Intn'l trade union leader says GFMD can help protect migrants
by MARIA ALETA O. NIEVA, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/27/2008 10:13 PM
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The conference chairperson of the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development’s Civil Society Days is confident that governments will act on their recommendations that would result from their October 27-28 forum on “Protecting and Empowering Migrants for Development.”
“We know that when people speak about their concerns on an issue, that has a great impact on government,” Shanon Burrow, president of the International Trade Union Confederation said Monday, adding that she is a great believer in the power of civil society.
“I am very optimistic that the deliberations over the next two days, the concerns of civil society to have a say on a new global architecture for protection and opportunity for migrant rights based on the UN (United Nations) and ILO (International Labor Organization) conventions, processes that bring us beyond just the stories of our concerns, stories of exploitation, stories of opportunities to kinds of action, that means we will increase the opportunity for a sustainable future not just for migrant workers and their families but for all their nations, both socially and economically,” said Burrow.
Burrow said that her country, Australia, “is a story of the miracles of migration”. She said apart from their indigenous people, Australia is a land of immigrants.
“Australia is dependent totally on the mobility of not just the current generation, but of previous generations for its population, for its cultural diversity, for the richness of the shared culture that we grow up with,” she explained.
New global system for migrants
“So my children and their children are the beneficiaries of decades of migrants coming to my country. Now, we have to make sure to expunge the exploitation, open the doors to opportunities and choice for migrant workers, whether it’s temporary migration or whether its determination by families to move permanently to another country.”
Burrow views the GFMD as an important event that can help realize their hope for a new global architecture of protection and opportunity for the world’s migrants.
“The global architecture is serious, it's urgent, and we would hope to say to governments we stand ready to work with you, to get a new transparency that builds opportunity, that builds protection based on the conventions that the UN and its agency have already put in place,” added Burrow.
Burrow defended the GFMD from criticisms hurled by some migrant groups and organizations who alleged that the forum is not impotant since the the outcomes will not bind the governments.
“There are some governments, and certainly my own personal position, is that this forum, as valuable as it is when we meet next year in Greece, we would hope to see genuine moves towards a mandated UN forum that seeks to build and monitor and renew the global architecture necessary to manage the flow of people around the world,” she said.
