UN chief: Migrants can help nations cope with global crisis
by CARMELA, FONBUENA, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 10/29/2008 3:27 PM
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United Nations (UN) secretary general Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday told participants at a global migration forum in Manila that the 200 million migrant workers worldwide will play a crucial role in lifting countries out of the current global credit crunch.
“It is incumbent upon us to reaffirm another reality: that migration can and should be a tool to help lift us out of this economic crisis. Now more than ever, politicians and policymakers need to cooperate across borders. Only in this way can we draw the greatest possible development benefits from migration,” Ban said in speech before representatives of 163 UN country members who are in Manila for the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD).
Ban cited at least two ways how human mobility is helping ease the situation.
“Human mobility makes our economies more efficient, even when they are not growing, by ensuring that the right skills can reach the right places at the right time,” he said.
“Human mobility also helps redress the enormous imbalances that have led to harsh economic inequality. This inequality, both within and across borders, is one of the most dangerous realities we need to confront. International migration can be a force for good in this respect,” he added.
Migration challenges
Nevertheless, Ban reminded the world leaders of the necessary measures that governments need to undertake to resolve challenges that comes with migration.
“If we are to rely on migration to help heal our economies, however, we also must confront the challenges and fears it can generate,” he said.
“If we needlessly constrain legal means for migration, migration will flow through unsafe and irregular channels. This will undermine confidence in our ability to govern—confidence that has already been damaged by the financial crisis," Ban said.
“Likewise, we must work much harder to understand the demands of our increasingly diverse societies, so that we can foster social harmony and solidarity. We must make special effort to inform and educate people about how migration can be a benefit for all, and how migrants share common bonds and aspirations with people in the countries to which they have journeyed," the UN secretary-general said.
“We want to create a so-called 'triple win' for countries of origin, for countries of destination, and for the migrants themselves,” he said.
With or without crisis, Ban said these challenges need to be addressed. “The underlying forces that have led 200 million people to cross international borders in pursuit of a better life will not disappear.”
GFMD's birth
The GFMD series is an offshoot of the High-Level Dialogue conducted by the UN General Assembly in 2006. The international organization then encouraged its members-states to continue the dialogues.
Ban admitted that even in the UN, “it took a determined effort by my predecessor… to overcome skepticism and ensure the forum’s birth.”
The first forum was hosted by the government of Belgium last year. The focus then was more on the economic benefits of migration. It discussed issues such as leveraging remittances, fostering co-development, promoting the entrepreneurial spirit of migrants, and helping countries of origin tap the skills of their migrants abroad.
This time in Manila , the forum is focused on the rights of the migrants. Discussion will revolve around the theme, “Protecting and Empowering Migrants for Development.”
“For too long, and by too many, international migration has been perceived as a threat. This invaluable forum has been crucial in energizing a movement to change this perception,” Ban said.
