2013 High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development

The General Assembly will hold a High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development during its sixty-eighth session from 3-4 October 2013.

The Special Rapporteur welcomes the High Level Dialogue as an important opportunity for the widest range of actors, including States, intergovernmental organisations and civil society organisations, to come together to discuss migration in a multilateral setting.

Seven years after the first High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development, it will be a unique opportunity to take stock of the progress accomplished in the global discussions about migration policies worldwide, and to outline issues that still need academic research, policy developments at national, regional and global level. It is an important moment to reflect on the mainstreaming of human rights into all aspects of the migration debate, and the Special Rapporteur welcome the fact that the General Assembly has clearly recognised, in both its resolutions in the 2nd and 3rd committees, the importance of human rights as a cross cutting issue for the High Level Dialogue. Importantly, the HLD will have a roundtable specifically dedicated to measures to ensure respect for and protection of the human rights of all migrants.

Activities of the Special Rapporteur at the High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development, 3 - 4 October 2013:

The Special Rapporteur traveled to New York to participate in the High Level Dialogue. He was pleased to be able to make positive contributions to both Roundtables 2 and 3, and attended numerous side events organised by OHCHR, other international organisations including the GFMG and the Global Migration Group, and by civil society organisations.

Links to his statements are found below:

Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants at the High-level Dialogue on international migration and development “Migrant Children should not be Detained” Side event on the detention of children, New York, 2 October 2013

Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants at the Workshop on smuggling and trafficking, New York, 2 October 2013

Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants at the PGA Plenary Session – Criminalization of Migrants, New York, 2 October 2013

Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants at the High-level Dialogue on international migration and development, New York, 3 October 2013

Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants at the High-level Dialogue on international migration and development Roundtable 2: "Measures to ensure respect for and protection of the human rights of all migrants, with particular reference to women and children, as well as to prevent and combat smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons, and to ensure regular, orderly, and safe migration", New York, 3 October 2013

Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants at the Side event: Human Rights at International Borders “Securitisation and Externalisation of the Borders Alone Will Not Stem Irregular Migration”, New York, 4 October 2013

Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants High-level Dialogue on international migration and development Side event: Shared Experiences from the Global Forum on Migration and Development “The GFMD is not yet Centred Enough on the Human Rights of Migrants”, New York 4 October 2013

Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants at the High-level Dialogue on international migration and development Roundtable 3: "Strengthening partnership and cooperation on international migration, mechanisms to effectively integrate migration into development policies and promoting coherence at all levels", New York, 4 October 2013

Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants at the High-level Dialogue on international migration and development, New York, 4 October 2013

Preparation for the High Level Dialogue:

The Special Rapporteur spent much of 2013 actively preparing for the high level dialogue, as requested by the General Assembly.

IOM Preparation Meeting

On 20 February 2013, IOM together with DESA and UNFP organised a Roundtable in New York: Towards the 2013 High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development: Measures to ensure respect for and protection of the Human Rights of all migrants, with particular reference to women and children, as well as to prevent and combat smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons, and to ensure regular, orderly, and safe migration.

The Special Rapporteur was invited to participate as the keynote speaker.

See:

• Special Rapporteur's Keynote paper
• IOM's Background paper
• Video of the meeting

DESA 11th Coordination Meeting on International Migration

On 21 - 22 February 2013, the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs is organized the eleventh Coordination Meeting on International Migration at the United Nations in New York from 21 to 22 February 2013. Among other objectives, one of the key priorities of the meeting was to review preparations for the High-level Dialogue. The Special Rapporteur participated in this meeting.

See:

• DESA website on the 11th Coordination meeting
• Special Rappporteur's Written Submission
• Special Rapporteur's oral intervention
• Video of the 11th Coordination Meeting (SPecial Rapporteur's intervention between 48:20 and 54:00.)

Panel discussion to prepare for the High-Level Dialogue

On 25 June 2013, the President of the General Assembly organized a panel discussion in New York in order to prepare for the High-Level Dialogue. The Special Rapporteur was invited to present a statement.

See:

• Statement by the Special Rapporteur at the panel discussion (text)
• Statement by the Special Rapporteur at the panel discussion (video)

Special Rapporteur's Report to the General Assembly 2013

In light of the upcoming HLD and the importance of mainstreaming human rights in all international governance processes on migration, the Special Rapporteur decided to focus his report of 2013 to the General Assembly on analysing global governance processes on migration, in particular with a view to analysing whether human rights are effectively mainstreamed in these processes. The report includes an analysis of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, (GFMD) which although a non-binding forum, is currently the leading global forum in which States discuss migration management. He hopes that this report will be able to be of use to Member States during the HLD.

See:

Special Rapporteur's 2013 report to the General Assembly (A/68/283).