PRESS CONFERENCE BY SPECIAL ENVOY FOR MIGRATION

 

While much more international cooperation was needed in the area of migration policy, it was important for Governments to understand that both sending countries and receiving countries stood to benefit from the migration process, said Peter Sutherland, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Migration, at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

Mr. Sutherland, who was joined by José Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said the Secretary-General’s report on migration and development, which was released earlier this week, and the upcoming high-level ministerial dialogue on the issue in September were part of an attempt to create a framework for a constructive and positive dialogue.

“This whole process represents the first sustained multilateral attempt to address in a constructive way the issues of migration on a global level”, he said.  “It’s one of great global issues of this century and it’s clearly a growing issue in terms of its importance.”

“A major emphasis of the report is on the fact there are possibilities for all sides to win in the international migration field”, said Mr. Ocampo.  He noted that the report quoted the World Bank as saying that the potential gains from migration were larger than those from free trade.  Receiving countries obtained needed skilled labour, while sending countries gained added investment through remittances, as well as trade opportunities with communities abroad.

There were still several issues to be addressed, including how receiving countries adapted to the arrival new migrants and the loss of skilled labour in sending countries, said Mr. Ocampo.  International cooperation had an important role to play in addressing those issues.

In his report, the Secretary-General proposed creating a standing forum, which Governments could use to explore and compare policy approaches.  Mr. Sutherland said he wanted to assure Member States that such a forum would not create additional bureaucracy, but instead would provide an opportunity for the sharing of best practices in the field.

Responding to a question about the preliminary reaction from Arab countries to efforts to establish a global dialogue on migration policy, especially assimilation and citizenship for guest workers, Mr. Sutherland said that he had met with more than 50 Governments and had received nearly universal positive responses.

He added that it was important not to offer judgements on the different types of responses to migration, particularly those pertaining to sovereignty and citizenship.  “If we go down that road, we are going to get into a situation that precludes the dialogue we need”, he said.

In response to a further question on what type of incentives would encourage Governments to embrace the pro-migration stance advocated in the report, Mr. Sutherland said there were different arguments to be made in different places.  For instance, within 10 years many countries in Europe would be facing a major demographic problem in the form of an ageing population; they clearly needed the influx of people.

“There’s a compelling argument for having a constructive engagement with the issue of migration”, he said.  “The problem is that it hasn’t been explained positively, and that’s what we’re hoping to do.”

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For information media • not an official record