Dear Readers:
I was one of approx. 150 NGO representative attendees to the mid-July lead-up
hearing to the mid-September high-level dialogue on international migration and
development at the United Nations. I'm glad to see mention of the dialogue on
this list, including today's reference to the Eurasylum website interview of
Mr. Peter Sutherland, Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary General for
Migration. Background documents on the dialogue are referenced at
<www.un.org/esa/population/hldmigration> and both the morning and afternoon
webcasts of the hearing are at <webcast.un.org/ramgen/ga/60/ga060712am-eng.rm>
and <webcast.un.org/ramgen/ga/60/ga060712pm-eng.rm> Upon request, I would
be happy to provide readers with copies of print material gathered from the
hearing and my own recordings from the website.
Three of us who attended in July are working ad hoc to invite everyone and
others back to the U.N. and nearby locations to permit continuing in-depth
parallel sessions on international migration and development when heads of
state meet 14-15 September. Our dates are 12-15 September. If you would like
to attend, please write c/o <[log in to unmask]> so we can keep you up to
date.
With reference to the interview at
<http://www.eurasylum.org/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=19>, I
have three comments:
1. The interview omits background information on Mr. Sutherland. A brief
official biography appears at
<www.un.org.esa/population/hldmigration/Text/Biography_PeterSutherland.html>
There is no mention of previous experience, interest, involvement or commitment
to the subject of migration, human rights, refugees, asylum, migrant labor,
human trafficking, high cost of remittance transfers, etc. Instead, the
biography highlights Mr. Sutherland's preoccupation with international business
and commerce.
2. The interview seems quite current but omits mention of the important 12 July
hearing, summarized as U.N. document A/61/187 of the General Assembly, 27 July
2006. Although Mr. Sutherland addressed us at length that morning by remote
telephone, and states in the interview, "In eight months of meetings with
scores of ministers, ambassadors, and other stakeholders, I have grown
increasingly optimistic," he does not mention how consistently and firmly civil
society NGO speakers that day criticized the lengthy report and recommendations
that he and the Secretary-General compiled and issued as the basis for next
month's high-level dialogue [available through the high-level dialogue website
above]. In brief, that report paints a rosy win-win picture of international
migration; it implies that, under the right circumstances and with best
practices on the part of countries and companies, humans and their labor could
be free-traded as a commodity in the expanding globalization process. But
testifiers generally objected, saying that migration -- currently, 200,000,000+
people living outside their country of origin -- is a human rights matter
first, not an economic trade opportunity. This is especially so for victims of
forced migration.
3. In the interview, Mr. Sutherland states, "The potential for migrants to help
transform their native countries is capturing the imaginations of national and
local authorities, international institutions, and the private sector. There
is an emerging consensus that migration can be better managed for the benefit
of all." In my opinion, this is code for an idea that Third World development
could be financed "on the cheap" from the remittances of hundreds of millions
of migrant workers. This would be a radical shift in foreign aid
responsibilities; it is a feudal and unconscionable scenario.
I was extremely pleased and impressed by the high quality, depth of analysis and
sense of unity of civil society testimony given during the July hearings. I
urge members to listen to the webcasts, read the documents and consider what
their work on forced migration can do to augment next month's high-level
dialogue in New York City.
Thank you for your continuing excellent e-list,
Stuart Leiderman, Environmental Response
"Environmental Refugees and Ecological Restoration"
New Hampshire, USA
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