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Migrants' groups instructed to ‘self-organize’ for next global forum in Greece

By CARMELA FONBUENA, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 12/19/2008 6:42 PM

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As the Philippines turns over to Greece the chairmanship of United Nations-sponsored Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), a foreign affairs official on Thursday instructed OFW groups to continue the successful initiatives and partnerships that have been started when the forum was held in Manila.

“You should self-organize. Find some means of reaching out there to find like-minded civil service organizations. Develop your own allies,” assistant secretary Evan Garcia of the Department of Foreign Affair’s Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations said on Thursday during a celebration of the International Migrants Month.

Garcia said the migrants' groups should take advantage of all venues where migrants' rights and development could be discussed. He said that migration, while it remains to be a sensitive issue in many countries, has turned into an important issue worldwide.

The Philippine-hosted GFMD in October was highly praised by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon himself, who attended the event. However, a number of local and foreign migrant groups protested that they were disallowed to participate.

The GFMD has two separate sessions—one set of sessions for discussion among civil society groups around the world and another set of sessions for government representatives. In between, representatives from the civil society groups and the governments were allowed to have a short interface.

But Garcia told those who have not been invited, “You don’t have to be in the plenary to put out ideas. You should self-organize. You can use the Internet. Use technology,” Garcia said. The migrants' groups that would not be invited in Greece should do this, he added.

Garcia acknowledged that it will be difficult for the Filipino migrants' groups to be able to attend the next GFMD, which will be held in Greece. But he encouraged them to be resourceful to remain in the loop.

“Not everybody can do it, I know. But those who can should reach out for the others,” Garcia said.

However, Garcia was not supportive of what some migrants groups did during the GFMD. Those that were not invited to the GFMD instead organized the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees. International migrants groups came to Manila to hold alternative session in Bayview Park and Hotel, which is very near the Philippine International Convention Center where the GFMD was held.

“I see no point in speaking [to the government officials] in loud speakers. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being spoken to with loud speakers. We should work together. The civil society groups have a very important goal. They are our partners,” Garcia added referring to the various street protests against government’s policies on migration.

Garcia encouraged the migrants groups to cooperate with the government, inspite of differences. “Whether you like it or not, the government is your representative. Maintain close relationship,” he said.

The First GFMD was held in Brussels, Belgium in 2007. The Philippines was chosen as the second venue for its rich experience on migrants’ issues. After holding it in a destination country, the UN found it fitting to hold the GFMD in a sending country. Of the estimated 200 million migrants worldwide, about eight million are Filipinos.

In Belgium, the discussions focused on the economic side of migration. In the Philippines, the discussions shifted to the development of migrant workers and the impact of the global financial crisis on migration.