Migrants' rights advocates from 40 countries on Wednesday issued their 10-point challenge to governments participating in the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development.

The groups, composed of migrants rights advocates, civil society and trade unions, which are part of the parallel event called the “People’s Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights”, stressed the need to place human rights at the center of the GFMD discussions.

“We call upon governments to demonstrate their commitment to universal human rights, by affirming the human dignity of all migrants, including migrant workers, and ensuring that migrants’ human rights are at the forefront of discussions,” the groups said in a statement.

The 10-point challenge is stated in the group’s Joint Declaration.

According to them, governments:

•    Have the obligation to guarantee the human rights, including labor rights, of all migrants as human beings;
•    Must fulfill their obligations under the core United Nations and International Labor Organization instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Protection of Rights for All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the UN Refugee Convention of 1951, ILO Conventions 97 and 143 and the Multilateral Framework on Labor Migration, and all regional and international human rights instruments;
•    Must not deviate from but rather build upon the normative rights-based framework-approach to development and must honor their commitment to the Declaration on the Right to Development (UNGA Resolution 41/128, 4 December 1986);
•    Must guarantee the right to participation of migrants and all human beings in policy making;
•    Must recognize and respect the rights of all migrants, including migrant workers, whether or not they are in ‘regular’ or ‘irregular’ status;
•    Must ensure that migrants enjoy equality of rights and non-discrimination in the places where they live;
•    Must protect and uphold the human rights of women migrants, taking into account a long history of gender discrimination;
•    Must adopt effective policies to combat trafficking;
•    Must cease design and implementation of state migration policies that constitute or cause violations of human rights; and,
•    Must institute a functioning international system based on migration and development policies that guarantee the human rights of migrants, workers and all peoples, and which promotes sustainable, rights-based development.

Address root causes

The groups have been very vocal in saying that without digging deeper into the root causes of migration, positive outcomes are likely to come out of the official forum.

“In its present form, the GFMD will not contribute to the development of policies to address the vulnerabilities of migrants and increase their protection for migrants, nor will it produce a coherent, effective international migration regime that can address the many complexities involved in migration,” the groups stressed.

They maintained that governments, both sending and receiving countries, must address the root causes of massive migration, especially its feminization, through full employment and generation of local work with dignity, and through combating all forms of abuse of women and all individuals.

“The GFMD must respect the principles laid out in this declaration in order to be legitimate and effective. We call on governments to respond to these challenges and fulfill their obligations, and create new global mechanisms and processes that are genuinely democratic, transparent and accountable and which will meaningfully ensure each individual’s human rights, freedoms and sustainable development,” the group said.

The People's Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights will culminate its remaining activities Thursday evening. These activities are the Grand Lantern and Float Parade by children, the closing ceremony, and concert.