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News
On
the occasion of International Migrants Day, 18 December
2009
While not focused on migration, the commitments of Copenhagen
may have a decisive impact on
where people will be able to live in the future - and
homes they will have to leave behind.
Estimates of the number of people that will be forced
to move because of climate change vary widely,
from several millions to over a billion. A large share
of those movements will be internal rather than
international. Crossing borders usually requires networks
and resources. Those hardest hit by the
effects of climate change are likely to lack both. This
is because they are already poor, sick and
marginalized, and they tend to live in the poor countries
of this world.
Climate change and environmental degradation are likely
to reinforce the global inequalities that drive
much of international migration today. Climate-related
migration not only means people fleeing from
the imminent threat of a hurricane or flood. It also means
that pockets of people, like West-African
seasonal migrants, move in search of alternative sources
of income because the land they used to
cultivate can no longer support them. The line between
forced and voluntary, or so-called 'economic
migration' becomes blurred.
In the face of climate change, movement must be a possibility,
but it must also remain a choice.
Governments have an interest and a responsibility to ensure
that migration takes place under legal,
safe and orderly conditions with respect for the human
rights of all migrants, regardless of their
immigration status. Particular attention should be paid
to the needs of vulnerable groups such as
children, adolescents, women and the elderly.
For when migration takes place in decent conditions,
it can be more than a survival strategy. Migration
can be a powerful opportunity for trade and development,
benefiting countries of origin, transit and
destination, as well as migrants themselves.
First, migrants contribute to global prosperity by filling
critical skills and labour market gaps in
economies around the world. Oftentimes, they do the work
that nationals shun. Especially for ageing
societies in Europe and Asia, migration is crucial in
replacing ageing workforces and maintaining social
security systems.
Second, migration can be an important factor in alleviating
poverty in developing countries. The
Millennium Development Goals spell out eight specific
development targets to be achieved by 2015.
Migration supports the achievement of these goals mainly
through the vehicle of remittances that is
the money that migrants earn and send to their families
and friends back home. Amounting to $420
billion globally in 2009, remittances have been found
to support nutrition, health care and schooling
for families and children left behind. Although decreasing
during the global recession, they have
remained relatively resilient compared to other financial
flows.
Third, migration offers important potential gains for
migrants, their families and communities of
destination, such as freer choices over their lives and
the ability to realize aspirations for better
education, health care or professional development, for
example.
For this to happen, migrants need legal migration opportunities.
While people with specialized skills
are sought after in the global market place, those with
little or no formal skills and education often
find the doors shut. However, their labour is in demand
in agriculture and services sectors,
including construction and care.
Migrants need to be able to move in safety and dignity.
Like all other human beings, they have human
rights under international law, such as the right to leave
any State and enter their State of origin, the
right to life, the right to basic social services, the
right to decent conditions of work and the right to be
free from slavery or forced labour.
When disaster strikes and livelihoods erode, States have
the responsibility to assist their own citizens
who become uprooted and move within the country. However,
not all States have the means to do
so.
When those displaced by environmental factors move across
international borders, they currently fall
out of the international legal framework that exists specifically
for migrants and refugees.
The 1951 Refugee Convention provides protection for those
fleeing across international borders
based on a well-founded fear of persecution. It does not
apply to those fleeing from natural disasters.
The International Convention on the Protection of the
Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of
Their Families, adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on 18 December 1990, has been
ratified by no more than 42 countries in the world. Rising
migration pressures and the possible
development benefits of migration should entice more Governments
to endorse the Convention and
its standards as frame and reference for migration policies.
Finally, migrants need to have the option of staying
home safely. In all likelihood, the poorest and
those most vulnerable to extreme weather events will never
reach the shores of industrialized
nations. The double-task is to ensure that they are less
vulnerable to disaster in the first place, and
that they are not stuck when disaster strikes.
What is required is a joint effort by all countries to
support sustainable development, increase
disaster preparedness, mitigate climate change, accelerate
the development of adaptation measures,
and create avenues for legal and safe migration.
By Dr. Carlos Lopes, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General,
Chair of the Global Migration Group, on behalf of the
GMG*
*International Labour Organization (ILO)
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(UNDESA)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
United Nations Institute for Training & Research (UNITAR)
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
United Nations Regional Commissions
World Bank
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