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Commission on Human Rights
59th Session
20 March 2003



Statement to the High Level Segment

by

Mr Brunson McKinley
Director General
International Organization for Migration




Madame Chair, Your Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen.

The International Organization for Migration has been following the deliberations of the Commission on Human Rights for many years, and has often contributed to the debates on various specific agenda items. I thought this year though I would myself come and highlight the work IOM does in the area of human rights as well as the potential for IOM to act as a partner with many of you in addressing human rights issues related to migration. The reason for choosing to do so this year lies in a number of linked developments including:

the growing recognition that migration is an essential, inevitable and potentially beneficial component of the economic and social life of every State and every region;
the emerging consensus that governments can and must manage migration through international cooperation and policy approaches that address all facets of this complex phenomenon, including human rights;
the increasing role which IOM is playing in promoting understanding and effective practice in migration management, including in the promotion and protection of the human rights of migrants, refugees, displaced persons and others in need of migration services or assistance;
the imminent entry into force of the 1990 UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which will make a very relevant contribution towards ensuring effective respect for migrants’ rights;
security concerns in the wake of the events of September 11 2001, which have had an impact on the perception of migrants and on their enjoyment of human rights.


What has IOM got to do with Human rights?

IOM is mandated to provide migration assistance and services to migrants and governments. Committed to improving the management of migration, IOM acts with partners in the international community in addressing migration issues. In doing so, the Organization works towards the effective respect for the human dignity and well-being of migrants.


How does IOM do this?

In all aspects of its work, IOM uses its activities to promote and protect human rights, whether they be in the field of forced migration, facilitated migration, migration control, migration and development or in cross-cutting activities which have an application to all these areas, such as:

advocacy, public information and education,
policy debate and guidance,
regional and international cooperation,
information gathering and research,
technical cooperation, or
health.


Forced migration

IOM has always played a strong role in providing assistance in emergency and post conflict situations. This comes in many forms, such as the provision of transportation to safety for refugees and IDPs, resettlement, repatriation, return and reintegration. And there is one more:- integration of former combatants into civilian life – an essential element of any post-conflict situation if peace is to be given a chance to take root (Mozambique, Haiti, Kosovo, Timor Leste, Tajikistan, West Africa).


Other important post conflict activities in which IOM is involved with rights implications are the administration of voting in elections and referenda for people outside their country (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Timor), and claims and compensation schemes, be it for loss of land (Bosnia and Herzegovina) or for human rights abuses such as forced or slave labour (German Forced Labour Compensation Programme).


Facilitated migration

Facilitating the migration of the hundreds of thousands of people in Europe displaced or lacking economic opportunity in the post war period was one of the principal activities of IOM when it was founded in 1951. The economic and demographic dynamics are very different now. Many of the flows of those days are in the opposite direction -- former countries of origin are becoming countries of destination, and vice versa. In reality, most countries are finding themselves simultaneously countries of origin, transit and destination, though the challenges for governments may be perceived as arising more from one perspective than another.

Increasingly, governments are recognizing the importance of orderly labour migration schemes. The current focus is on particular skills at the top end of the labour market, but gaps between supply and demand for labour exist at all levels. Services in the area of facilitated migration -- such as recruitment, consular services, family reunification, documentation, health assessments, cultural orientation and language training -- remain important to the protection of the rights of migrants and can play a crucial role in ensuring the effective integration of migrants in their new communities.


Migration control

Controlling borders is in no way incompatible with respect for the rights and dignity of migrants. Every state has the right to determine who enters or remains on its territory. IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. Migrants in an irregular situation are vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination, and the perception in host communities that migration is out of control can feed xenophobic and racist attitudes, putting all migrants at risk. The events of September 11 2001 have exacerbated these tendencies, increasing suspicion and fear of migrants and doubts about governments’ capacities to manage migration.

IOM works with governments to ensure that migration legislation and border controls are compatible with international legal norms and that migrants are treated humanely. The tendency to focus attention only on the protection of the rights of migrants in countries of transit and destination has obscured the important role countries of origin can play in ensuring that their nationals are informed and prepared. Migrants informed of their rights, and of how and where to seek help, are much better protected. This is particularly the case for women migrants, who are forming an increasing proportion of migrants.

It is worth mentioning here the importance of migration policies and legislation taking account of the special circumstances of women migrants, since failure to do so can leave them more vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse.

Smuggling and trafficking involve some of the most significant and systematic threats to human rights of migrants. The social, economic and human rights situation in countries of origin, especially for women, can affect the susceptibility of potential migrants to falling prey to smugglers and traffickers.

IOM works on counter-trafficking in three principal areas:

(I) prevention, such as through information campaigns;
(II) protection and assistance to the victims, working with NGOs, international organizations and government agencies to provide safe shelter, counseling, health care, voluntary return, vocational training and reintegration assistance, or resettlement; and
(III) capacity building to enable governments and other institutions to prevent and address trafficking.

A significant element of training goes into these activities, including training of law enforcement officials in the sensitive and humane treatment of victims.


Migration and development

Activities recognizing and promoting the link between migration and development have long been among IOM’s programmes in certain parts of the world, but the true potential for migration to serve as an engine for economic and social development is only now becoming recognized globally.

Migrants in the diaspora are often perceived as a group in need of human rights protection, but what has long been overlooked is their potential for promoting human rights in their own countries. IOM is implementing a number of Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA) Programmes which enable countries of origin to access the economic, social and professional resources of their communities abroad, including skills of their nationals through returns – both short and longer term, advice, training and investment. For example, the IOM MIDA programme provided the newly established Ministry of Good Governance in Burundi with experts from the Burundi diaspora who worked in the Ministry as consultants and trainers for several months.

Remittances can be an important empowerment tool for people, especially women, to realizing their human rights. IOM works with governments and migrants’ groups to help ensure that legal channels exist for the swift and cost-effective transfer of remittances, and, where appropriate, facilitates community investment schemes to use remittances for employment creation and development in the home communities.

Now to the cross-cutting themes:


Advocacy, public information and education

One important way in which IOM promotes the effective respect for the human dignity and well-being of migrants is through information campaigns. These serve to inform migrants of opportunities for migration, their rights, their responsibilities, and the dangers of resorting to irregular channels, especially of falling into the hands of smugglers and traffickers.

Information is passed through television and print media, through pamphlets, plays and films, in schools, through art or competitions. Such campaigns serve also to educate communities about the contributions that migrants can make, to counter racism and xenophobia and improve the chances of successful integration. As part of this effort, IOM also holds workshops and seminars to train journalists in order to promote more informed and balanced media coverage of migration issues.

Other examples of IOM activities to ensure migrants are counseled and informed are the establishment of migrant information or resource centres, the provision of legal assistance to migrants, and support and training to local NGOs to enable them to provide counseling and protection to migrants.


Policy debate and guidance

In response to requests from its Member States, IOM recently established the Migration Policy and Research Programme to promote understanding of and dialogue on migration in order to strengthen the capacity of governments to manage migration better, including through increased cooperation.

One of the main products of this has been a strengthened role of the IOM Council as a forum for international migration policy dialogue. The experience of the last two years has been extremely fruitful. Work on this is continuing, including efforts to link the international dialogue with the various regional consultative processes which discuss migration issues.

Another outcome of the MPRP of potential interest to this body is a series of publications, of which one example is an analysis of international legal norms and migration. This is important because it examines legal norms not from the win/lose debate of state control versus migrants’ rights, but by identifying the legal norms which constitute the framework of, and for, cooperative management in the interests of states, their citizens and interstate relations.

In addition to supporting regional and international cooperation through established mechanisms and meetings, IOM also acts as an intermediary between States, and between States and migrants, but without turning itself into a supervisory or monitoring agency.

IOM’s work in information gathering and research also forms an important element in ensuring that policies and decisions are not based on just impressions, hearsay or guesswork but designed to address the real extent and nature of migration challenges. Indeed, information gathering and research form essential elements of the vast majority of IOM activities, in the preparation, implementation or analysis of results.

This is true also for IOM’s work in Technical cooperation. Training and capacity building in migration management contain a substantial element of human rights promotion. Technical cooperation projects can include the provision of equipment to ensure effective migration systems compliant with international standards, or advice and programmes for data collection and management with applications for policy-making and activities across the migration spectrum.

Finally, a word on migration and health. Much public policy debate about migrant health has centered around attempting to block diseases at frontiers, and on whether migrants are likely to become a burden on health and social services in receiving countries. In fact, migration health is best addressed throughout the migration process, in communities of origin, in transit, in destination countries and on return. World public health would be better served if migrant health were treated as a matter of inclusion rather than of exclusion. Facilitating access to health services for migrant populations not only serves migrant health but the health of communities in general. It can help combat stigma and discrimination against migrants and significantly affect the success of integration.


Conclusion


I hope that what I have said this morning has demonstrated that practical concern for the human rights of migrants is at the very heart of IOM’s work. We have many partnerships with other actors in this field -- governments, other international organizations, NGOs and migrants. We are committed to strengthening these links, and in particular to strengthening the partnership between IOM and the High Commissioner for Human Rights.



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