The webinar of the first roundtable of the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) took place on January 19, 2022. This event is first in a series of discussions led by the United Nations Network on Migration around the progress made on the implementation of Goals 2, 5, 6, 12, and 18 of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM) adopted on December 10 and 11, 2018, in Marrakech by one hundred and nineteen United Nations Member States.
From the outset, the Head of the Labor Migration Service of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Michelle Leighton, recalls the various objectives of the global pact, which, according to her, bear witness to the will of States to make migration a positive force for sustainable development. However, she highlighted the consequences of the health crisis on different societies. While she acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of people around the world, she stresses that migrant workers and their families have suffered much more from the consequences of the health crisis due to their vulnerability. Among the harmful impacts of the health crisis, Leighton notes overtime loss of work equivalent to 52 million jobs indicating that migrant workers have faced increased levels of discrimination in wages and conditions of employment during the pandemic.
On the other hand, Leighton highlights the efforts leading to an increase in regular pathways and the recognition of skills towards creating decent working conditions so that migration can be a choice and not a constraint. “Some actors have succeeded in setting up regular migration channels that promote compliance with international standards, and others have adopted measures during the pandemic that have made it possible to secure regular jobs” she specifies before giving the word to the Executive Director of Overseas Development Institute Europe Marta Foresti.
During her speech, Foresti pleads in favor of taking local communities into account in developing migration policies. At the local level that migrants’ requests for accommodation, access to health care, and employment are managed, according to Foresti. She believes that focusing on implementing the Global Compact as a matter of progress for the Member States risks neglecting the potential of cities and local authorities. She finds it essential that local actors are represented and have a say in the International Migration Review Forum discussions. The representations of mayors in the development of migration policies will put the reality of the local development economy at the center of the talks. And, it is fundamental to propose solutions at the local level that will take into account the reality of people who leave their country of origin to settle in foreign lands.
Climate change is one of the causes of migration
Participating in this Forum, PefiKingi from the Pacific Focal Point Migration, Climate Migration Displacement Platform reports on the Pacific’s climate change issues. There is an increase in natural disasters in the region, which negatively impacts the economy. When crops are damaged, houses are washed away, infrastructure is weakened, the whole economy suffers losses, and the hence the country is devastated. Aside from these heinous consequences on the economy, natural disasters cause growing population movements, including children, women, and LGBTQ people. Some people are then forced to flee their country of origin to settle elsewhere. This distressed migration impacts the country’s sovereignty, culture, and causes statelessness, noted Kingi.
To reduce the risk of population displacement caused by natural disasters, Kingi points out that the global civil society action committee leaders have adopted a solution-based approach while identifying the main priorities, in particular, the development of investment through the development of adaptation and resilience strategies. With particular regard to sea-rise, provisions are being considered to develop and strengthen national and regional practices based on humanitarian considerations, Kingi said.
Also speaking at the discussions, Genevieve Gencianos, the Migration Program Coordinator at the Public Services International, a global union federation dedicated to promoting quality public services worldwide, presented data on the migration situation related to climatic events. According to her report, approximately 27 million people have been displaced by natural disasters and conflicts, of which more than 90% were linked to weather conditions judging it is imperative to understand climate migration and the social, political, and economic consequences it generates to achieve the objectives of the Global Compact. According to the institution’s representative at the forum, Public Services International is doing this work.
Climate justice must be taken into account in resolving the climate crisis, demands the Migration Program Coordinator at PSI, Genevieve Gencianos. Further remarks that rich countries are responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions that the world is facing, whereas its implications are faced by the people from developing countries. Madam Genevieve Gencianos believes there is an urgent need for provisions to ensure a just transition for workers affected by loss and damage from climate change and the shift to low carbon energy generation and other climate change response measures.
Furthermore, Gencianos makes a set of proposals to the international community based on several factors considering human rights and the defense of quality public services. She pleads for the respect of human rights. At the same time, Gencianos advocates public services available on the ground to allow migrant workers to have access to essential services. She claims that the pandemic has had adverse effects on the defense of labor rights, pointing out that among the 200,000 health workers who have died due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 36,000 are migrants.
Colombia, a model in terms of socio-economic integration of migrants
Colombia is now the model for migrants’ socioeconomic integration, with the regularization of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants in irregular status and a labor market cooperation strategy, according to David Kodour, UNDP adviser on human mobility. He made these remarks before welcoming Andres Uribe, Colombia’s Ministry of Labor’s Deputy Minister of Employment and Pensions, to the virtual panel. Mr. Andres Uribe confirms Mr. Kodour’s remarks during his speech.
Colombia was not ready to deal with the migratory flow from Venezuela, points out Deputy Minister of employment and pensions of the Ministry of Labour, Government of Columbia before declaring that his country has made efforts to deal with migratory flows from Venezuela and other countries. This response from the Colombian government is the implementation of several projects to regularize the situation of migrants. This regularization project includes the delivery of 20,000 temporary work permits to migrants, details Andres Uribe Colombia’s Ministry of Labor’s Deputy Minister of Employment and Pensions. He emphasizes that Colombia has organized training for migrants to learn how to apply for open positions. While Colombia has made efforts to deal with migratory flows of migrants from all over the region, Uribe acknowledges that his country still has a lot to do to help people in an irregular situation who are mobile on its territory.
The Republic of the Philippines passes the law creating the department of workers, a step towards achieving the objectives of the global compact
Sarah Lou Arriola, Undersecretary for Migrant Worker Affairs at the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines, says her country has made progress in implementing the objective of the GCM. These advances are reflected, according to her, by the promulgation of the law creating the Department of workers. This law is devoted to implementing programs and social policies that meet the needs of Filipino workers abroad and will allow the creation of a government agency composed of offices that work on migration, including recruitment ethics in the perspective of the protection of Filipino migrant workers, suggests Arriola, referring in passing to the obligation of the Republic of the Philippines to protect more than 10 million Filipino migrants. She asserts that this obligation prompts the government to attach great importance to objectives 5 and 6 of the global compact, which recommend respectively to ensure that regular migration channels are accessible and more flexible and to promote recruitment practices fair and ethical and provide decent working conditions.
In addition to the legal provisions adopted by the Republic of the Philippines, Arriola talks about the concrete actions taken by the government to minimize the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, since the start of the pandemic, the Philippines has facilitated the repatriation of nearly 2 million Filipinos. According to Arriola, particular actions have been taken in favor of seafarers given the importance of maritime transport, informing that more than 2.4 million migrant workers have benefited from fair and ethical recruitment.
Jesula Simon holds a master’s degree in Public Policy and is currently a University Diploma in Conflict Management and Resolution, Mediation and Interculturality. She is a human rights defender, works as a journalist, and has experience in communication and media, public policy, project management, education, protection, community mobilizing with private media, public services, and international organizations. In her work, she particularly enjoys dealing with issues related to migration, and she works at Haiti Migration Group.