did not change the findings reported in the document.
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JOHN HOBCRAFT (United Kingdom) said that while the report on monitoring of population programmes was based heavily on responses received from the field offices of the UNFPA, it was a matter of concern that the agency had been able to get not even a 50 per cent response from its offices. He wondered if that was due to a lack of follow-up. He was not happy about such a rate of response.
He said he recognized that it was difficult to demonstrate that the Cairo Conference had caused changes to happen. The fact that something happened after the Conference did not necessarily mean that the Conference had caused it. It had to be determined if the Cairo Conference had, indeed, changed things. In the report, there had been a mention of a number of important conferences. However, the outcomes of those conferences had not been explained. While he appreciated the difficulty of preparing such a report, it should not be a mere catalogue of activities. The emphasis should be on evaluation and review.
Mentioning the report's reference to a plan to hold a Technical Symposium on International Migration in 1998, he wondered about the size of the proposed symposium. In addition, he wanted to know who would service it. The Commission should also be made aware of how it could shape that symposium's agenda, he said.
ADEL M. ABDELLATIF (Egypt) said international migration was not merely a problem of statistics, and the international community needed to go forward and concentrate on what was needed to address the root causes of the problem. Instead of subjectively turning the issue around to address specific needs, the problems of both sending and receiving countries needed to be addressed. Poverty was not the only problem, although the perception of poverty -- how an individual perceived his condition in relation to others -- was important. Enabling receiving and sending countries to get together to deal with the social and economic problems caused by international migration should be dealt with in an intergovernmental forum.
Regarding the Technical Symposium on International Migration to be held in 1998, his delegation understood that the questions of labour migration and refugees would be addressed, he said. Both issues concerned important phenomenon, but they were also completely different. Dealing with refugees was not similar to dealing with labour migration. The bodies of literature on both of those problems were also completely different, and it was a problem of focusing work and coordinating expertise.
ZHAO ZHIPEI (China) said the continuous growth of international migration had aroused the common concern of the international community. In the two years since the Cairo Programme of Action was adopted, China had made great efforts to further improve its laws, regulations and measures relating to international migration. In 1996, all exit and entry formalities were
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simplified, making it more convenient for people to go abroad and return in cases of education, employment and tourism.
International migration concerned the sovereignty of the relevant countries and the migrants' vital interests, he said. His Government believed that in dealing with issues in that area there should be full respect for the sovereignty of countries of destination, including the right to control the migrants' entry into their countries. It was also essential to respect the basic human rights of the migrants, including undocumented migrants, in order to ensure their protection against racism, ethnocentrism and xenophobia.
Regarding refugees, as pointed out in the Programme of Action, governments should be urged to address the root causes of movements of refugees and displaced persons by taking appropriate measures, he said. International cooperation was indispensable for the solution to the related issues of international migration. It was hoped that the concerned governments would strengthen their intergovernmental cooperation through extensive dialogues, including bilateral and multilateral consultations and negotiations, so the issues of international migration could be gradually solved.
SAM A. OTUYELU (Nigeria) said international migration had become a permanent part of the economic and social development of the world. Nigeria, both as a sending and receiving State, was in a good position to know the problems facing both. Immigrants were not necessarily parasites. They were all participants in the economy of the receiving countries. International migration allowed for a cross-fertilization of ideas, as skills brought by immigrants could improve local conditions, even in the most developed countries of the world.
International migration had also become an issue through which national politics could be projected into the international arena, and that was a problem that needed to be addressed, he said. The best interests of international community, receiving Sates, and migrants should be put into focus. Such work would lead to the construction of a framework that could be applied to Member States, in accordance with local peculiarities, resources and geography. Both receiving and sending States must also continue to put emphasis on bilateral consultation, which the UNFPA had emphasized. Areas of conflict could be adequately addressed and solutions offered for identified problems.
L. MURAT BURHAN (Turkey) said he wanted to comment on paragraph 59 of the report on monitoring of population programmes. That paragraph had described trafficking in Bulgarian-born children of Turkish parents who had emigrated to Turkey. That paragraph had not explained the situation adequately. It had to be recognized that until a few years ago, Bulgaria had tried to change the ethnic identity of its population. Bulgarian-born
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children of Turkish parents had been separated from their parents and families. They had not been allowed to join their parents when their parents had migrated. It was incorrect to refer to children joining their parents as "trafficking". The statement made in that paragraph should be substantiated and placed in the right context or removed.
MAKOTO ATOH (Japan) said he wanted to mention activity undertaken by Japan in the area of refugee assistance. Japan had been active in both Africa and Asia. It had contributed $80,000 for housing construction in Rwanda in 1995 and most of that contribution had been directed at war widows. It had also supported the activities of Japanese non-governmental organizations in Liberia. In addition, it had provided assistance in Cambodia and had assisted in vocational training of women in Palestine.
Responding to comments, Mr. RAO, Director of the Technical and Evaluation Division of the UNFPA, said the representative of the United Kingdom had rightly raised the issue of response rate. It appeared that in many countries where there was no major activity in migration, field officers had not responded. In response to the question on whether or not progress would have occurred with or without the Cairo Conference, he said it was always difficult to judge that.
So far as the comments on the lack of explanation of the achievements of various regional conferences was concerned, he said a longer version had been written. However, in the editing that section had been deleted. A larger description of the work of conferences was available. On the plans for the Technical Symposium on International Migration in 1998, he said further discussion on that would take place this afternoon. In addition, the paragraph that the Turkish representative had objected to would be looked into and removed, if it was not accurate.
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