Mercy Global Concern - 2006

MGC Briefing paper Number 2 – August 2006

"Migration now has the face of a woman."

Quote from a July 12 Hearing speaker - a Peruvian woman refugee who now lives in Argentina.

Concern for upholding migrants' human rights was the impetus for the historic Informal Interactive Hearings on International Migration and Development July 12, 2006 at the United Nations. I was privileged to attend these hearings on behalf of Mercy Global Concern/Mercy International Association and the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. I joined more than 280 non-governmental and civil society collegues as an official observer, and significantly, of the 192 UN member nations, more than 90 attended, representing six continents.

The hearings were requested by UN non-governmental and civil society organizations in a concerted effort to influence the tone and agenda of the UN High Level Dialogues scheduled for this September on the same subject. There is a growing concern among migrant advocates and human rights activists that when it comes to the global phenomenen of migration, some UN reports and language are beginning to shift away from a human rights framework to an economic growth framework, which would put the growth of economies before the human rights of migrant workers. These hearings were an opportunity for a chorus of ngo's such as Mercy Global Concern to request that the body of UN member nations stand strong on human rights, that the September dialogues uphold the human rights of migrant workers and seek migration policies that protect the human dignity and human development of migrants and their families. The ngo's also called on all member nations to ratify and fully implement the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and their Families.

Many observers of the day called it historic. Non-governmental organizations offered their services and expertise to UN member nations in an effort to influence future migration policy that respects the individual rights and needs of migrants and their families. The United Nations is the most proper place to have such public forums to address international migration in a comprehensive way, especially as multinational corporations and world trade negotiations are beginning to effect national and regional migration policies. The UN must act to ensure migration policy remains squarely in the realm of national governments and not allow the global economy to dictate how the movement of human capital and labor may enhance corporate economic interests.

The July 12 Hearings were designed to address 3 themes:

1) The promotion of a human rights-based approach to international migration, and to ensure protection of the human rights of all migrants and their families.

2) The challenges for international migration policies, both social and economic, for sending and receiving countries.

3) Policy responses - promoting the building of partnerships and capacity-building, sharing best practices at all levels, including bilateral and regional levels.

Official spokespersons of selected ngo's made statements in response to a migration report written by the General Assembly President, Mr. Kofi Annan. Here are the highlights of what I heard:

- international migration is not a temporary phenomenon

- migrant human rights must be upheld

- migrants must be included in these dialogues

- migrants and their labor should not be in the service of the global economy

- the UN dialogues must be open, transparent, consultative and participatory

- member nations must be accountable at the September dialogues

- the September dialogues must be the beginning of comprehensive wotk, not the end

- migration is the human face of globalization

- the Secretary General's report lacks a gender perspective

- human rights are the bridge between migration and development

- migrants must not be commodified

- seen as economic entities or units of labor

- remittances (money that migrants send back home) must not be more important than a migrant's life

United Nations General Assembly
Informal Interactive Hearings on International Migration and Development

July 12, 2006
Report by Kathy Kelleher
Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice office