Sixty-first General Assembly

High-Level Meeting on Migration

5^th & 6^th Meetings (AM & PM)*

BROAD AGREEMENT EMERGES THAT, WITH ‘RIGHT SET OF POLICIES’, GLOBAL MIGRATION

CAN BOOST DEVELOPMENT, AS HISTORIC DEBATE CONCLUDES

 

In Two-Day Session, Over 140 Speakers Consider Global Migration Flows,

Examine Benefits and Challenges:  Remittances, ‘Brain Drain’, Exploitation

Wrapping up the United Nations first ever ministerial-level consideration of the socio-economic impacts of migration on development, General Assembly President Sheika Haya Rashed al Khalifa of Bahrain said the historic meeting had affirmed that international migration could be a positive force for development in both countries of origin and destination, if supported by the right set of policies.

The Assembly President said that the High-Level Dialogue had affirmed that international migration was a growing phenomenon and a key component in both developing and developed countries.  “Above all, these two days have proven that international migration and development can be debated constructively within the United Nations”, she asserted.

The meeting had also affirmed that cooperation needed to be strengthened, bilaterally, regionally and globally, concerning issues of international migration, Sheikha Haya said, noting that many speakers sought the special protection of vulnerable groups, such as women and children.  Broad agreement also emerged that migration was no substitute for development, as many migrants were forced to seek work abroad due to poverty, conflict and lack of human rights in their home countries.

Still, there had been widespread support for incorporating international migration into the development agenda and for integrating migration into national development strategies, including possibly into poverty reduction strategies, she said.  All speakers during the Dialogue had underscored the need to have decent working conditions in the countries, not only of destination, but also in the countries of origin, in an effort to reduce the flow of migration.

While Governments had long been sensitive about discussing migration in an international forum –- believing it to be a domestic issue -- the two-day Dialogue brought together delegations from some 130 countries to share their experiences.  And, with United Nations statistics showing that most migrants came from developing countries or those marked by conflict in Africa, Asia and the Middle East -- with 6 out of 10 now living in rich countries and one out of five in the United States -- the discussions touched on well-known North-South differences.

But, with more and more migrants from the developing world now heading to other developing countries -– a phenomenon highlighted by speakers from the African continent –-the problems for nations that migrants left behind, such as the brain drain, the trafficking in and smuggling of migrants, and the exploitation of immigrants working in poor conditions for little money were repeatedly underscored.  Participants also drew attention to the astonishing size -- about double official aid flows -- and rate of growth, of remittances, or the income that workers abroad sent to their home countries; they sought ways to facilitate safe and cheap modes of remittance transfers, and of ensuring incentives to invest in development.

Throughout the debate, speakers emphasized the role of Governments -- in source and host countries –- and of official aid programmes in securing positive outcomes to migration.  Some believed that the complexities of migration required coordinated polices to ensure that the benefits and challenges were reconciled with the dignity and rights of migrants.  Others called for flexible systems of temporary and “circular migration”, and ways of making returns sustainable.  Governments were encouraged to deepen cooperation with the diaspora and its members, as they could be important agents of development.

Many welcomed an offer by Belgium to host the first meeting next year of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s proposed Global Forum on Migration and Development, a standing body in which countries would be able to exchange the best ideas and practices on the issue.  The Secretary-General had said that the Forum would not set policy, but would serve as an informal consultative body to allow Governments to build relationships of trust, and to bring together the best ideas developed by different countries to:  facilitate remittances; engage diasporas; explore new poverty reduction strategies; and build educational partnerships.

Today, Brunson Mckinley, Director-General, International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that the Dialogue had been a milestone in the journey to find ways to maximize the benefits of migration for development and minimize its challenges.  The IOM had identified seven key messages for the Dialogue that focused on:  integrating migration into development policy, developing migration policies, partnering with the private sector, matching global labour supply with demand, understanding the relationship between diasporas and home countries, achieving overlap among regional consultations and improving respect for migrants’ human rights.

Malawi’s Minister of State in the President’s Office Responsible for Poverty and Disaster Management Affairs, Richard Msowoya, pointed out that, while remittances were important, countries of origin lost human capital through the emigration of skilled professionals and unskilled labourers.  For example, for every three doctors Malawi trained, two were likely to leave, looking for better prospects, and the statistics were even worse for registered nurses.  That trend, or “brain drain”, had seriously hampered the delivery of health services and was a serious deterrent to sustainable development.   Africa needed support to help attract national expatriates back home with professional and financial incentives and, indirectly, through the creation of legal and institutional frameworks.

Saying his country had encouraged migrants to temporarily return to their countries of origin, thereby contributing to their development, the speaker from the Netherlands said his country had developed a project for Ghanaian doctors qualified in the Netherlands to temporarily return home.  Similar programmes were being developed in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Among the speakers from the Latin American and Caribbean region, Belela Herrera, Minister of Foreign Relations for Uruguay, emphasized that migration challenged all countries, whether nations of origin or destination, and was an issue that should be taken up multilaterally.  Uruguay supported the proposal to create a permanent forum under the auspices of the United Nations.  Affirming the aim of the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate poverty, she said, however, that migration should not be a flight from poverty.

The Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada, Richard Fadden, said that, although there was much to be learned from sharing approaches and experiences concerning migration, solutions should be tailored to local conditions.  The notion of sharing “best practices” required refinement; not everything could be systematized into a global approach.  Any process that might emerge from the High-Level Dialogue should add value to the international discussions, rather than duplicate what was already taking place or could occur within existing mechanisms.  Going forward, the process should focus on developing understanding of substantive issues, rather than on negotiating resolutions or declarations.

Also today, the Chairpersons of the four round tables that took place in parallel to the plenary presented summaries of those discussions.  Tarja Filatov, Minister of Labour for Finland, spoke about Round Table 1 on the effects of international migration on economic and social development; Margarita Escobar, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs for El Salvador, on behalf of Francisco Lainez, El Salvador’s Foreign Minister, summed up Round Table 2, which dealt with measures to ensure respect for and protection of the human rights of all migrants, and to prevent and combat smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons.

Kastriot Sulka, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs of Albania presented a summary of Round Table 3, on the multidimensional aspects of migration and development, including remittances; and Jean-François Ndongou, Minister Delegate to the Ministry of State and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, Francophonie and Regional Integration of Gabon summed up Round Table 4, which dealt with promoting the building of partnerships and capacity-building and the sharing of best practices at all levels, including the bilateral and regional levels, for the benefit of countries and migrants alike.

Speaking at the ministerial level were the representatives of the United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Brazil, Poland, Colombia, Argentina, Belarus, Peru, Paraguay, Benin, Dominican Republic, Syria, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Mozambique, Ecuador, Honduras, Slovenia, Armenia, Zambia, Nigeria, Switzerland, United States, Albania, Qatar, Greece, Estonia and Cuba.

Chile’s Director of Consular and Migration Affairs addressed the Dialogue as did Gambia’s Permanent Secretary of the Department of State for the Interior.

The representatives of Liechtenstein, Suriname, Nicaragua, Tunisia, France, Andorra, Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Viet Nam, San Marino, Croatia, China, Republic of Moldova, Georgia, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cyprus, Slovakia, Angola, Belgium, New Zealand, Venezuela, Nepal, Iceland, Iran, Guinea, Oman, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Congo, Kenya and Senegal also spoke today.

Speaking, too, were the observer delegations of the Holy See and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), as well as the Observer for the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and the representatives of the Commonwealth Secretariat; the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries; the European Community; the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States; the Ibero-American Conference; the International Centre for Migration and Policy Development (ICMPD); and the International Organization for La Francophonie.

Speaking in exercise of the Right of Reply were the representatives of the United States and Cuba.

The Assembly will reconvene Monday, 18 September, at 10 a.m. to open its Comprehensive Global Review of the Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries for the decade 2001-2010.

Background

The General Assembly met today to conclude its two-day High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development.  For further background and coverage of the first day’s session, please see Press Release GA/10494 of 14 September.

Baroness ROYALL, Spokesperson on International Development, United Kingdom, said that well-managed migration could be a positive force for development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  The United Kingdom was committed to supporting developing countries’ efforts to help poor people benefit from migration and, for example, working with countries to make remittances cheaper and easier to transfer.

She said the United Kingdom believed strong partnerships in development and migration were key to the success of migration and would like to see migration policies and actions better integrated into national poverty reduction strategies. International cooperation was vital to reduce the risks, such as the trafficking and smuggling of people, surrounding migration.  She added that one of the most effective ways to help reduce the risks was through the United Kingdom’s development programme.  These programmes aimed to counter the brain drain and improve the abilities of women migrants to access their rights.

PAOLO FERRERO, Minister of Social Solidarity of Italy, said the experience of many Italian immigrants as victims of racism and exploitation prompted the Government to address the subject in an innovative manner through new legislation that would create a welcoming mechanism centred on respect for the human and social rights of immigrants.  He said Italy would promote immigration policies that were part of a comprehensive foreign policy of peace and cooperation.  The country would do that by reactivating dialogue, catalyzing European Union and bilateral cooperation with countries of origin, revising migration controls to safeguard the dignity of immigrants and increasing collaboration with the United Nations and other organizations on migration and human trafficking issues.  Those initiatives also would serve as the basis for supporting education and training programmes in countries of origin that would help enhance legal channels for migrants to access the Italian labour market and strike a better balance between labour supply and demand.

He said migration management must include measures that maximized the macroeconomic benefits of remittances, including those that allowed migrants to develop business activities in their home countries.  Minors must be guaranteed the rights and protections established by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.  There were two bills currently in Parliament dealing with the right to citizenship: one that would make family reunification easier; and another that would decrease to five years the time needed for an immigrant to acquire Italian citizenship.  He reiterated the importance of creating opportunities for immigrants to vote in local elections and a law to safeguard their religious freedom.  He called the impending formation of a Council of Migrants a significant step to ensuring the inclusion of immigrants in the social fabric of the country.

MARY WALLACE, Minister of State of Ireland, said migration, particularly emigration, had been a defining element of Ireland’s history and experience in the last 200 years.  The dramatic growth of its economy in the last decade had resulted in Ireland experiencing the forces of migration in a completely new way.  Ireland had become a major destination for migrant workers with an estimated 9 per cent of its working population being non-Irish.  Recent preliminary 2006 census results indicated that, in a population of about 4.2 million, the number of non-Irish nationals in the country was likely to be roughly 400,000 as compared to 222,000 in 2002.  The Government had recently announced its proposals for new immigration, residence and protection legislation, which represented a radical overhaul of the country’s immigration laws dating back to 1935.  The legislation would provide the framework for orderly and managed legal migration into the State.

The Government also planned to introduce a “Green Card” system for highly skilled and highly paid migrants, she said.  That would comprise a gateway to permanent residence after two years, immediate family reunification and unrestricted spousal access to employment.   Ireland was committed to enhancing the framework already in place for integration, as well as ensuring that its migrant population was provided with full legal protection against exploitation.  They were coming to terms with the reality that Ireland was irrevocably a major multicultural society with over 160 nationalities living and working in the country.

The Irish representative said that a key challenge for the High-Level Dialogue was to identify appropriate ways and means to maximize the development benefits of international migration and to minimize its negative impacts.   Ireland supported the establishment of a consultative forum which would be non-bureaucratic and open-ended and that would provide a framework for continued dialogue on challenges which faced all societies in the areas of migration and development.

CONSUELO RUMI, Secretary of State for Immigration and Emigration of Spain, said migration was one of the most important trends of the present time and its relationship with development was creating a growing impact in countries of origin and destination.  Until recently, Spain had been a country of emigration and now was one of the main receiving countries for immigrants.

Spain believed public migratory policies should serve to maximize the benefits of migration and reduce its negative consequences, she continued.  Governments should also take into account the benefits of voluntary return programmes, and create mechanisms to make information available about them and their financing.  Convinced that international migration could not be handled unilaterally, Spain was determined to intensify international cooperation and promoted specific measures within the European Union.   Spain also had supported the dialogue leading to the creation of the Global Forum of States on Migration and Development as proposed by the Secretary-General.

LUIZ PAULO TELES FERREIRA BARRETO, Deputy Minister of Justice of Brazil, said that the world has currently observed a marked inability by Governments, the media and society to deal with the migration issue.  Attempts were made to establish control over a phenomenon that was intrinsic to human nature -– to migrate in search of better opportunities.  South America, once a traditional recipient of millions of immigrants, had now witnessed an exodus of a sizeable share of its inhabitants to other parts of the world.  Yet, restrictive immigration policies had proven ineffective and often merely provided incentives to mobsters and other forms of organized crime.

Draft agreements, criminalizing immigrant trafficking, and electronic and biometric identification have been used -– none with satisfactory results.  To the contrary, though violations to the human rights of immigrants are ever-increasing, illegal immigration has remained on the rise.

He stated that Brazil was in support of full civil rights to immigrants, while it also stood for the expansion of protection for refugees.  While countries had a right to control the entry and exit of its foreigners, no country could be exempt from violations by the international community, he noted. 

As pro-tempore chair of the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), Brazil and its regional bloc had made significant progress, he noted.  He expressed support for the Global Forum of States on Migration and Development, as it would examine the links between migration and development from a holistic perspective and provide an important human rights perspective.  Also, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees must be strengthened.  Thoughtful consideration of the issues might open the door to common and just solutions for the migratory phenomenon.

WIESŁAW TARKA, Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of the Interior and Administration of Poland, said that, although the international aspect of migration-related cooperation was highly significant, migration at the regional level was of key importance.  He, therefore, supported the increasing activities and participation of all the United Nations regional commissions in migration and development issues.   Poland was not only a country of emigration, but had also become a country of immigration.  During the last decade, Poland had become a transit and destination country.  To an ever greater extent, it had been experiencing the phenomenon of temporary migration.  He, therefore, believed that special attention should be paid to that particular issue and its challenges.

Effective migration was possible, but it should be based on close cooperation and partnership among the countries of origin, transit and destination, he continued.  He also emphasized the constructive role played by non-governmental organizations and local communities.  The most efficient use of the organization and financial potential of countries, regions, organizations and other partners would be best achieved by coherence and avoiding duplication.

ALEJANDRO BORDA, Ambassador and Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs for Colombia, said the complexity of migration meant it was charged by tensions between globalization and national sovereignty, best practices and worst realities, and unilateral and multilateral positions.  The phenomenon needed to be addressed at the global and intergovernmental levels, such as this High-Level Dialogue.  The Dialogue should be a constructive forum with flexible mechanisms of understanding, policy agreement and solidarity.

He said the “best practices” model that international public policy had used could not be an excuse to ignore the “worst realities” that migrants experienced in societies that exploited them, such as: xenophobia; discrimination; racism; and the dismissal of the economic and cultural contributions made by migrants to their communities of origin and destination.  Migration was not a criminal activity, but what was criminal was the illicit trade of migrants.

LEONARDO FRANCO, Vice-Minister for Latin American Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, said that migration had played an important role in Argentine history.  Argentina had participated in this high-level session in the context of regional integration that addressed migration from a human rights perspective, he said.  His country had also decided to promote the issue of migration multilaterally, and not on a vision based exclusively on sovereignty and the State.  As proof of this, he cited the important agreements of MERCOSUR and the South American Conference of Migration that had already achieved advances.

The search for better conditions of life in other countries must not be reproachable, much less criminalized, he continued.  Countries should address the issue by searching for mechanisms of cooperation and integration.  He noted that Argentina had sealed that spirit into its migration policies in the National Law of Migration in 2004.  That had affirmed Argentina’s commitment to guaranteeing the human rights of migrants, while establishing mechanisms to regulate migration, thereby minimizing discrimination and xenophobia. 

He highlighted that Argentina’s National Programme of Normalization of Migratory Documents (Patria Grande) had allowed the regularization of over 250,000 immigrants from South American countries in three months since its inception.  He also stressed that this was a State policy, and not amnesty.  A gender perspective was also vital to this discussion, he noted.  Migrant women have both agents of development and transmitters of values, while the victims of trafficking were often women and children, he said.

JORIS DEMMINK, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands, said that his country had aligned itself with the intervention by Finland on behalf of the European Union, especially in regard to the relationship between migration and the Millennium Development Goals, brain drain, circular migration reducing transfer costs for remittances, smuggling and trafficking, and refugee protection. 

As migration and development were clearly linked, he noted, the Netherlands had spent 0.8 per cent of its gross domestic product annually in the fight against poverty, thereby contributing to the removal of the root causes of migration.  He stressed that policy coherence would have to start at home in order for it to be effective internationally.  Regarding capacity-building, he said that creating migration management capacity could contribute greatly.  The Netherlands supported projects, notably in Africa, that helped immigration agencies and authorities register and assist migrants and protect refugees.  His country had worked to promote brain gain by encouraging migrants to temporarily return to their countries of origin, thereby contributing to their development.  The Netherlands had developed a project for Ghanaian doctors qualified in the Netherlands to temporarily return there, he noted.  Similar programmes were being developed in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He emphasized that every country should protect migrant rights, especially those of women and children.  As such, the special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, acting under the mandate of the Human Rights Council, would play a key role.  Migration also posed risks for women.  “Trafficking is the dark underside of globalization and must be exposed and rooted out” he said.

VICTOR L. FILISTOVICH, Deputy Interior Minister of Belarus, said his country had initiated the establishment of a global partnership against slavery and trafficking of persons.  Human trafficking would never be eradicated as long as the demand for sexual relations with the victims existed.  As such, Belarus would be holding an international high-level conference in October on fighting the demand of trafficking and improving cooperation among countries of origin and destination.  The draft resolution on “Improving coordination of efforts against slavery and trafficking in persons”, prepared by Belarus, was believed to be an important step towards a global partnership framework.

He said the early 1990s saw an enormous migration flow across the former Soviet Union, resulting in Belarus having developed an efficient system of legal and social assistance for migrants.  It had also established an effective legal regime for refugees and aliens and taken measures to fight illegal migration and human trafficking.  A migration programme for 2006-2010 was currently being carried out to facilitate social, economic and demographic development; promote integration; lessen the outflow of academicians; ensure access to job opportunities abroad; and promote international cooperation.  Countries unable to implement programmes to regulate migration needed assistance from the international community.  For its part, Belarus actively participated in a number of international and regional forums on migration, among them the Euro-Asian Programme for Forceful Displacement and Migration.

JORGE LAZARO GELDRES, Vice-Minister for Peruvian Communities Abroad of Peru, said that, as a country that had a number of migrants abroad, during the past seven years, it had been developing in a systematic manner a policy of providing consular services and protections for Peruvians abroad.  It had also been adopting migrant agreements at the bilateral, subregional, regional, hemispheric and global level.  The time had come for the international community to acknowledge the significant contributions made by migrants and to devise an integrated and balanced approach to migration that stressed its multidimensional nature while, at the same time, offered specific, viable and long-term solutions to the current problems associated with migration.

Peru believed it was a shared responsibility to increase the positive aspects of migration to countries of origin and destination.  He, therefore, welcomed the Secretary-General’s suggestion of creating a forum to deal with international migration.  Peru had initiated negotiations at the regional level with neighbouring countries concerning migrant labourers and the protection of their families.

EMILIO GIMENEZ, Vice-Minister for Economic Affairs and Integration of Paraguay, speaking of the fourth South American Conference on Migration held in Paraguay this past May, said the conference had proclaimed that the right of migration must be recognized as a right of all and that the human rights of migrants deserved unrestricted respect.  Migrant workers and their families should be protected from racism, discrimination and xenophobia.  The positive impact of migration should be maximized.  The conference declaration had also recognized the increasing feminization of migration and its effects on families and social groups in the countries of origin.  Women migrants faced a compounded discrimination through their gender and status as migrant worker.  The international community must double its efforts to see that women and unaccompanied minors were accorded protection in the country of destination, irrespective of their status as migrants.

Paraguay was convinced that migrants acted as agents of development, he said.  They should be guaranteed access to labour markets and their professional and academic qualifications should be recognized.  Developed countries as destination countries benefited from the brain drain that migration often caused in the developing countries of origin that had invested in the education and training of those qualified workers.

Remittances were private funds sent to families and should not be linked to official development assistance, he continued.  The migration issue was affected by transnational organized crime groups.  Migrants were often subjected to violations of their human rights.  Measures to counter illegal immigration should not limit the access of migrants to international protection.

RICHARD MSOWOYA, Minister of State in the President’s Office Responsible for Poverty and Disaster Management Affairs in Malawi, stressed the need for policies to guarantee that international migration became beneficial for the development of all countries.  Some of the advantages of migration included the dynamic link between cultures, economies and societies; remittances; and the transfer of technology and knowledge.

He noted that the Secretary-General’s report stated that nearly 200 million people lived outside their country of birth in 2005 and contributed nearly $250 billion in remittances to their countries of origin.  While celebrating the importance of remittances, he pointed out that the countries of origin lost human capital through the emigration of skilled professionals and unskilled labourers.  In Malawi, for example, for every three doctors trained, two were likely to migrate for better prospects and the statistics were worse for registered nurses.  That trend had seriously hampered the delivery of health services, and the brain drain was a serious deterrent to sustainable development.

He acknowledged the “Migration for Development in Africa” programme spearheaded by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the “Transfer of Knowledge through the Expatriate Nationals Programmes”, which had made modest efforts to tap into the diaspora in the development of their countries.  African Governments needed support in their efforts to attract national expatriates back to their countries of origin with professional and financial incentives and, indirectly, through the creation of legal and institutional frameworks.

SEM ALBERT AGOSSOU, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Benin, said that Benin was particularly interested in the connection between migration and development.  As Benin had long been a country of emigration, it had, in the last two decades, become a country of immigration, he said.  Benin was especially concerned with the migration of vulnerable persons, such as women and children, as well as human trafficking.  The human rights of migrant workers were still of concern, he noted, despite the adoption of the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights and the International Pact for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 

He said that Benin had approximately 1 million people living and working outside its borders in 1983 and nearly 3 million people in 2005.  Of those 3 million, 1.02 per cent had chosen Europe as a destination, while .27 per cent had migrated to North America.  The majority, 98 per cent, were in Africa.  Those living abroad had transferred a sum of $698 million from 1999 to 2005 back home.  That transfer of funds established a direct connection between migration and development, he noted.  He called for the international community to support the creation of an observatory on such transfers of funds from migrants.

He also called for the consideration of several measures, including encouraging all countries to integrate their migration strategies and increased bilateral accords between countries of origin and countries of destination, as well as providing educational opportunities to children excluded from the formal educational system and providing technical and financial support to countries of emigration.

ROSARIO GRACIANO DE LOS SANTOS, Deputy Secretary of Foreign Relations to the Consular and Migration Affairs of the Dominican Republic, said the session must address two issues:  the establishment of a correct balance between the demand of the industrialized countries for labour and the supply of the countries exporting workers; and how the needs or ambitions of migrants could be met.  The session must play a significant role in the formulation and direction of public policy with respect to the positive impact caused by migration.  The relation between migration and development must be explained, she said, and added that a major imperative was the understanding and identification of the role of countries that send migrants.  Her country, as a migrant-receiving and -sending country, had dealt with important changes in migration since the mid-1970s.

She said the High-Level Dialogue provided an opportunity for countries to exchange and discuss new ideas on migration policies and she hoped that its recommendations would help States face up to the challenges and opportunities offered by migration.  She highlighted initiatives her Government had taken in cooperation with its regional neighbours:  an “International Congress on Creating Synergies between Migration and Development” held in collaboration with the IOM, and a “Private Sector Forum to Explore Linkages between Remittances and Development” organized with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships.  The second gathering brought together officials from companies dealing with remittances, microfinance and information and communications technology together with regulators and parties that could support projects.

She presented to the High-Level Dialogue a declaration adopted at a recent “Regional consultation on migration, remittances and development in Latin America and the Caribbean”, and urged the use of its recommendations as a basis for new policies and actions that might be identified by the Dialogue.

EISSA MALDOUN, Deputy Minister for Labour Affairs of Syria, said any international policy on migration should recognize its role in the global development process.  On the topic of remittances, he said remittances should not be a substitute for aid and technologies should be developed so transfers could be done easily, without any discrimination.

He said the Secretary-General’s report did not deal with the artificial forms of migration found in the Middle East and did not take into account displacements resulting from forced migration or refugees seeking asylum.  Syria had been hosting hundreds of thousands, and now millions of people displaced from neighbouring areas.  Those areas included the Golan Heights, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, and now temporary refugees from Lebanon, as a result of the latest Israeli aggression.  That situation presented enormous obstacles to Syria’s economic and social development.

Syria worked to preserve the rights of migrant workers and supported international conventions in that regard, he continued.  The international community must work to combat the illicit trade in human beings.  He noted Syria’s long history of absorbing immigrants and said it had the experience and knowledge to absorb them.  Migration had social, cultural and political effects that merited attention.

ASGAR ALAKBAROV, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, said that his country had enacted more than 20 laws and by-laws aimed at regulating the migration processes and had become party to seven international instruments on the rights of migrants, including the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols on Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons.  As far as migration was concerned, Azerbaijan was primarily a country of origin and the influence of migrants on the social and economic life of the country was undeniable.

He said that there was a need to work out special tools encouraging the use of remittances for poverty reduction and sustainable development.  It was also necessary to simplify the procedure of remittance transfers.  Solving that issue was conceivable through active interaction with financial and other relevant agencies of countries of origin.  Another important issue was the rights of migrants.  And, combating trafficking in human beings was a priority.

To tackle the negative aspects of migration and to ensure benefits from its positive potential, an active and efficient partnership between the countries of origin and the countries of destination should be promoted, he added.  Close cooperation was also needed among Government agencies, the private sector and civil society.  Cooperation with relevant international organizations was equally important.  In that context, the work of the Global Migration Group was crucial.  He was also confident that the IOM, in close collaboration with the United Nations, would contribute to addressing the urgent issues under discussion.

ANA EUGENIA DURAN, Vice-Minister of Government and Policy of Costa Rica, said her small, developing country was a primary receiver of migrants in Latin America.  Given that 10 per cent of Costa Rica’s population were migrants, the issue held special significance for the country.  It was clear that most countries were, at the same time, countries of origin, transit and destination.  Nevertheless, migration was principally of a North-South character.

In terms of South-South migration, one of the greatest challenges to developing countries as destination countries was the increased demand on fundamental services and providing those services in a dignified way to all the population, including the migrant population, she said.  As a country committed to the promotion and defence of human rights, Costa Rica believed that all legislation and policy should guarantee protection from racism, discrimination and xenophobia, and promote a positive interaction that maximized the benefits of cultural exchanges between nationals and migrants.

There were three fundamental aspects to the migration issue, she continued.  At the national level, migration must be treated from all its aspects, both positive and negative, avoiding any temptation to politically capitalize on the issue in the short-term.  At the international level, there must be concerted action to devise formulas that treat migration in an ordered, safe manner that respected the human rights of all persons.  And, the international community must have a focus on cooperation and development that had at its centre the individual and his well-being.

JOSÉ DE JESUS PEDRO MANDRA, Vice-Minister of the Interior of Mozambique, associating himself with the statement made by the “Group of 77”, said that if countries of origin and destination could coordinate their actions, migration could create jobs and cause other positive effects to the economy.  In Mozambique, for example, migration of the work force was a current reality, as well as a part of its history.  Indeed, migration should not be discussed separately from development, since its impact on a country’s economic growth could be far-reaching.  Also, any discussion on immigration should keep in mind the importance of the respect for human dignity and rights, and of the sharing of responsibilities among countries of origin, transit and destination.

He went on to say that a broad political consensus was needed to deal with the challenges of security, organized crime, pressure on resources, development inequalities, xenophobia, unemployment and legal differences that arose because of migration.  Policies should be adopted within regions to include, among others, the management and monitoring of migration; migratory labour; forced displacement; national and international security and stability; crisis prevention, management and resolution; and international and regional cooperation.  Recognizing the importance of migration, Mozambique had taken steps to create a framework for an African migration policy, intended to address such issues as brain drain, transnational crime, protection of refugees, and the transfer of know-how, savings and remittances.

CARLOS LOPEZ DAMM, Under-Secretary for Migratory Issues of Ecuador, said the country’s unique role as both a recipient and sender of migrants made it the first country of refuge in Latin America.  Ecuador would not have been able to enforce the new economic and political policies created to address that unique status, were it not for help from the international community.  He said it was important for both the country of origin and the country of destination to respect the role of countries in transit, increase the fight against illegal human trafficking and confront the corruption that promoted this behaviour.

He said Ecuador had developed programs of voluntary return, in cooperation with the IOM, and bilateral agreements, including one with Spain to manage migratory flows.  The country’s plan to support those living abroad guaranteed the rights of its citizens anywhere in the world.  The Working Table on Migrants for Employment had incorporated the perspective of migrants into public policies.  On 30 August 2006, the President had approved the National Plan of Action to fight kidnapping, illegal migration, sexual and labour exploitation, and any exploitation of women, children and teenage prostitutes.

He said women, children and seniors were most vulnerable to the risks of sexual exploitation, lack of education and work discrimination.  Remittances had greatly impacted the economy, and the country had agreed with the Central Bank to cut the cost of bank wires.  Campaigns to invest remittances in productive projects also had been initiated.  Further, migrant associations in destination countries should promote cultural exchange.  The principle of sovereignty should guarantee peaceful integration of migrants into their host environments, as that benefited both the host and origin countries.

GERMAN ESPINAL ZUNIGA, Director General for Migration of Honduras, said that, historically, his country had been one of origin, but it was also located in a transit region and had become a country of destination for those looking for work or seeking asylum from political upheavals in the region.  An effective migration strategy must take into consideration several basic points: respect for human rights; policies that upheld the dignity of migrants, in particular the most vulnerable groups of women and children; combating human trafficking; and providing rehabilitation services for victims.  A common vision required increased cooperation at the international level.

He said the international and regional organizations focusing on migration provided positive environments that advanced democracy and stability in the region.  Restrictions on migrants sending back remittances could lead to an exacerbation of economic crises, or social and political problems in the countries of origin.

BELELA HERRERA, Minister of Foreign Relations for Uruguay, said migration was a concern for all countries, whether nations of origin or destination, and an issue that should be taken up multilaterally.  Uruguay supported the proposal to create a permanent forum under the auspices of the United Nations.  She also affirmed the aim of the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate poverty and said migration should not be a flight from poverty.  The rights of migrants and their families must be recognized.

Regional Governments in Uruguay’s area had addressed migration issues earlier this year at the South American Conference on Migration.  In Uruguay, the Government was working to recognize the rights of the more than 500,000 Uruguayans, representing about 13 per cent of the country’s population, who live abroad.  That would include ensuring their votes could be cast from abroad and providing them with health insurance.  The Government was also working with financial corporations to ensure their remittances could be placed in banks.  Cultural programmes to let them reaffirm their cultural identities were also being developed.

ZVONKO ZINRAJH, Deputy Interior Minister of Slovenia, stressed the need to enhance intergovernmental dialogue and cooperation so as to address migration in a more coherent way.  Greater emphasis should be put on the concept of human security, with a shift of focus from protecting State territory to protecting individuals “regardless of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, citizenship or other distinguishing characteristics”.

Slovenia also recognized the need for “concrete action” on human trafficking, people-smuggling and other acute problems, even if such problems could not be entirely curbed or prevented in the long term, he said.  Various measures were required:  prevention, victim’s assistance and protection, criminalization of trafficking activities, awareness-raising programmes and so forth.  Most importantly, there was a need to eliminate the “root causes” of human trafficking -- poverty, social alienation and exclusion, the discrimination of women and children and a lack of equal opportunities –- and to reduce high demand in the destination countries for trafficked persons.

GAGIK YEGANIAN, Vice-Minister for Territorial Administration of Armenia, said that migration was of primary strategic importance since, after gaining independence, his country had been faced with unprecedented numbers of displaced persons.  He cited the incident of Nagorno-Karabakh, where more than 360,000 refugees had been deported from Azerbaijan to Armenia, and the emigration of 1 million people from Armenia, totalling about one third of the country’s population, as important concerns regarding the migration issue.

To date, he said, $1 billion had been sent back to Armenia in remittances.  Of this sum, 76 per cent had been spent on consumer goods, with only 2 per cent invested in economic activity.  He stressed that this had to change, as more funds needed to be invested in economic activity.

To combat illegal migration, he proposed effective legislation and cooperation and information-sharing between countries.  In that regard, he noted that Armenia had already reached agreements regarding migrants with three European countries and was in negotiation with five more.  It had already established reintegration programmes with Switzerland and France to date, he noted.

NDIYOI MUTITI, Chief Immigration Officer of Zambia, said many Zambian professionals, including doctors, nurses, lecturers and teachers, had left the country for jobs in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia.  At the same time, Zambia had relied upon the skills of expatriates from other countries in fields such as medicine, engineering and accountancy.  Zambia also received refugees fleeing wars, civil strife and political instability throughout the region.  The largest number of refugees was from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola.

He said Member States must deal with migration issues in a way that brought value to countries’ economies, as they protected human rights within the confines of international conventions.  It was important to enhance partnerships with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to ensure migrants experienced minimum standards in employment and labour.  On the issue of remittances, new systems were needed to capture the true value of those transfers, as many remittances were transferred through informal operations or hand-carried.

Round Table Summaries

The Dialogue began its afternoon session hearing summaries of the four roundtable discussions that took place in parallel to the plenary.

Presenting the summary of Round Table 1 on the effects of international migration on economic and social development, TARJA FILATOV, Minister of Labour for Finland, said that there had been general agreement that global migration was an evolving phenomenon that required coordinating policies between countries.  The participants had also stressed that labour migration was central to the debate -– in terms of both motivation for international movements and their consequences for development.

MARGARITA ESCOBAR, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs for El Salvador, on behalf of Francisco Lainez, El Salvador’s Foreign Minister, presented a summary of Round Table 2, which dealt with measures to ensure respect for and protection of the human rights of all migrants, and to prevent and combat smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons.  She said there had been general agreement that, above all, migrants were human beings endowed with fundamental and inalienable rights and that the protection and promotion of human rights should feature prominently in the debate; only when migrants’ rights were safeguarded could they fully contribute to their countries of origin and destination.

Next, on Round Table 3 -– on the multidimensional aspects of migration and development, including remittances -- KASTRIOT SULKA, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of Albania, said that, among other things, the participants had the need to ensure that both sending and receiving States capitalized on the positive aspects of migration.  He stressed that, in order to do that, it was necessary, among other things, to make good use of the skills migrants acquired while abroad.  That increased capacity for productive investments and improved access to financial resources in developing counties, particularly in rural areas.

JEAN-FRANCOIS NDONGOU, Deputy Minister to the Ministry of State and to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, Francophonie and Regional Integration of Gabon, summed up Round Table 4, which dealt with promoting the building of partnerships and capacity and the sharing of best practices at all levels, including the bilateral and regional levels, for the benefit of countries and migrants, alike.  He said that, among other things, the participants had highlighted several types of partnerships in their discussions as beneficial to harnessing the benefits of migration -- between Governments and the private sector, employers and trade unions, and civil society and local governments.  They had also agreed on the importance of promoting social dialogue to ensure citizen support for equitable migration policies and a better reflection of the views of all stakeholders on policy development.

Statements

HASSAN MUHAMMAD LAWAL, Minister for Labour and Productivity of Nigeria, aligning his statement with that of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said that, while each country had the right to determine its migration policies, it was indefensible that, in the twenty-first century, some countries were responsible for exploitation, maltreatment, forceful repatriation, the creation of concentration-style camps, and other dehumanizing treatment of migrants.  The international community must resist the temptation to build thick walls of exclusion; it should not resort to xenophobia or discrimination under the guise of ensuring national security.

He proposed that Member States consider specific policy measures, including: capacity-building, especially in African countries; mobilizing national populations in the diaspora; expediting and sharing information on remittances; and integrating migration issues into national development strategies.  A speedy conclusion to the Doha development agenda, resolution of the external debt crisis, global cooperation to fight corruption and terrorism, and the greater participation of developing countries in decision-making in international financing and trading institutions were among the other measures needed to support development.

Nigeria was working to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and had adopted a national strategy to eradicate poverty and promote wealth creation, he said.  His Government had established institutions on migration and appointed three special assistants to the President on diaspora matters, human trafficking and child labour, and migration and humanitarian affairs.  Nigeria supported the proposal of the Secretary-General to establish a consultative forum on migration.  That would provide an opportunity for States and other relevant stakeholders to continue to work together to develop coordinated strategies.

WALTER FUST, Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development Corporation, Switzerland, said that, first and foremost, it was necessary to join forces in understanding the real causes of migration, such as poverty, the lack of prospects for the future, bad governance, insecurity, violation of human rights and armed conflict.  Urgently needed were the instruments that would enable countries to maximize the positive aspects of migration while minimizing its negative effects.  Such considerations had inspired Switzerland to launch the Berne initiative, a process aimed at developing an international agenda for migration management.

He said that a recent report of the Global Commission on International Migration had clearly outlined the ideal situation, namely, migration out of choice, rather than necessity.  It was the duty of the international community to dedicate more attention to the causes of migration and to focus on instruments to improve the living conditions in the countries of origin.  On the international level, Switzerland was committed to fostering human security, promoting peace, enhancing respect for international law and strengthening respect for human rights.  Development cooperation projects must create employment opportunities in developing countries, while emphasizing the importance of savings systems and access to credit.  In addition, the entrepreneurial capacity of women should not be underestimated.

Migrants’ remittances to their countries of origin amounted to some $200 billion per year, he said.  Those remittances, however, were no substitute for development assistance.  The task was to improve the effectiveness of those transfers by lowering their cost and ensuring that transfer procedures were without risk, legal and exempt from additional taxes.  It was also necessary to enhance the effect of those funds on development.  He encouraged international organizations and financial institutions to integrate the domain of migration into Poverty Reduction Strategies and regional policies.  Macroeconomic policies should facilitate international and national investment, including by diasporas.  He also advocated policies aimed at improving the status of migrant workers and their active integration into the workforce.  The international community should spare no effort in combating the most inhuman form of force migration -– the trafficking in human beings.

RICHARD FADDEN, Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada, said that although there was much to be learned from sharing approaches and experiences concerning migration, solutions needed to be tailored to local conditions.  In that regard, the notion of sharing “best practices” required refinement.  Not everything could be systematized into a global approach.  While each participant had something valuable to add to the Dialogue, to anchor the discussion within the realities of policy-making, the process should begin as a dialogue between States.  As it evolved, the Dialogue -– while remaining under the leadership of States -– should facilitate links with interested stakeholders.

For those responsible for designing Government policy, greater coherence was needed between the parts of Government responsible for migration and development issues, he continued.  Governments could not and should not work in isolation.  Yet, at the same time, it was important that States took the opportunity to reflect upon and refine their own perspectives in order to engage constructively with others.  Canada supported consideration of appropriate mechanisms for civil society and the newly-created Global Migration Group to provide input into any ongoing discussions that States might decide to undertake.

In conclusion, he said that any process that might emerge from the High-Level Dialogue should add value to the international discussions, rather than duplicate what was already taking place or could occur within existing mechanisms.  The new dialogue should take place as a stand-alone forum and not as part of the United Nations system.  Clearly defined links to the United Nations, possibly through the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, should be developed.  The process should focus on developing understanding of substantive issues, rather than on negotiating resolutions or declarations.  States should take the leadership role as they were responsible for turning ideas into concrete policy.

ELLEN SAUERBREY, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugee and Migration Affairs of the United States, stressed that the issue of immigration was close to America’s heart and went to the core of her nation’s identity.  The United States’ commitment to promoting legal, orderly, and humane migration as a positive development for all nations remained firm despite the challenges of the “post-9/11” world.  The United States hosted approximately one fifth of the world’s migrants, with more than 1 million foreign nationals receiving permanent legal residence there in 2005 alone.

The United States was not interested in grand and elaborate global dialogues, which often lumbered under the great weight of rounds and rounds of conversation far removed from immediate problems and realistic solutions, she said.  Her country’s experience suggested that migration relationships worked best between neighbours and neighbourhoods, near and far, where there were common interests and concerns that led to tangible outcomes.  The international community, including the United Nations system, already had adequate capacity to address migration issues.  The creation of additional structures would hinder, not help, international cooperation on those issues.

Americans supported the principle that immigrants, while fully integrating into their new communities, could also remain connected to their country of origin, including through remittances.  Both migrant sending and receiving countries had a responsibility to maximize remittances and other benefits of migration.  Remittances would have a greater overall impact on development in countries of origin when those countries undertook economic and social reforms to create an environment conducive for asset-building, entrepreneurship, and investment.

KASTRIOT SULKA, Deputy Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ( Albania), said that his country had experienced significant outflow of migrants in 1991, and was a main transit route for residents of South-Eastern Europe travelling to European Union countries.  As a result, migration from Albania was a major concern, not only for the country itself, but also for its neighbours.  IOM had consistently provided Albania with assistance to frame and develop migration policies, namely the Action Plan on Migration, which the country had recently approved.  The document emphasized the creation of an adequate environment for migrants and for emigrants to return to and invest their savings in Albania, in line with the strategy’s goals to use remittances as a tool for development and to mobilize the Albanian diaspora in the country’s economic development.

He said that Albania was trying to lobby its neighbours to work on a mutual solution on pensions of migrants, and to develop ways to prevent brain drain.  Regarding the trafficking in human beings and the smuggling of migrants, common initiatives initiated by the “Stability Pact” strengthened the capacity of States to deal with their issues.  Data, meanwhile, was needed on the development and well-being of children, and emphasis should be placed on protection of children’s rights, both in sending and receiving countries.  Finally, a pre-screening system had been initiated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2001 and developed as a tool to identify and channel asylum seekers, victims of trafficking and irregular economic migrants.

HASSAN IBRAHIM AL-MUHANNADI, Director of Social Planning Management Planning Council of Qatar, welcomed the initiative to hold a world forum on migration in Belgium.  Migrant workers of different nationalities in his country worked side-by-side with Qatari citizens in developing an economy that was one of the fastest growing in the world.  In close cooperation with countries of origin, agreements were drawn up for employing workers on a contractual basis, with terms certified by both Governments involved, to prevent abuse and provide a framework for settling disputes.  Migrant workers had a right to exercise their rights fully, transfer savings to home countries and practice their religious rites.

He said that Doha would host a forum on migrant workers in April 2007 to find the most efficient ways of regulating the migrant workforce and to look for ways to address constraints, as well as to examine forms of cooperation for creating the best environment for migrant workers.  One critical issue needing clarification concerned the authorization for migrant work and the length of stay of the worker.  That should be governed by the laws of the country of destination.  When a job was finished in accordance with a contract, migrant workers should leave the country.  Small countries were not in a position to be permanent hosts for a significant number of migrant workers, he said.

YANNIS VALINAKIS, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, said that, during the Greek presidency of the European Union, its Council had adopted a series of concrete measures -- and items for further elaboration by Member States -- on migration and development.  Since then, much work had been done on migration within the European Union, as it related to development.  Indeed, when managed effectively, migration could have a substantial, positive impact for both origin and destination countries, and the European Council underlined the need for a balanced, global and coherent approach to combat illegal immigration while benefiting from legal migration.

He said that migration issues were a central element in the European Union countries’ relations with other countries.  In that regard, the Union recognized the importance of addressing the root causes of poverty in places of origin, good governance and the protection of human rights.  Indeed, the Rabat European Union-Africa Ministerial Conference of July was a model for relations between origin and transit countries.  However, the fight against illegal migration was a constant struggle, involving West Africa and the Canary Islands, countries of the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea, and those of the Middle East.  As Greece had a coastline of 16,000 kilometres, combating illegal migration was a high priority for its Government.

MARI PEDAK, Director General of the Citizenship and Migration Board of Estonia, noted that, while migration was an increasingly complex phenomenon, its primary cause was essentially the disparity of freedoms enjoyed by individuals.  She stressed the need to tackle the root causes of migration, including conflict, poverty, famine, disease, lack of livelihood opportunities, trade barriers, lack of rule of law and poor governance -— most of which were man-made problems.  States were, above all, responsible for creating an environment conducive to development, including through the efficient use of remittances from migrants in ways that would benefit both sending and receiving societies.

Education played a key role in development and significantly expanded an individual’s opportunities to live a happy life, she said.  Learning the local language and respect for local culture opened a window of opportunity for immigrants, allowing them to compete more effectively in the labour market and obtain new skills.  States should continue with local introductory and integration programmes, keeping in mind that integration was a two-way street where citizens of receiving countries also needed to be educated.

CARLOS ZAMORA ( Cuba) said: “We cannot settle for approaches aimed at managing migration waves just to meet the needs of the developed world”.  It was essential to modify the situation of underdevelopment and poverty in a large part of the planet, so migration could meet the true needs and aspirations of the persons who wished to settle in another country.  An unjust migration order had been created to serve the richest and most powerful countries, which received skilled labour, and stole the best brains and talents.  In return, they wanted the developing countries to become the guards of their borders to stop irregular migration.

“They sell us, as the panacea for development, remittances that are the fruit of the migrants’ sacrifice, while increasingly reducing commitments and official development assistance,” he stressed.  It was time to correct that situation.  It was necessary to have sincere cooperation to contribute to the development of the poor areas of the planet.  It would be impossible to solve that problem without political will.  Questioning the existence of such political will, he mentioned the blockade and aggression against his country.  The so-called “Cuban Adjustment Act”, known in Cuba as the “Assassin Act”, allowed any Cuban who arrived in United States territory to have residence, no matter the means and procedures used.  It encouraged illegal migration and alien smuggling.  On the other hand, the Cuban residents of the United States constituted the only group of migrants that was limited in visiting and helping their relatives in their country of origin.

A reduction of military expenditures and their investment in development would be a demonstration of true will to address the issue of development and contribute to modifying the current situation, he said in conclusion.  The developed world had contracted a debt with the migrants for their contributions.  A way to pay it could be to cancel the external debt of the source countries.

CHRISTIAN WENAWESER ( Liechtenstein) said his country’s two pillars of policy on migration were political and financial investments in integration methods, based on the rule of law and respect for human rights, and development cooperation with small countries.

He said that one of the Government’s priorities was to integrate the 34 per cent of non-Liechtenstein nationals, through the provision of targeted services for migrants to learn the national language.  Many other measures recently under discussion were based on the cooperation of both sides of the receiving and migrant communities.

In the area of development cooperation, Liechtenstein placed special emphasis on the development of rural areas in small developing countries, he said.  The project financed by Liechtenstein sought to improve the lifestyles of citizens in these areas and reduce pressures on them to migrate within or outside their countries.

LUIS ALBERTO SEPULVEDA, Director Consular and Migration Affairs for Chile said his country’s position on migration was reflected in the Declaration of Asuncion adopted at the V1 South American Conference in Migration held in May 2006.  Chile believed the development dimension of migration and its contribution to poverty reduction should be a central theme of the debate.

Sizeable resources were created by remittances, he said, and to that end, his country would be interested in seeing how these funds could be channelled towards development objectives that benefited the immigrants and their families.  Chile would be interested in seeing the cost of transfers reduced and encouraged development-oriented investments in recipient countries.

Regarding migrants from Chile, he said that the Government had organized the first voluntary census of citizens living abroad.  As a result of the effort, ties had been established between Chilean society and the community of Chileans abroad.  In addition, he said Chile reaffirmed its commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants.

H.E. EWALD LIMON ( Suriname) said his country aligned itself with South Africa, which had spoken on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.  He noted that of special interest to Suriname were the issues of co-development and maximizing the impact of remittances on the development process.  He also underscored the importance of addressing brain drain and brain gain within the migration dialogue.

On a national level, Suriname was committed to taking actions in order to ensure that migration took place within a legal framework that countered trafficking and guaranteed respect for human rights, he stated.  This would also require the creation of a special police unit responsible for tracing human trafficking and related crimes, he said.

Regarding cooperation among countries, he cited examples of ongoing regional frameworks that had been established in the African Caribbean and the Pacific Group of States, and with the South American and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

EDUARDO SEVILLA SOMOZA (Nicaragua), associating himself with the Rio Group and “Group of 77”, said that all levels of Government should be involved in the dialogue on migration, while simultaneously taking into account the experiences of non-governmental organizations, associations of diasporas and the private sector.  Indeed, the issue was multidimensional, making the United Nations an ideal forum for the exchange of ideas on that subject.  Nicaragua welcomed the idea of establishing a consultative forum, as suggested by the Secretary-General, where Governments could discuss the subject in a systematic fashion.

He said human trafficking was an important issue in his country.  As such, a national coalition had been formed in February 2004, in partnership with regional organizations.  Regular working sessions had been held to prepare a protocol for the repatriation of victims of human trafficking, including guidelines for providing legal assistance.  A document on the return of girls, boys and teenaged victims of trafficking was currently in the final stages of validation.  Already, a draft regional protocol had been produced on that subject in Guatemala in March, in fulfilment of the principle of co-responsibility in guaranteeing the rights of children and adolescents.  However, human trafficking was a complex phenomenon; indeed, much benefit could be gleaned from studying the efforts of more experienced organizations and in improving coordination among the members of Nicaragua’s national coalition.

ALI HACHANI ( Tunisia) said that the matter of international migration was increasingly cross-cutting and could no longer be dealt with unilaterally, or even just regionally.  Moreover, there was no reason why migration should be a problem at this point in history; problems associated with migration of necessity rather than of choice should be addressed within the context of development strategies, including by viewing migration as an appropriate way to supplement the labour force of developed countries.  A major challenge was to develop mechanisms for concerted action within an international framework, with provisions for bilateral and triangular, as well as regional, cooperation.

He said that the topic of financial flows from immigrants -- not well-used at present -- should be folded into the Millennium Development Goals.  In his region of the Mediterranean, the “five-plus-five” dialogues that had begun in Madrid in 2002 were a good example of a strong Euro-Mediterranean partnership.  Short-term and small measures to address the phenomenon of migration could work for a while, but they would never provide an effective and lasting solution to the migration issue.

GUY SERIEYS, Ambassador in Charge of Co-Development, France, said that migration was a global phenomenon, which, to a large extent, could be explained by global inequalities.  It could not be approached without tackling the issue of development.  Undoubtedly, development goals must remain one of the main pillars of international efforts.  Human development, health, education and economic development were still the main priorities.  Countries of origin, transit and destination had all become aware of the role played by migrants.

Turning to France’s national experience, he said that, several months ago, his Government had adopted an inter-ministerial strategy on migration and development, which was closely integrated with European initiatives in that regard.  Among other things, working with authorities of partner countries, including Morocco, Mali and Senegal, France supported micro-financing projects to create employment and encourage development.  In order to favour investment in development, it also supported financial remittances of migrants to the countries of origin in particular, reducing their costs by fostering competition among banking establishments.  France was also striving to reduce the impact of the brain drain on the countries of origin.  Among other things, it intended to implement a programme fostering the mobility of qualified workers, including doctors, engineers and academics living in France.  They could participate in cooperation programmes and contribute to transmitting knowledge and competence to the countries of the South.

JULIAN VILA COMA ( Andorra) said his country understood well the complexities of migration, having been a country of origin in the past.  Andorra was now a destination country, however, and its Government viewed the influx of immigrants as a natural process of development. Indeed, new immigration laws had made it possible for migrants to integrate into Andorran society, while immigrants -- particularly youth -- managed to preserve their bonds with the origin country.   He said his country had analysed the challenges and opportunities stemming from migration, and had approved all the strategies proposed at the international level regarding multilateral and bilateral cooperation in that matter.

CHOI YOUNG-JIN ( Republic of Korea) said that, with nearly 200 million migrants in the world, the multidimensional and global phenomenon of migration had the potential to reshape the basic structure of societies and inject the countries of origin and destination with new ideas, inputs and energy.  Migration was a by-product of interdependence and a testament to diversity.  His country had the dual status of being a country of origin and of destination, attracting expatriate researchers though policy incentives and successfully integrating a large number of foreign immigrants.

At the same time, he said, poorly integrated immigrants were a source of segregation, social problems, tensions and security-related challenges.  Countries of destination should devise policies that took into consideration the long-term objective of social integration.  A win-win migration policy would involve the introduction of a domestic system to absorb the migration benefits by countries of origin.  In 2005 alone, that had resulted in more than $167 billion globally in remittances.  Transnational fees must be reduced, and migrant families should be given technical assistance to enhance productivity and increase income.  Microfinance would be a most appropriate way to enhance livelihoods.  Mechanisms must also be put in place to mobilize the developmental potential of skilled migrants returning home.  The business community must be brought into the process, based on the partnership model of the Global Compact.

CAROLINE ZIADE ( Lebanon) said her country was not new to the subject, with many of the world’s famous writers and intellectuals having come from there.  Indeed, migration was inevitable in modern history; men and women regularly left their homelands to migrate to wealthier and more developed countries, in order to improve their standard of living.  Obviously, poverty; underdevelopment; social exclusion; foreign occupation, tied with the absence of peace, security and stability; a large difference in income between countries; and economic crises were the main reasons for migration.  In 2005, the number of international migrants had reached 191 million, of whom 115 million lived in developed countries and 75 million in developing countries.  The magnitude of South-South migration was comparable to that of South-North.

She said that there had been an estimated $232 billion in remittances in 2005, pointing to migration’s positive economic impact.  Remittances increased family incomes in countries of origin and, in some cases, amounted to more than the country’s received official development assistance (ODA).  As for migrants who returned home, the expertise and savings accrued abroad were often used to start businesses and create jobs, further helping the home economy.  Also, in countries of destination, migrants were complementary to, rather than a substitute for, the workers of receiving countries.  Indeed, in many countries, skilled workers were not able to find employment in their home countries because qualifications obtained abroad were not recognized there.  There was a need, therefore, for international cooperation to improve the “portability” of qualifications.  Receiving States should also combat racism, xenophobia and ethnocentrism.

NGUYEN TAT THANH ( Viet Nam) said that not enough attention had been given at the regional and international level to the increasing levels of migration flows.  A global mechanism capable of coping with the complexities and challenges of growing migration was needed to address that “unfinished business of globalization”.  In addition to cooperative mechanisms on migration, more institutional mechanisms should be established, as a forum for States and other actors.  The Dialogue and its follow-up meetings should focus on enhancing IOM’s role and seek to integrate it more closely into the United Nations inter-agency system.  Those meetings should also centre on identifying measures for integrating migration into national and international development strategies and promoting partnerships for capacity-building and the sharing of best practices at all levels.

DANIELE D. BODINI ( San Marino) said that his country had once been poor and, 60 years ago, most of its people had migrated to other countries in search of work.  San Marino, therefore, was sympathetic to people who sought a better life away from their native country.  Indeed, it was the responsibility of privileged, developed countries to help such people fulfil their hopes.  Accepting migrants in an environment that was not ready to provide adequate education, health care, jobs and social integration, however, might lead to intolerance, racism and the formation of desolate ghettos, which could turn into a breeding ground for dissent.

He said that, in a world of unrelenting globalization, migration was no longer a bilateral affair, but a “multilateral mega-issue”.  Migration should take place in a planned manner, and destination countries must tackle it in a humane way that took into account the needs of their own people.  For its part, the international community should ensure that migrants did not fall victim to trafficking.  Transparent international migration rules prevented human rights abuses, including the illegal transfer of children and women, and the imposition of usury on remittances.

AMIR MUHAREMI ( Croatia) reiterated the message from the Secretary-General’s report that each country held a piece of the migration puzzle, but none had the whole picture.  It was time to start putting them together.  International migration could not be managed unilaterally.  While country partnerships, bilateral agreements and regional arrangements for migration were multiplying, the issue demanded attention at the global level.

He said that Croatia was on the crossroads of migration flows between the East and the West.   By becoming a candidate for membership in the European Union, it would “face a new dimension and meaning of a consistent migration policy”.  Although national legislation in that area was a work in progress, Croatia had already achieved significant improvements in regulating migration, asylum and similar issues within the framework of harmonizing domestic laws with the European Union’s legislation.  Legal foreign immigrants were permitted to stay in the country, either temporarily or permanently, and their social inclusion was a top priority.

Outlining Croatia’s role in regional cooperation on the issue, he added that, like many other countries, Croatia was only starting to learn how to maximize the benefits, while minimizing the negative effects of migration in development terms.  The country might face a growing demand for skilled workers in the near future.  If negative demographic trends continued, it would be necessary to develop a forward-looking policy in that regard.  Together with a group of prominent scientists, his Government had launched a programme encouraging Croatian scientists abroad to foster their ties with Croatia.

YUSUPHA KAH, Permanent Secretary of the Department of State for the Interior of Gambia, said that his country had had mixed experience in items of migration.  While vulnerable to having some of its “brightest and best lured away to greener pastures”, Gambia had also benefited by being a destination country for hundreds of thousands of migrants, who had contributed to critical areas of the economy.

He noted that international migration not only helped the countries of origin and destination, but also transit countries, which benefited from the spillover.  With migration a wave incapable of being arrested, he cautioned against ignoring the brain drain phenomenon and mistaking remittances as a substitute for overseas development assistance.  He joined the African Union in condemning human rights violations against migrants and any acts of racism, xenophobia and discrimination.

WANG GUANGYA ( China) said that the cause of migration was the unbalanced economic and social development of different countries, and his country believed it was essential to find the root of problems associated with migration.  Developed countries should fulfil commitments in terms of financing, trade, debt relief, technology and human resources, and help developing countries overcome difficulties, and enable them to achieve sustainable development.

Unreasonable domestic policies and measures of certain individual countries had affected the normal and orderly flow of legal immigrants, he said, and countries should improve their migration policies, laws, and regulations.  They should act in the fundamental interests of immigrants and guarantee their political, economic and social rights.

Countries should avoid politicizing the migration issue, he said, and adapt appropriate measures to solve conflicts among different social groups caused by migration.  Countries should try to reduce transaction fees for remittances, enhance the efficiency for remittances usage, create conditions to encourage immigrants to participate in investment trade and return to their own countries to develop, and enable immigrants to fully play their role in promoting development.

ALEXEI TULBURE ( Republic of Moldova) said that his country’s dependence on remittances was the second highest in the world, translating into 27 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).  According to official statistics, almost 400,000 people -- or more than a quarter of the population -- had gone abroad to work.  Yet, migration was perceived by many as unlawful or troublesome; if the world could not develop adequate policies, frameworks and institutions to deal effectively with international migration, more space would be left for criminals to enrich themselves on migrants.

He said that what was needed was a “rehabilitation” of international migration, where, in addition to tackling poverty reduction and improving living conditions in countries of origin, migration was decriminalized.  The reality was that millions of people had no choice but to migrate, in search of food, water, work, human dignity and hope, and could not be stopped.  Policies should be developed in bilateral and multilateral forums to protect migrants from criminals, and to help them identify new residential destinations in cases where it was impossible to live a decent life in their countries of origin.  For its part, the Council of Europe had recently elaborated and opened for signature and ratification the Convention on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.

IRAKLI ALASANIA, ( Georgia) said that migration had significantly affected his country.  Since independence, more than 1 million people, or more than 20 per cent of the total population, had left Georgia in search of better paying jobs or to flee conflict in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.  An estimated 40 to 55 per cent of emigrants from Georgia were highly educated, representing a significant brain drain and shrinkage of the working age population.

Since the Rose Revolution in 2003, however, he said that there had been serious interest among Georgians abroad in the country’s prospects.   Georgia was thus hoping to pursue a strategy to encourage the return of highly skilled members of its diaspora.  With remittances accounting for 6.3 per cent of GDP, according to official estimates, Georgia wanted to learn from Latin American and Asian countries how to improve remittance procedures.  It also sought to leverage labour migration by offering its citizens more legal opportunities to work abroad through bilateral agreements and to strengthen relations with Georgian diasporas around the world.  In addition, Georgia had launched a very intensive programme against trafficking in human beings, which had included the establishment of a coordination centre, telephone hotline, shelters and the funds for victims of trafficking.

FEKITAMOELOA ‘UTOIKAMANU ( Tonga) said her country experience demonstrated in a small way the important nexus between international migration and development.  As a recent World Bank Study had shown, remittances impacted positively on migrant-sending countries.  They improved income distribution, helped alleviate poverty, induced savings, stimulated business and resulted in larger investments in education.

Asserting that overseas development assistance could not entirely address problems associated with small island States, he said that the mobility of an organized labour force could contribute to a country’s GDP and to the overall global income.  While remittances should not be a substitute for ODA, conditions should be created for their more optimal transmission.  The roles of existing regional mechanisms should be expanded to address the various forms of migrant exploitation, such as human trafficking and smuggling.

COLLIN D. BECK ( Solomon Islands) noted that international migration put a human face to globalization, with migrants moving from the developing South to the industrialized North, owing to demographic, social, and economic structures.  This meeting provided an opportunity to ensure that there would be a mechanism to measure and match the supply and demand of the global labour market.  Migration provided development opportunities; however, if not well managed, it could become a security concern, both for receiving and sending States.

He said that inter-island migration was an economic issue in the Solomon Islands, which was made up of 500,000 people, speaking more than 80 different languages.  The challenge was in balancing the participation of migrant workers and the indigenous population.  To leave anyone as a spectator to development could stoke instability, as witnessed recently in the Solomon Islands during its ethnic conflict.  The dialogue on migration should examine the domestic movement of labour as well.  Internal, as well as international, migration contributed to countries’ incomes, through remittances and through the transfer of knowledge and capacity.  Regionally, the Pacific subregion was exploring short-term labour migration with some of its developed neighbours, although no concrete decisions had yet been made.  The Solomon Islands did not have a large migrant population, but it did have an abundant supply of labour relative to the local employment market.  Urban drift had put pressure on agriculture-based economies, but had not provided jobs.

The Solomon Islands sought greater coordination between international organizations and United Nations agencies to combat human trafficking and develop a common mechanism to address the problem, he added.

ANDREAS D. MAVROYIANNIS ( Cyprus), aligning himself with the European Union’s statement, said that migration and development were closely interlinked.  Capacity-building was needed in both countries of origin and destination in order to formulate coherent migration policies.  Pertinent issues to consider included:  combating brain drain; protecting migrants’ rights; minority integration; religion; citizenship; xenophobia; human trafficking and national security.  Meanwhile, the rights of women and children, especially, should be promoted and incorporated in Government policies.  Selective migration policies, too, might be desirable, but should not be implemented in a discriminatory manner.  Measures should be taken against illegal migration, human trafficking and smuggling, while offering help to victims.

He said that immigration policy in Cyprus had changed in the 1990s to accommodate the entry of temporary migrant workers to meet labour shortages.  Indeed, their contribution to the economy was very important.  Economic affluence and the accession of Cyprus to the European Union, however, had led to an influx of illegal immigration, resulting in 10,000 to 30,000 undocumented migrant workers living in the country.  Eradication of poverty, strengthening of democracy and the rule of law, economic and social development, and job creation were some of the goals that, if reached, would allow everyone to have the option of staying and prospering in their own country.  Cyprus welcomed Belgium’s proposal to host the first meeting of a Global Forum on the subject, as recommended by the Secretary-General in his report.

DUSAN BELLA ( Slovakia) said migration was bringing challenges to countries of origin, transit and destination alike.  The latest transatlantic trends survey of American and European public opinion found that 79 per cent of Americans and 76 per cent of Europeans agreed that large numbers of immigrants were posing a threat.  He said that, although Slovakia did not deal with excessive migrant flows, it supported the European Union joint position presented at the Dialogue, the Union’s global approach on migration adopted in December 2005 and several instruments of the Hague programme, in which the European Union stated its goal of creating a common European asylum system.  The December 2005 adoption of the Union’s Directive on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status completed the first phase of the asylum policy.

He said Slovakia was preparing Guidelines of Integration Policy for Migrants, which would cover all migrants.  The Government adopted in 2005 its Guidelines of Migration policy, which defined priorities concerning the reception and stay of migrants and aimed to establish an immigration and naturalization office before 2010.  The Government also supported the European Union effort to increase cooperation in the Mediterranean and Atlantic areas.  Negotiating readmission agreements on the European Union level was a big step forward in managing migration flows and eliminating illegal migration; however there was a need to better use existing institutions, and fully implement United Nations conventions against intolerance.  The Government had approved an action plan to prevent all forms of intolerance including discrimination, racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism.  It also aimed to create conditions to better manage migration flows with its neighbours and smooth the extension of the Schengen area by the end of 2007.

ISMAEL GASPAR MARTINS ( Angola) associated himself with the position of the Group of 77 and China and said that it was necessary to take into account not only the causes of migration, but also the complex relationship between migration and development.  In that connection, he highlighted the issues of remittances and the international normative framework.  Among other issues that needed to be addressed, he mentioned the need to safeguard the social, labour and human rights of immigrants, regardless of their migratory status.  In that context, it was important to support destination countries in addressing the increased demand for public services, education, health care and housing.  A shared responsibility between countries of destination and countries of origin must be increased.

It was vital to establish laws to protect and guarantee full respect for migrants’ human rights, he said.  International cooperation, therefore, should build and improve mechanisms to better manage migratory movements, protect international migrants, establish a normative framework acceptable to all countries concerned and increasingly move towards a comprehensive approach to migration and development.  He also emphasized the responsibility of Governments to ratify international instruments in the field of migration and stressed the need to address the situation of migrant women, as well as the impact of brain drain on developing countries.  Migration policies must be incorporated into the national development planning agendas of both developing countries and donors, with a view to optimising the benefits of international migration for development.

JOHAN VERBEKE (Belgium) remarked that migratory fluxes were developing in diverse directions, not only South-North, but also South-South, meriting extra attention as developing countries faced even greater challenges to overcome.  Citing the debates by the Global Commission on International Migration (2003-2005) as a catalyst in making migration a political issue, he said that irregular migratory movements had sometimes caused job markets in destination countries to malfunction, thereby creating fear.

He proposed a global and balanced approach with short-, medium- and long-term actions and policies.  Short-term action entailed more efforts for the dissuasion of illegal migration by increasing awareness of the risks of human trafficking, he said.  He proposed that medium-term actions be the inclusion of the migration dimension in cooperation policies.  He said long-term policies should be to make international politics regarding migration, international trade and agriculture more coherent with the Millennium Development Goals.

He underscored the importance of the work done at the Conference of Brussels in collaboration with the IOM, the World Bank, and the European Commission, as it had highlighted the need for cooperation between all parties, including civil society.  He stated that, ultimately, the following priority fields would have to be emphasized following this debate:  data collection for reliable data on migratory fluxes; examination of the consequences of globalization on the job market and on the democratization of education; the role of migrant communities who generated transfers by means of social, cultural and economic contributions; the creation of pension funds for migrants; and the question of voluntary return of persons.  He said Belgium looked forward to addressing these, and other challenges regarding migration, in Brussels next year.

ROSEMARY BANKS ( New Zealand) said her country was cautious about establishing a new global forum on migration.  Any forum that might be agreed upon should not duplicate existing forums, and should have the potential to add value to the existing debates.   New Zealand believed that, if there was consensus to establish an international forum, it should be voluntary and driven by the Member States.  The work of the forum should build on the work of regional forums and allow for consultation and the exchange of good practice.  The forum should not lead to negotiated outcomes.

New Zealand was undertaking a review of its immigration policy, she said, and had commenced the largest overhaul in legislation in 20 years.  The immigration programme had a strong emphasis on skilled labour, which was vital to ensure that the country had the skills, labour and talent necessary for continued economic growth.  She noted that positive settlement outcomes for new migrants, along with robust border security were already priorities in New Zealand’s immigration programme.

While her country’s immigration policy focused on skilled labour, New Zealand as a developed country in the South Pacific region, she said, also recognized there needed to be opportunities for skilled and unskilled Pacific Islanders to access permanent employment in her country.  She said New Zealand had two dedicated immigration schemes:  the Samoan Quota, for Samoan nationals; and the Pacific Access Category, for nationals of Tonga, Fiji, Tuvalu and Kiribati.

SOHAIL HERNANDEZ ( Venezuela) noted that the problems associated with migration originated in the growing imbalance between developing and developed countries, given the prevailing global economic system.  At the national level, there was a need to ensure non-discrimination by race, sex, creed, or legal status, and respect for diversity.   Venezuela believed that a migrant policy must be based on tolerance, gender equality, and social justice, and that upholding international treaties and conventions was indispensable to ensure full respect for the rights of migrant workers and their families.   Venezuela’s Constitution and recently enacted legislation supported the rights of migrants.   Venezuela also had introduced a number of administrative tools to regulate migrant flows and gradually devolve management of labour migration to employment agency networks.  Her Government also had launched a National Plan of Action to prevent trafficking in human beings.  The Organization of American States had recently held a conference of national authorities dealing with human trafficking to encourage political dialogue and the exchange of information -– the first ever meeting of its kind in the region.

She said that remittances, while important, could not and should not become the basis of development policies. As private transfers, they could be considered to play the role of ODA.  Countries of origin also needed to tackle the problem of highly qualified out-migration, and should work to develop policies that stimulated the return of migrants.  Venezuela supported the Secretary-General’s proposal for an intergovernmental forum on migration as a “space” to share ideas and information.  Hopefully, the present High-Level Dialogue would take note of progress achieved in South America towards addressing migration issues.

MADHU RAMAN ACHARYA ( Nepal) called migration “one of the less understood and little discussed matters” relating to globalization.  Based on Nepal’s experience, its impact on development was not clear, either, although it was known than remittances from Nepalese workers abroad now accounted for 11.7 percent of its GDP.  He said “underdevelopment produces conditions for migration” and improperly managed migration “can lead to chaos, confusion and conflicts”.

There must be a dialogue to allow freer access of migrant workers into developed countries, he continued.  Labour was just another factor of production and should cross borders as freely as capital, goods and services.  There was also a need for strengthening the protection of migrants’ rights, and remittances were a source of private household funds.  They could not, in any way, substitute for official development assistance or debt relief.

HJALMAR W. HANNESSON ( Iceland) said his country was acutely aware that a new era of mass international migration had begun.  Only 10 years ago, Iceland was one of the most homogenous societies and, today, a higher portion of its labour market was occupied by immigrants than most of its neighbours.

He said that cross-border movements of persons had become the primary vehicle for women’s greater role in the export of services from developing countries, a positive side of greater global trade in services.  The downside was that the flexibility of trade could lead to the loss of formal contracts, social security and other social benefits.  He was concerned that current trends in women’s employment were leading to lower wages and deteriorating employment conditions.

Trafficking in human beings was another global problem that needed to be dealt with by the international community, as well as by national officials, he said.  Iceland had signed the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.  Iceland also emphasized the role of regional institutions in combating trafficking in human beings.

JAVAD AMIN MANSOUR, ( Iran) said that this country has taken several measures to address the question of migration.  A new law entitled “Combating Human Trafficking” was adopted by the Parliament, defined human trafficking acts and set punishments for the perpetrators.

Noting that Iran was located in a strategic area linking the Persian Gulf to Central Asia to South Asia to the Mediterranean, he said it played a strategic role in the question of migration.  At the regional level, Iran had participated in the quadripartite Ministerial meeting with Greece, Pakistan and Turkey, held in Athens in December 2005, on fighting illegal migration and trafficking in persons.  The meeting had established a more effective mechanism for the exchange of information, created an early warning system and promoted regular consultations among high-ranking officials.

His Government had set up a cooperative mechanism in the Interior Ministry, which included many of the Ministry’s general directorates, as well as the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Judiciary, he said.  In addition, this country had launched a trilateral dialogue with Afghanistan and Pakistan, aimed at sharing expertise and enhancing the capacity for migration.

ABOUBACAR DIALLO ( Guinea) said his delegation supported the Secretary-General’s report on migration and development, as well as the recommendations contained therein.  One of the priorities for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals for all was to ensure better management of migratory flows.  The Dialogue must contribute to the elaboration of innovative and effective partnerships in that regard.  The international community must, among other things, promote the involvement of civil society in the matter, it must explore and enhance the participation of diasporas, and it must end illicit trafficking in migrants and the smuggling of persons.

On the idea of co-development -– joining the prerogatives and perspectives of migrant diasporas with those of national and local Governments -- he called for the establishment of new mechanisms for resource mobilization and financing for development that involved migrant communities.  Co-development should ensure greater cohesion of migration issues and national policies, and it must facilitate remittances and reduce the costs of transfers to ensure that those funds were targeted to development initiatives.  Guinea was set to host a conference in the coming year to ensure that the benefits of migration were harnessed for the universal achievement of the Millennium Goals.

FUAD AL-HINAI ( Oman) said that the Secretary-General’s report, among other things, had highlighted national and regional migration cooperation in order to ensure the better management of migration.  He stressed his delegation’s belief that it was up to each State to set up its own citizenship and migration rules.  In destination countries where workers enjoyed high wages, those Governments could provide programmes to enhance the skills of immigrants.  Most of the people migrating to Oman were seeking work rather than permanent citizenship.  Whatever the motivation for the migration, all Governments should raise awareness about migrant populations.  The United Nations, for its part, must coordinate the positions of all States, in order to ensure that the positive aspects of the migration phenomenon were harnessed.

ABDALMAHMOOD ABDALHALEEM MOHAMAD ( Sudan) said that the Dialogue served to enhance international awareness about migration, one of the oldest human activities.  The Sudan was proud of its children who had participated in the development of other countries, as well as the children of other nations, who had contributed to the Sudan’s own prosperity and development.  Migration was a tool to increase interaction between peoples and cultures.  At the same time, migrants themselves were not “cows to be milked” but human beings with fundamental rights, which should be promoted and protected.

He said that sending and receiving countries must work to ensure that conditions on the ground were favourable to migrants.  Indeed, as much as migrants must respect the social and cultural norms of their destination countries, those countries must work hard to ensure that migrants had access to services and institutions under their control, such as education and health care.  The Sudan, with its vast expertise as a destination, transit and sending country, had established a high-level body to deal with the Sudanese disapora.  He called on the United Nations to consider launching an international decade for reinforcing global cooperation on migration and development, as well as an international day to celebrate migrants.

ATOKI ILEKA ( Democratic Republic of the Congo) said that migration was a global problem that demanded a global approach, which that took into account the security, economic, cultural, financial and legal aspects.  Because of its land and mineral riches, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been invaded by clandestine immigrants.  At the same time, many young people, including doctors, teachers, and lawyers, were leaving in search of a better standard of living abroad.  It was necessary to resolve dysfunctional labour markets to allow young people to find work at home.

He said that, in countries like his, migration was impelled by precarious security conditions, poverty, and unemployment. A remedy to uncontrolled migration was the promotion of solutions within the borders of source countries, including through efforts aimed at economic and political stabilization.

The migration and development equation required collective management and efforts to bring about economic development and benefits to all concerned, he said.  Properly managed migration could help attain the Millennium Development Goals.  The Democratic Republic of the Congo supported the proposal of the Secretary-General for a standing forum on migration issues.

IBRAHIM MOHAMED SESAY, Deputy Minister of Development and Economic Planning of Sierra Leone, aligning his remarks with the statement of the Group of 77 and China, said that poor nations were not prepared to “hold their own” within the framework of globalization, yet they were experiencing most of the world’s demographic growth.  Unless the fortunes of less developed countries improved, the South-North migration phenomenon would likely continue, exacerbating existing problems through brain drain.

He noted that 40 per cent of the population of Sierra Leone was under the age of 15, and that unemployment was widespread.  Young women were among the most disadvantaged, as their contributions were often not adequately remunerated, although they worked long hours taking care of the home, the aged and the sick; and doing farm work.  Emigration was seen as an escape from deprivation and poverty.  While migrant remittances helped to provide for some household needs and supported investment in small businesses, the volume of remittances from the Sierra Leonean diaspora was far below the level reported in Asian countries and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Rich countries encouraged influx of immigrants possessing certain critical skills, such as in the medical field, with disturbing consequences for developing countries, he said.  Sub-Saharan Africa, with 25 per cent of the world’s infectious disease burden, retained only 1.3 per cent of the world’s health-care practitioners.  Nearly one quarter of the doctors trained in sub-Saharan Africa were working in eight countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

He said that the war in Sierra Leone, which officially ended in early 2002, had led to massive internal displacement and refugee flows, deepening poverty and disrupting traditional coping mechanisms.   Sierra Leone was now at a crossroads of a major phase of reconstruction and development; however, the number of doctors, nurses, engineers, scientists, lecturers, and other professionals needed for the recovery were not available within the country.  To address that problem, Sierra Leone had begun a number of initiatives aimed at encouraging the return of highly qualified members of the diaspora, working in cooperation with the IOM, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.  He called on countries in the North to support such initiatives; it was a time for real action and cooperation between sending and receiving countries.

PASCAL GAYAMA (Congo), speaking in his national capacity and making remarks concerning the African Union, which the Congo currently chairs, said that the Union’s recent Summit had addressed the migration and development issue and had identified many key areas for action.  It had noted, among other things, that migration could not be solved by one State alone, and must be addressed through broad cooperation, particularly with respect to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  The United States, a country that had been built by migrants, was a positive example of the phenomenon.  Still, every nation and region must work together, in order to deal with concerns such as those that had arisen between North Africa and its European neighbours, as well as between Latin America and North America.

He said that all States must find ways to work together to deal a crippling blow to the countless nefarious individuals and criminal networks that made a profit off of migrants and their families.  He called for wider efforts to integrate migration into development policies, particularly through the regularization and facilitation of remittances.  For Africa, the diaspora had indeed become the continent’s “sixth region”; the diaspora, civil society and States worked together to promote and sustain socio-economic development at home and abroad.  He announced that the African Union wished to discuss with the IOM the establishment of an international decade on migration and development.

GEORGE O. OWUOR (Kenya), aligning his delegation with the statement made by South Africa on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, underscored the close link between international migration and development.  He hoped that the High-Level Dialogue would demystify some of the perceptions and misunderstandings associated with the question.  International migration had been more closely associated with globalization and liberation, which presumed that the world was a global village and that there should be free movement of human beings, goods and services.  Noting that globalization and international migration had not benefited all countries equally, he said the question that should be asked was how the benefits could be equitably shared between the parties.

He observed that the benefits of migration had been viewed purely from the remittances sent by migrants.  A number of developing countries, however, did not have the capacity or mechanisms to capture the flow of remittances.  It was important that the use of remittances was analysed to determine their developmental value.  The negative aspects associated with international migration should also be examined.  Kenya was encouraged by the proposal for a follow-up international forum, which should be institutionalized within the United Nations and regional forums.  Topics for discussion should include human rights, gender aspects of international migration, and security.  Other questions were the link between refugees and international migration, and the regional dimension of the problem.

PAUL BADJI ( Senegal) noted that the effects of globalization had led to unprecedented movements of people.  In Senegal, the fisheries and agricultural industries, which, in the past, had provided a major source of employment, were being deserted, owing to the liberalization policies and distortions of the global market.  The financial benefits from remittances received by migrants were not a panacea for development and, in most cases, did not lead to productive investment.  Remittances could even have negative effects by placing some countries in a situation of dependence.  The impact of remittances on economic progress was minimal compared to the loss of resources from brain drain, a phenomenon at the heart of the tension between migration and development.

He said that any efforts to prevent the movement of people, particularly of young graduates and other workers, towards more prosperous regions, would be ineffective.   Senegal, however, sought to encourage people to stay at home through various measures, including a “return to agriculture” programme, improved access to microfinance opportunities, and increased support for small and medium-sized enterprises.  Senegal also had adopted an action plan, aimed at encouraging migrant’s return.

While stressing the crucial and primary role of national efforts, international partnership was indispensable to stem the growth of clandestine migration, which was a human tragedy, he said.   Senegal was working with European countries to address the problem.  For example, it was negotiating a framework convention with France to ensure joint management of migratory flows between the two countries.  The management of migration, however, must not be limited to security measures; countries must work together against poverty and unemployment, which were growing exponentially in many parts of the world.

Among the top priorities for the international community were the need to combat clandestine migration, which often was the source of other abuses, insecurity, and tension.  The international community should also promote legal migration; ensure the full respect of the rights and dignity of migrants and their families, including their right to health and education; and strengthen the protection of vulnerable groups.   Senegal supported the Secretary-General’s proposal to establish a global consultative forum on migration to ensure greater international cooperation on those issues.

BISHOP NICHOLAS DIMARZIO, Observer for the Holy See, said migration was an essential element of relations between nation States.  But it was also a great source of human concern, as it involved the lives and dignity of hundreds of millions of people.  One of its most controversial elements was irregular migration.  The Holy See recognized the sovereign right of nations to determine who could cross their borders.  But, at the same time, countries had “a grave duty” to protect the rights of all people, including irregular migrants.  Insofar as authorized, long-term migrants were concerned, their full integration was needed in order to enhance social harmony and cohesion and to maximize their contribution to society.

One particular concern of the Holy See was the situation of those forced to migrate against their will -– not only refugees, but also those who were trafficked.  While progress had been made in developing informal consultations on migration at the regional level, the Holy See agreed that the time was ripe to consider a global consultative process.  In that context, it welcomed the offer of a meeting in Belgium in 2007 to look into that initiative.

BRUNSON MCKINLEY, Director-General, International Organization for Migration, said the Dialogue was a milestone in the journey to find ways to maximize the benefits of migration for development and minimize its challenges.  Achieving that goal involved engaging in dialogue on migration, and undertaking results-oriented activities.

He said the IOM supported bilateral agreements and regional dialogue on migration around the globe, either by serving as the secretariat for, or providing support to, the Regional Consultative Processes on migration on every continent.  At the global level, IOM and its membership launched the International Dialogue on Migration in the IOM Council in 2001 and served as the Secretariat for the Berne Initiative, a non-binding, States-owned consultation mechanism.

With regard to activities, he said the IOM had identified two proposals to realize the development potential of migration.  The “International Migration and Development Initiative” (IMDI) would facilitate matching labour supply with demand in safe and legal ways to regulate the international labour market.  The second proposal to form a global research network would engage existing research networks and build research capacity in developing countries to manage policy.  The IOM had identified seven key messages that focus on:  integrating migration into development policy; developing migration policies; partnering with the private sector; matching global labour supply with demand; understanding the relationship between diasporas and home countries; achieving overlap among regional consultations; and improving respect for migrants’ human rights.

FLORENCE MUGASHA, Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, said that migrants, as agents of development, could benefit both the countries of origin and destination through their economic, social, political and cultural contributions.  The challenge was to ensure that migration was managed and that it responded adequately to the needs of the international labour market.  If the opportunities offered by migration were positively exploited, it could play a vital role in reducing poverty and economic vulnerability and in improving sustainable human development.  There was a need to improve the understanding and implementation of existing legal instruments on migration to build capacity, foster dialogue between sending and receiving States, and make migration mutually beneficial to countries of origin and migrants.

She said that the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat’s work on democracy and development contributed to peace and stability across all of its member States.  Its work ensured that migration for political and economic reasons was minimized, by creating opportunities within the countries of origin for people to pursue happiness and realize their full potential at home.  More democracy brought more development, and the existence of both those conditions diminished the pressure on outward migration from the developing world.  The development arm of the Commonwealth, known as the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation, had assisted thousands of Commonwealth citizens and empowered them to start their own businesses; it trained others in service delivery.

What was needed next after the Dialogue was the development of new approaches for deepening inter-State cooperation to promote the managed transfer of migrants from countries with adequate labour to those facing labour shortages, she said. The current debate should also focus on how the countries of origin benefited from human resource development, remittances and absorption of their skilled workers back in their home countries after expiration of their work permits abroad.  She stressed the importance of capacity-building, noting that migration could be managed properly with accurate information about labour markets; both labour and immigration authorities should be equipped with the machinery and technical skills to be able to provide accurate figures for planning and evaluation.

RAYMOND FORDE, Vice-President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said that globalization had made migration an inevitable fact for all countries.  More attention should be paid to the vulnerabilities and needs of migrants, regardless of their status, and their dignity and rights should be at the centre of policy reforms and debates.  States needed to rethink their migration policies and entry-exit regulations, while recognizing that labour movement was part of the global economy.

He stressed the importance that all States, especially those with a major influx of migrants, to ratify and implement the action plan proposed by the Euro-African Conference in Rabat, Morocco, in July 2006.  It had encouraged States to set up cooperation programmes to manage legal migration.  Governments should also support ways of fighting discrimination, and form alliances with civil society, the private sector, opinion leaders and Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.  It had also been recommended that the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) take up the migration issue, with the aim of returning to the General Assembly, in two years, a programme that supported the development of coherent policy approaches to the phenomenon.

ROBERT SHAFER, Observer of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, said that the international community should protect the human rights of all immigrants.  The migration of such a vast number of persons, almost 200 million, presented many challenges in that regard.  In addition to the macro-economic effects, the dialogue must consider the rights of each individual that had chosen to relocate to a new country.  It was crucial that the international community not be blindsided by the large movement of masses.

He said that Malta’s mission, since its creation 900 years ago, was to protect and care for persons in need, particularly the poor and those travelling far from home.  As part of its work in aiding the poor, Malta had seen the abuse that migrants received under the euphemistically titled “guest worker” programmes.  “Brokers” who helped the migrants leave their home countries for large fees often held the workers to such high debts that they remained in perpetual bondage, unable to help their families.

Some countries might be content to “export their citizens”, so they could generate remittances to alleviate local poverty or fuel local investments, he said.  While some States perceived an economic benefit from using low-cost suppliers of goods, those practices ultimately led to high costs for the labourer.

LUIS DA FONSECA, Executive Secretary, Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), said that migration concerned all of his delegation’s member States.  While most Portuguese-speaking migrants had chosen Portugal as their new home, migrants were also heading to Mozambique, Angola and other countries.  The CPLP was actively working to harness the benefits of migration, which were intrinsically linked to sustainable development.  The Community was also working to curb trafficking and smuggling in migrants through its States.

He said it was important to promote the social and political integration of migrants in host countries, reduce the costs of remittance transfers, and raise public awareness about the benefits migrants brought to their new homes. At the same time, everyone must acknowledge that the main driver for migration was poverty at home, so all nations must work together to ensure that their citizens flourished.  The link between migration and development was gradually being acknowledged by the international community, making it increasingly possible for migration issues to be integrated into national and regional policies and programmes.  In that regard, the Community supported the Secretary-General’s proposal to establish a global forum on migration.

FERNANDO VALENZUELA, Observer, European Community, said that, while the migration issue was usually discussed along North-South lines -- that is, migrants making a long dangerous journey from the South to the North in search of better livelihoods -- the phenomenon itself was much broader than that.  Thus, all aspects of mobility should be considered.  The European Union was actively working with its partners, particularly in Africa, on remittances, as well as on all possible negative impacts of migration, in order to mitigate them.  The Union was also working up migration profiles, so that all countries of the region could work with sending countries on better managing migration.

HALIMA SA’ADIA KASSIM, Deputy Programme Manager, Gender Affairs and Caribbean Community Development, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) said that her region was impacted to varying degrees by migrations, as countries of origin and destination, through the loss or gain of skilled labour, remittances, flows, human trafficking and voluntary and forced repatriation of migrants.  A study was being conducted in Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago on the social implications of the return of nationals who had migrated at a young age and were returning as adults, which also considered assets accumulated by forced returnees.  The Caribbean diaspora played a significant role in the region and the Caribbean Community recognized its importance to its development.  At the recent meeting of the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), strong endorsement emerged for the convening of a conference in the Caribbean in June 2007, which would seek to deepen the region’s relations with the Caribbean diaspora in the United States.

He said that the CARICOM Heads of Government had agreed at that meeting, that special attention should be paid to the following:  establishment of policies in the development of migration policy; the verification of strategies for the retention of skilled labour; the establishment of a reliable information system/database; and the building of social support systems to respond to the requirements of voluntary and involuntary return of migrants.  They had also agreed on the need to adopt a multilateral approach to the issue of human trafficking.  The CARICOM was committed to working towards optimizing the benefits of migration for development.

Sir JOHN RUMET KAPUTIN, Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, said that asylum, migration and mobility were issues central to the development of ACP member countries.  The Group wanted to ensure that migration positively influenced development.  Thus, it was actively working to define a common strategy that was people-focused, and based on alleviating poverty and promoting sustainable development.

He said that the High-Level Dialogue should be an important juncture in a continuing debate aimed at the following:  improving the integration of migration issues into development policy and planning; building capacity to develop and manage migration policies; the inclusion of non-State actors; greater utilization of the development potential of diasporas; promotion of global dialogue on migration issues; and greater commitment to protect the basic human rights of migrants, refugees and displaced persons.

ENRIQUE IGLESIAS, Secretary-General of the Ibero-American Conference, said that his delegation was convinced that migrants and migration were central to its region.  And, its rich experience could help other countries better manage the phenomenon.  Both sending and receiving countries should remember that migrants were human beings and should be respected in terms of fundamental human and labour rights.

In that regard, he said that States must combat discrimination and xenophobia, as well as trafficking in human beings.  Migration policies should pay particular attention to the condition of indigenous people, especially women.  Co-development should also be a focus, in order to facilitate remittances and, among other things, deal with the brain drain in developing countries, he said.

GOTTFRIED ZUERCHER, Director-General of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), said that the organization’s experience had shown that the value of an informal, flexible dialogue on international migration lay primarily in the promotion of a mutual understanding of issues of common concern.  Such issues arose predominantly in a regional context, where regional consultative processes could serve to identify concrete problems and help design coordinated responses.

He said that the Vienna-based ICMPD had functioned since 1994 as the secretariat of the Budapest Process –- a consultative forum of more than 50 participating States (including Australia, Canada and the United States as observers) and 10 international organizations.  The intergovernmental process, started in 1991, provided a forum for exchange of experience and information among States interested in promoting comprehensive systems for orderly migration in the wider European region.  Its long-standing record, as well as the recent extension of the process to the Central Asian and Southern Mediterranean regions, testified to the continuing value of the forum for the participating States.

Efficient and accountable institutions for migration management were vital for the implementation of sustainable migration policies, as well as for holding meaningful and mutually beneficial dialogue, he said.  The promotion of good governance, capacity-building and training was often a precondition for a structured dialogue and should have a high priority on the development agenda.  An inter-State dialogue on international migration should take place either at the bilateral, regional or global levels, according to the issues involved.  In that way, a meaningful dialogue on migration could help manage crises when they arose, he added.

RIDHA BOUABID, International Organization for La Francophonie, noted that 53 French-speaking States across the globe were bound by their experience of migration, as language played an important role in determining migratory routes.  The problems of international migration in the context of globalization, and the impact on development represented a challenge for the Francophone community, as well as for the international community as a whole.  Cooperation was needed to minimize the negative impacts and maximize the positive ones for the migrants, themselves, and the countries involved.

He said that the Francophone community sought solutions based on the shared values of solidarity, democracy, human rights, cultural diversity, and a dialogue between civilizations.  His organization strove for real co-development with the active participation of migrants, themselves.  Any partnership between the North and South should allow the South to benefit from the qualifications of its diaspora.

His organization had participated in a number of international conferences and discussions on issues related to migration, and it welcomed the proposal of the Secretary-General for a standing Global Forum on migration, he said.

Rights of Reply

In exercise of the right of reply, the representative of the United States said her delegation deeply regretted the “inappropriate and inaccurate” comments made earlier by Cuba’s delegation, which had disrespected the spirit of the Dialogue.  Indeed, political posturing did nothing to advance the dialogue on migration and development.  The United States would note Cuba’s “atrocious” human rights record and “brutal” dictatorship, which, among other things, had caused millions of its citizens over the years to leave that country to seek safe haven.  The United States had taken great efforts to regularize those citizens.

In response, the representative of Cuba said his delegation rejected every single word uttered by the United States’ representative.  The United States, which was accusing Cuba and acting as the world’s “big human rights policeman” was refusing to work with Cuba on safe and orderly migration.  Everyone knew that Cuba had suffered an economic blockade for years.  The United States’ policy on Cuban migrants amounted to political manipulation and actually promoted illegal migration.

He said that the United States had also protected terrorists who had committed terrorist acts against Cuba.   Cuba was not blaming the United States, but the country should blame itself for its own atrocities.  The existing blockade was tightened year after year.  Attempts to justify it as a way to improve human rights were ridiculous.  At this point, after the United States’ unilateral wars, prison torture at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, its cluster bombing of civilians and brutal blockades, had no moral authority to discuss human rights; the United States should merely be quiet on that subject.

Responding, the representative of the United States said that the ridiculous and ludicrous distortions just presented by Cuba had forced her to take the floor. Cuba’s atrocious human rights record, relentless pursuit of dissidents and human rights defenders, and its outright intolerance of freedom of expression had caused its citizens to flee the country.  Since the United States had formalized its policy on Cuban migration in 1994, it had worked hard to ensure safe and orderly migration from that country.

Cuba’s representative said that the United States was trying to justify the real cause of the migratory situation between the two countries.  The United States ran a radio broadcast 24 hours every day to disrupt Cuban society.  He said that the so-called dissidents referred to by the representative of the United States were actually paid by the United States and given orders by that Government to undermine Cuban society.  As for dictatorships, everyone knew that the only dictatorship was the one the United States was trying to impose at the global level.

Closing Remarks by General Assembly President

Sheikha HAYA RASHED AL KHALIFA ( Bahrain), President of the General Assembly, said that two long, but stimulating, days of dialogue with more than 140 delegates about the opportunities and challenges that international migration and development posed for their countries had proven that those issues could be debated constructively within the United Nations.  There had also been four round tables, which had focused on the impact of international immigration on social and economic development, the importance of remittances, the crucial role of international cooperation and partnerships to address the challenges posed by international migration, and the centrality of human rights to ensure the development benefits of migration.

She said that the High-Level Dialogue had affirmed a number of key issues that were first revealed in the report of the Secretary-General.  First, international migration was a growing phenomenon and a key component of development in both developing and developed countries.  Second, international migration could be a positive force for development in both countries of origin and destination if supported by the right set of policies.  Third, global cooperation migration needed to be strengthened, bilaterally, regionally and globally.

The need to respect and honour the human rights of each individual migrant was emphasized as the necessary foundation for the beneficial effects of migration to accrue, she said.  Many speakers mentioned that vulnerable groups, such as women and children, needed special protection.  In addition, many said that migration was no substitute for development.  Many migrants were forced to seek work abroad, due to poverty, conflict and lack of respect for human rights in their home countries.  Widespread support emerged to incorporate international migration into the development agenda, and to integrate migration into national development strategies, including possibly into poverty reduction strategies.  All speakers underscored the need to have decent working conditions in all countries, not only of destination, but also in countries of origin, in an effort to reduce migration flows.  In addition, speakers called for a reduction of costs in remittance transfers, and for maximizing their development potential.

Yet, after two days of dialogue, where should the United Nations go from here? she asked.  Many speakers had embraced the Secretary-General’s proposal to establish a Global Forum on Migration and Development, with a first meeting to take place in Belgium.  Many had expressed the wish to continue an international dialogue in some form.  She commended participants’ commitment to advancing a constructive dialogue on that important issue.

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*     The 3^rd and 4^th Plenary Meetings were covered in Press Release GA/10494 of 14 September.

For information media • not an official record