International Briefing and Strategy Meeting for Civil Society Mobilizations and GFMD Parallel Events on Migrants Rights

19 March 2008

United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

 

On March 19, 2008, Migrants Rights International (MRI), International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) and FORUM-Asia organized the event, “Road to Manila 2008: An International Briefing and Strategy Meeting for Civil Society Mobilizations and GFMD Parallel Events on Migrants Rights”, held at the United Nations in Geneva.

Close to 50 civil society representatives attended; the participants represented a variety of civil society groups including migrants’ associations, trade unions, domestic workers unions and groups, national networks, as well as human rights, religious and advocacy organizations. They came from countries including Argentina, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Mali, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

In Part I of the event, the informational briefing, background and current information on the GFMD process was presented by civil society representatives who have been engaged around the GFMD.

In addition to civil society representatives, the briefing was also attended by officials from UN agencies including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as from government missions including Mexico, the Philippines, Germany, and Austria (a delegate from the South African mission also arrived but unfortunately the briefing session had already ended ).

Subsequent to the briefing, civil society representatives met for Part II of the event, a non-governmental strategy session.

 

PART I: INTERNATIONAL BRIEFING ON THE GFMD

Speakers were: Cathi Tactaquin and Colin Rajah of MRI and the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) based in the U.S.; John Bingham of ICMC based in Geneva; Marie d’Auchamp of December 18 based in Brussels; William Gois of MRI and Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), based in Manila. Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba of Mexico (first President of the Human Rights Council) was also a special guest.

The Origin of the GFMD

Speakers provided information on the development of the GFMD process through discussions that had been occurring in the United Nations. In the 1990’s, the UN had originally discussed holding a world conference on migration, but this did not move forward for political and financial reasons. In 2003, the UN General Assembly announced that it would hold a High Level Dialogue (HLD), and charged the Global Commission on International Migration to prepare a study. Following a series of hearings in various global regions, the GCIM presented its study to the HLD in 2006 in New York. There, governments agreed to continue discussions on migration and development, but elected to do so through the creation of the Global Forum on Migration and Development. This (non-UN) inter-governmental forum would be held every year, rotating between countries in the global north and global south. After Brussels (2007) and Manila (2008), the next GFMDs are set for Greece (2009) and Argentina (2010); Spain may offer to host it in 2011. However, the GFMD is not held within a UN process and has not been guided by the UN human rights framework or by UN guidelines for civil society participation.

GFMD Manila – October 27 – 30, 2008

Preparations are underway for the second GFMD in Manila, Philippines in October 27 – 30, 2008. October 27 and October 28 will be the official civil society days; October 29 and 30 will be governmental days. The governmental days are organized into plenaries and roundtables on the following themes: (i) Migration, Development and Human Rights; (ii) Secure, legal migration can achieve stronger development impacts; (iii) Policy and institutional coherence and partnerships. A group of international experts has been charged with preparing papers for the roundtables.

Whither human rights and civil society?

All speakers expressed concern that the previous GFMD, as well as the planning process for the Manila forum, have taken the approach of viewing migration policy contextualized in an economic development framework, without sufficient consideration for established human rights laws and principles that protect migrants’ rights. The GFMD has also been a forum in which numerous negotiations for bilateral agreements have started to take place on development and migration packages. Amb. De Alba stated that the government of Mexico has been pushing for the consideration of human rights within GFMD discussions, but has encountered strong resistance from many other governments.

Further, speakers relayed that civil society organizations, as well as UN and governmental officials advocating for migrants rights, have felt increasing alarm that the GFMD has been largely closed to public scrutiny and civil society participation. Cathi Tactaquin, John Bingham, and William Gois gave specific details on how the GFMD in Brussels, and the UNHLD in New York, had “civil society days” in which civil society representatives were invited to provide input through distinct fora, with key perspectives and recommendations provided to the governmental meeting. However, this process was restrictive and not reflective of genuine civil society participation. Especially because the GFMD is not a UN forum, the arrangements for civil society participation are not made according to UN rules, but rather according to only the will of the government hosting the GFMD that year. The Belgian government asked the King Baudouin Foundation to hold a civil society forum prior to the Brussels 2007 GFMD, but only a limited number and range of organizations were allowed to participate.

Ambassador De Alba described concerns and troubling trends among government positions within the GFMD. For example, he stated that while the Mexican government views human rights as a principal consideration in discussing migration, the current discourse in GFMD focuses on migration and development language and avoids discussion on human rights. He also expressed concern that civil society has been shut out of the process; when he pushed human rights and civil society, he was accused of “putting in danger the whole process.” In his view, however, because migration will be at the center of the agenda for the next five to ten years, governments cannot conduct activities in this limited way.

Civil society mobilizes

In response to the limitations of civil society participation in the UNHLD and GFMD in Brussels, civil society organizations organized their own activities and mobilizations. In September 2006, MRI and its members, particular NNIRR and MFA, organized civil activities and parallel events around the UNHLD, including an international forum titled “Community Dialogue on Migration, Development and Human Rights”, lobbying visits to governments, a public rally and media conference. In July 2007, MRI, ICMC and December 18 organized an international civil society parallel forum to the Brussels GFMD, entitled “Global Community Forum on Migration, Development and Human Rights.” This community forum brought together more than 200 civil society participants from around the globe who collectively raised concerns about the GFMD process as well as key principles and issues that needed to be addressed.

A rocky “Road to Manila”?

The arrangements currently being planned for the “official” civil society day in Manila are also very limited. One proposal is to allow only 200 slots for civil society representatives to participate in the official civil society days, and only 120 of these for organizations traditionally considered “civil society”, with 80 slots being allocated to the private sector, recruitment agencies, foundations, and others. And while the official civil society events contemplate an exchange between governments and civil society on October 28, this is not part of the official government proceedings and it is unclear how many governments will actually attend.

 

PART II: CIVIL SOCIETY STRATEGY SESSION

In Part II of the event, the civil society strategy session, participants expressed broad agreement that it was necessary for civil society, particularly migrant communities, to engage in a substantial manner with the GFMD. Among the strategies and issues discussed were:

A number of groups provided information on activities that they are already planning, which include:

Participants agreed to continue to communicate in order to share information and work together on these issues. MRI agreed to set up an email listserv to facilitate such communication. To subscribe to the listserv, contact MRI at migrantsrightsinternational@gmail.com.