GCM Submits Civil Society Considerations for 19 September HLS

In June 2016, the Global Coalition on Migration (GCM) — representing a broad, global, multi-sectoral coalition of civil society organizations supporting migrants’ rights and rights-based migration governance — submitted a civil society perspective on important considerations for the 19 September 2016, High Level Summit to Address Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants.

The full set of recommendations can be viewed and downloaded here:
http://gcmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/GCM-Recommendations-for-HLS.pdf.

A Spanish version can be viewed and downloaded here:
http://gcmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/GCM-Recommendations-for-HLS-Espanol.pdf.

GCM Seeks International Coordinator

The Global Coalition on Migration (GCM) seeks an International Coordinator to oversee and coordinate all of GCM’s operations.  View the job announcement and description here:

GCM International Coordinator Job Announcement

And please send a CV and cover letter to: [email protected] (with the subject line: GCM Coordinator)

GCM’s Agenda Priorities for September 19 High Level Meeting on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants

On 11 April 2016, GCM members submitted a collective global civil society perspective on agenda priorities for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants.

The full document can be downloaded here:
GCM Global Civil Society Perspective on Agenda Priorities for Sept. 19 High Level Meeting on Large Movements of Refugees & Migrants.

GCM presents mid-term report on MICIC consultations

On 28-29 January 2016, the MICIC Secretariat held a global civil society stakeholder consultation on the MICIC Initiative in Geneva, Switzerland.

As part of the opening session of this civil society consultation, GCM presented its mid-term report on the regional civil society consultations that had taken place until then.  These included:

(Full background, agenda and reports from each of these regional civil society consultations can be found on the GCM MICIC resource page:  www.GCMigration/MICIC.)

The full mid-term report can be found here: GCM Mid-Term Report on Regional Civil Society Consultations on MICIC.

And the GCM presentation for the opening session of the civil society consultation in Geneva can be found here: MICIC Civil Society Mid-Term Report Presentation by GCM.

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GCM International Coordinator, Colin Rajah, presents GCM mid-term report on regional civil society consultations

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GCM member, Cathi Tactaquin of NNIRR, chairs working session on Rights in Ordinary Times

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GCM member, Michele LeVoy of PICUM, chairs working session

HRC Side Event on Migrants in Crisis Situations

“…panelists and participants affirmed that the Human Rights of Migrants must be central to all responses to crisis situations, and that migrants’ rights must be protected at ALL times…”

Geneva, 17 June 2015

GCM member, Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), organized a side event today during the 29th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), on Migrants in Situations of Crisis from a Human Rights Perspective, co-sponsored by GCM, the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) and the UN Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers & Members of Their Families (MWC).

Photo Jun 18, 6 31 07 AMModerated by John Bingham of ICMC, panelists and participants at this side event affirmed that the human rights of migrants must be central to all responses to crisis situations, and that migrants’ rights must be protected at all times, as migrants’ vulnerability in crisis situations is directly tied to the degree to which their rights are protected and upheld in non-crisis times.

Enrico T. Foss, the Consul-General of the Philippine Permanent Mission to the UN, kicked off the panel by providing an overview of the Philippines’ foreign policy and crisis preparedness mechanisms, Mr. Foss emphasized the importance of political will and cooperation between origin and destination countries in securing safe relocations or repatriations for migrants caught in crisis situations. He also outlined the Philippines’ participation in the Migrants in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) Initiative, highlighting its role in complementing other initiatives, guidelines, and frameworks that are also looking at responses to migrants caught up in crisis situations.

Sara Prestianni of Arci and Migreurop followed by presenting on the current crisis of migrants in the Mediterranean.  She strongly asserted that the reason so many are dying at sea and in the desert is that there is no legal access for these migrants to European territory; the only remedy is to open legal migration channels, which would render emergency search and rescue responses and “burden sharing” concerns among member states unnecessary. She also reminded participants that beyond the numbers quoted in media, the migrants we are talking about are all individuals — not only men and women, but also many unaccompanied minors who represent the future of Europe.

Sumitha Shaanthinni Kishna of the Malaysian Migration Working Group, reported on the significant human rights violations against migrants on the Thailand/Malaysia border, where 60 migrant detention camps have been found, 28 of which were found to have 139 mass graves. These camps and gravesites are linked to human trafficking rings operating in the region. At the time of this discovery, several boats arrived on the shores of Thailand. Governments in the region have not been allowing these boats to land, providing supplies and then pushing them back out to sea. It is estimated that ~6,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants remain adrift, and search & rescue teams are unable to locate them until today. Sumitha emphasized that pushing boats back to sea is not an option — these migrants are human beings deserving of the safety and protection of the law.

Photo Jun 18, 6 31 08 AMOscar Chacon of the National Alliance for Latin American & Caribbean Communities (NALACC) reported on thousands of unaccompanied minors from Central America who have been apprehended in their attempts to cross the US/Mexico border. He indicated that this story is suddenly being labeled a crisis, but it has been unfolding gradually over some time as a result of poverty, the desire for family reunification, and violence related to organized crime in many Central American communities. He noted that when the numbers of children apprehended year over year on the US and Mexican sides of the border are examined, there is clear evidence that Mexico has assumed the role of a US external border; increasing numbers of migrant children are being apprehended before they are able to cross into US territory. He emphasized that people crossing borders deserve protection, not incarceration or deportation.

Finally, Som Prasad Lamichhane of the Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee (PNCC) reflected on the recent and devastating earthquake in Nepal, and the significant impact this disaster has had on migrants and their families. With so many homes and livelihoods destroyed in and around Kathmandu, many are attempting to leave the country to earn money to support their families, depleting the local labour supply needed for rebuilding. Conversely, migrant workers in destination countries with employer-tied visa regimes and who want to return to Nepal to assist with reconstruction need to seek a release from their employers—some of whom are reluctant to provide this clearance. Those who were getting ready to migrate just before the earthquake are now in dire financial straits, having not only taken out loans to finance their migration but now needing to rebuild homes that have been destroyed. Som emphasized that countries of origin and destination must cooperate to deal with crisis situations when they occur, understanding their impact on migrant workers and their families.

GCM will continue its efforts in organizing global civil society advocacy around migrants in crisis situations by jointly co-organizing an European civil society regional consultation on the MICIC Initiative alongside the MADE Network.  This will take place next week on 24 June in Brussels, on the eve of the MICIC Eastern Europe & Central Asia regional consultation.  GCM and MADE also are planning to co-organize an entire series of such regional civil society consultations in conjunction with all of the states’ MICIC regional consultations over the next 12 months.  The human rights of migrants will be a central theme and cornerstone of all of GCM’s capacity-building and advocacy efforts around migrants in situations of crisis.

(Onsite report by Karen Campbell.  Edited by Colin Rajah.)

GCM Statement: Migrants in Crisis Situations Around the Globe

Migrants in crisis situations around the globe:

Rights-based policy action urgently needed

 

(Download full statement in PDF-form here.)

 

GENEVA, 10 June 2015 – In recent weeks we have witnessed a heightening of migrant and refugee crises and the callous response of nations focused on blocking access and deterrence rather than upholding and respecting migrant and refugee rights and international law. These multiple sites of crises stem from conflict, persecution and economic need that reflect imbalances in global economic and political power resulting in flawed global development policies. They become deadly when nations refuse to provide safe and legal means for migrating.

The Mediterranean—site of massive tragedies and migrant deaths

The latest European Union proposals to deal with the challenge of migrants crossing and dying in the Mediterranean is full of stop-gap measures that will certainly stir greater anxieties while avoiding the messy business of addressing the reasons why people are desperately seeking safety and new homes across international borders. This proposal reflects a disturbing international trend of states’ “managing” migrants caught in crisis situations through greater migration enforcement, even while they tackle much-needed humanitarian needs.

Members of the Global Coalition on Migration (GCM) are outraged by the record numbers of migrants dying in the Mediterranean, a majority of whom are Sub-Saharan Africans attempting to escape the crises in Libya and Syria. We are also appalled by the flawed policy response by the EU, its member states, and other states. While rescue operations and humanitarian assistance are welcome, the EU’s decision this past month to triple resources oriented first for border enforcement and to focus on migrant smugglers, points to its major policy thrust. The EU has said it will launch a military operation to identify, capture and destroy boats used by smugglers, and is seeking the UN Security Council’s approval and support. This is a shameful slide from Italy almost singlehandedly doing search-and-rescue last year, to the whole of Europe choosing search-and-destroy this year.

But as the UN Special Rapporteur for the Human Rights of Migrants, Francois Crepeau, has said, overemphasizing the focus on smugglers is highly problematic. Smugglers flourish when immigration policy restrictions create their “market”: driving migrants and refugees desperate to move for survival—but with no legal ways to do so—to board unseaworthy boats in the hands of often dangerous and unscrupulous smugglers.

Cracking down on migrant smugglers reflects a view of migration as a crime and results in migrants experiencing even more crisis and abuse. It will also misdirect much needed resources and policy responses away from providing adequate rescue and relief.

Michele LeVoy, Director of the Europe-based Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), asserts, “Migration is not a criminal activity. Policy responses which treat it as such are ineffective and inappropriate and make migrants increasingly vulnerable to violence, exploitation and trafficking.”

Punitive measures dominate United States-Mexico border policies

Thousands of migrants have died in the US-Mexico border region, where access to safe migration is extremely limited and out of sync with rights to safety from violence and civil wars,the reunification of families, and the realities of people needing work, and labour markets needing workers. Mega-charged border enforcement programs, including expedited detention and deportations, family internment camps, the construction of border walls and the largest federal immigration enforcement agency in the world have not deterred migrants and refugee border crossers, but have made the passage increasingly dangerous and potentially fatal.

Large numbers of Central American children and their parents are once again arriving at the U.S. border, as they did last year, when nearly 70,000 unaccompanied children arrived. Yet, the US has relied on punitive measures, recently opening a large-scale “family” detention center in Dilley, Texas, in the face of opposition by local communities and rights groups.

Catherine Tactaquin, Director of the US-based National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, comments, “Migrant deaths in the Mediterranean and along the US- Mexico border are both tragic and painful. But this loss of lives can be prevented, and people can migrate safely across borders if only governments would act courageously and strategically. Providing visas that match rights and realities can save lives and end the criminalization of migrants.”

Migrants abandoned in the Indian Ocean

In recent weeks, thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing persecution in their home countries have been left adrift in the Indian Ocean. Crackdowns on smugglers have resulted in the abandonment of boatloads of people at sea, and the refusal of countries in the region to allow them to land has left hundreds adrift in deplorable conditions. Those who have managed to make it to shore have been captured and sent to detention centres in Malaysia and Thailand with little respect for due process.

This marks yet another humanitarian crisis for migrants. For too long, ASEAN has failed to address the oppression and persecution of the Rohingya. There must be an immediate regional response to rescue those who remain at sea or in the hands and prison camps of smugglers, to guarantee non-refoulement, to provide status and safety, and to release those who have been unjustly detained in government centers. ASEAN must not continue to wash its hands of its responsibility to protect and uphold the human rights of all people, including the Rohingya.

In South Africa and elsewhere, economic desperation contributes to tensions

The xenophobic attacks on migrants in South Africa are both sad and disheartening. These stem from, and were exacerbated by, the underlying desperate competition for limited jobs and resources by migrants, interlaced with that of South Africans, both of whom already endure fragmented citizenships. This has resulted in such bloody battles for economic scraps made worse by attempts to divide “foreign” and “local.” Milka Isinta, Co-Chair of the Pan-African Network in Defense of Migrants Rights (PANiDMR), observed, “It is unfortunate that African governments are silent on this issue and not taking leadership in addressing the root causes of migration, nor developing policies to protect migrants within their borders.”

 

The GCM calls on states to uphold the human rights of migrants, and to immediately respond to such crises with robust rescue operations that address the immediate health and safety needs of migrants trapped in these situations, and ensure they can fully access their rights—including to longer-term assistance and protection for refugees, children, victims of torture, trafficking, trauma and violence. States should reverse courses of action that rely on flawed, punitive border enforcement measures and instead shoulder the responsibility to develop more safe and legal channels for migration as long term solutions, along the standards set forth in the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. And states’ operations at such border zones should align with the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights at International Borders as set forth by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The GCM urges the states’ Migrants in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) Initiative to develop a broad set of Principles and Guidelines for states’ responses that lift up the saving of migrant lives, ensure migrant human rights, and prevents such crises situations for migrants.

Governments and civil society alike must have as a priority the safety, human rights and dignity of all migrants. We cannot afford to wait on disaster upon disaster to take humane action.

 

The Global Coalition on Migration – GCM is an international coalition of regional and international networks of migrant associations, migrants’ rights organizations and advocates, trade unions, faith groups, and academia, collaborating on international migration policy advocacy.

GCM Launches MICIC Campaign

The Global Coalition on Migration (GCM), along with the Migration and Development Civil Society Network (MADE), launched a year-long campaign to co-organize a series of regional civil society consultations on the MICIC (Migrants in Countries in Crisis) Initiative.

GCM and MADE will organize a series of independent, parallel, civil society regional consultations in conjunction with each of the government regional consultations that will take place in various regions through mid-2016.  In addition to that, GCM will also engage its membership and other civil society partners around the world, in a MICIC webinar for civil society, a civil society stakeholder roundtable that is expected to take place in January 2016, and other related civil society events.

Further details about GCM’s joint campaign on MICIC can be found at our MICIC page: GCMigration.org/MICIC which will be updated regularly as events, activities and campaign news unfold.

Undoing Borders: Intersections of Climate Justice & Migrants Rights Movements

Climate & Migration workshop presentationAt the Our Power Campaign, U.S. Convening in Richmond, California in August 2014, GCM Coordinator, Colin Rajah facilitated a critical discussion on the intersections between the climate justice and international migrants rights movements.  The attached presentation captures the underlying issues that bring these movements together, which framed the discussion on how communities impacted by both issues are one and the same, and the root causes are also from the same sources.

Click here to download the presentation: Climate & Migration workshop presentation (Our Power Convening, August 2014)

International Women’s Day March

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Your organization is invited to join the call for a march on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2013, “For a Life Free from Violence Against Women and Girls“, addressing the theme of the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW57) taking place at the United Nations, in New York.  We call on governments to:
  • Take concrete steps to end impunity;
  • Fund gender equality and human rights instead of militarism; and
  • Protect women human rights defenders.

This event is co-organized by the Women & Global Migration Working Group (WGMWG), part of the Global Coalition on Migration (GCM).  It is an opportunity to lift up concerns regarding migrant women at International Women’s Day activities globally.

Marches will be taking place in New York and around the world.  You can join us in New York City on Friday, March 8, 10:00am, First Ave. and 42nd St or organize your own local event.  Please see below for details in English, Spanish and French.   To endorse the global action, contact Natalia Cardona by February 28: [email protected].  Thank you!

English: http://www.awid.org/eng/Library/Call-for-Participation-International-Women-s-Day-March-on-March-8-2013

Spanish: http://www.awid.org/esl/Library/Llamado-a-la-participacion-Marcha-en-el-Dia-Internacional-de-la-Mujer-8-de-Marzo-de-2013

French: http://www.awid.org/fre/Library/Appel-a-participation-Marche-de-la-Journee-internationale-de-la-femme-le-8-mars-2013

Civil Society 5-year Agenda Proposal for HLD

On 15 November 2012, over 70 organizations around the world endorsed a 5-point statement regarding civil society-related modalities of the 2013 UN High Level Dialogue on International Migration & Development (HLD.)

Members of the GCM, along with GFMD Civil Society Days Coordinator (International Catholic Migration Commission – ICMC), and the NGO Committee on Migration, then developed a proposal to further elaborate the thematic issues on global migration policy and recommended that the UN create a 5-year agenda for implementation.  The document was submitted to the UN on 30 November 2012.

The GCM is proposing to seek broad support and to continue to use this 7-point framework (which now has over 100 endorsements worldwide) to develop global civil society’s collective advocacy and actions around the HLD and onwards, beginning on February 2013 in New York at the 11th Coordination Meeting on International Migration (CM11).  We hope that it can become a central focus of our advocacy work for the HLD and beyond.

The full document can be found here: Civil Society 7-point, 5-year Agenda Proposal for HLD.