As Turkey Assumes Chairmanship of Global Migration Forum, Deputy Secretary-General

 

Urges Substantial Advances for ‘Sake of Migrants and for the Sake of Us All’

 

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks at a reception organized by the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations on the launch of Turkey’s chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, in New York, today:

Thank you for this chance to celebrate Turkey’s chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development.  I want to take the opportunity to congratulate the Minister on his recent appointment.  I bring greetings from Secretary-General Ban Ki‑moon. He is very grateful that Turkey will chair the next Forum after the successful Swedish chairmanship.

The United Nations, especially the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for International Migration, Peter Sutherland, stands ready to assist Turkey in achieving success.  We also know Turkey has vast experience to bring to the Forum — especially in light of the enormous challenges it faces as a result of displacement and migration in its troubled vicinity, in Syria and, increasingly, in Iraq.

Right now, Turkey hosts around a million Syrian refugees and is receiving, daily, thousands more, mainly Syrian Kurds, fleeing from terror.  One hundred and thirty thousand since last Friday.

We understand the huge dilemma Turkey is facing in keeping its borders open and we hope that you can find a formula to do so.  It is crucial that at this time all efforts are made to keep the borders open to people fleeing the ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] offensive and almost certain death.

The Mediterranean is the scene of horrible tragedies as more and more desperate people cross its dangerous waters in overcrowded and unsafe boats provided by ruthless smugglers and traffickers.

We are still mourning the deaths of more than 800 people who perished in the Mediterranean in July alone.  That is a terrible toll — so much worse than the already appalling number of deaths in all of 2013.

I join the new High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, in calling on States to bring to justice smugglers who last week allegedly killed up to 500 refugees and migrants by sinking their boat in the Mediterranean.  I also share the High Commissioner’s concern about exploitative working conditions and detention of irregular migrants, including children.

The Global Forum can help advance critical common progress and by that save lives and stand up for solidarity and human dignity.

More than a billion people rely on international and internal migration so that they can have more food on the table, better schools, and access to health care for their families.  Individuals migrate to escape poverty, repression or conflict.  Increasingly, migrants are driven by economic and environmental pressures.

There are many positive benefits of migration — but they are not as great as they could be and not as well-known as they should be.  The costs and benefits of migration need to be considered.  We know discrimination is a serious problem, with migrants often denied their fundamental human rights.

This is a huge challenge for the international community.  We must remember that we are our own countries, but we are also part of the world.  We have to make urgent and substantial advances for the sake of migrants and for the sake of us all.

The world is responding through the United Nations.  Last year, the General Assembly adopted its landmark Declaration of the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development.  This declaration provides clear guidance for optimizing the value of migration.  And discussions on the future development agenda include proposals for targets related to migration.

I am confident that Turkey’s leadership will help galvanize the world to act.   Let us all join forces to make the next Global Forum a success — for migrants and people everywhere.

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For information media • not an official record