Viewpoints and Advocacy

Themes and Issues

Migrant Rights

“Strengthening the rights of Migrant Workers and their Families with International Human Rights Treaties.”

Presentation made by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi- the Holy See’s Representative to the UN in Geneva during the launch of the latest ICMC publication

STRENGTHENING PROTECTION OF MIGRANT WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Johan Ketelers, Secretary General of ICMC, dear Friends, it is always a welcomed occasion to take part in the ICMC activities and join with all of you in support of the cause of all uprooted persons

1. Migrants find themselves at the center of a lively political and social controversy at this moment. With immigration at a historical height, in the EU, in the USA, in the oil exporting countries of the Middle East, actually in every continent, migrants are a public hot issue in media and in legislative debates.

The causes of the exodus are underlined. Violation of human rights, environment degradation, economic inequalities push an increasing number of people to move and search for better a chance in life; others are pulled by developed countries that need their skills.

Emphasis is placed on the fact that migrants without proper documents increase in most regions. A recent editorial in The New York Times pointed out that many people blindly insist that a solution to the problem is one of two things: exploit them or expel them.

2. The scholarly community observes that migrants are the component of population change most difficult to define, measure and estimate reliably. The U.N. Population Division (World Population Prospect - The 2004 Revision: Highlights. New York, 2005) highlights, however, that today 95 per cent of population growth is absorbed by the developing world and 5 per cent by the developed world, burdened with the phenomenon of ageing. It adds that during 2005-2050, the net number of international migrants to more developed regions is projected to be 98 million or an average of 2.2 million annually.

The avenues opened to these millions of migrants are conditioned by a contradiction. The economic and demographic need for migrants is confronted with the political and cultural resistance to their presence. The result is a limited legal avenue for entrance and an inevitable use of alternative ways. Perhaps unwanted, the consequence is a dominant perception of the migrants as the invading stranger, an image of vulnerability that leads to exploitation.

The international community and liberal democratic theory facing the massive presence of migrants struggle to find a viable response. The already challenging task is complicated by a globalized economy.

3. Two key words have been resonating with force in recent discussions on migration: development and management. Actually the words are not new. When in 1994 at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo we negotiated chapter X, International Migration, of the Program of Action, migration as a component of development and the necessity of multilateral management were clearly spelled out.

The assumption in this general approach seems to be that migrants are a problem and that the best way to limit their negative impact is to show their functional role in the economy, a positive role that benefits everyone participating in the intricate systems of interdependence involving sending, transit and receiving countries as well as migrants themselves, their families and their employers.

The logical next step to achieve a positive result for the economy is an intelligent and efficient management: of flows, of access to the labour market, of the level of political tolerance, of the degree acceptable for social benefits.

Obviously it makes good sense both to recognize the economic contribution of migrants, which is quite real, and to strive for an orderly system of human mobility since it bears directly on good international relations.

This message emerges with clarity, for example, from the final report of the Global Commission on International Migration titled: Migration in an Interconnected World: New Directions for Action. (Geneva, 2005) This important report opens up also a window on the causes of migration and reaffirms that migration should be out of choice rather than necessity, the first right being that of living a decent life in one's country. Then, this right should be part of a legal and normative framework for the protection of the migrants' human rights.

The U.N. General Assembly Resolutions calling for a High Level Dialogue next September 14-15, 2006, are equally sensitive to mention human rights, but focus on development.

These and other similar initiatives prove that it is not possible today to deal with major social issues without some reference to human rights. But how central and how much implemented are these rights for the migrants?

Is it enough, one may ask, to analyze migratory movements and call for coherence and cooperation regarding their effects on development and on management?

4. A different starting point may help. If migrants are not seen primarily as a problem but as a normal dimension of the human condition, then it would be easier to place them at the center of the debate.

History is marked and civilizations are shaped by migrations and migrations will keep up in the future, and not just because of economic and demographic needs. This conviction seems widely shared and supported by population projections.

The major receiving countries and regions, however, have blocked holding a U.N. Conference on Migration and have ignored the major international human rights instrument for the protection of migrants, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members o Their Families (1990), on the fear that it would give new rights to undocumented migrants. Instead, a wide ratification of this Convention would give a signal that a right-based approach to migration, in the long run, can regulate more effectively and make more positive the movement of people.

5. Without underplaying the multidimensional complexity of the migration phenomenon, the social teaching of the Catholic Church has rooted its approach to migration on the migrants themselves, on our common humanity, and this in the context of an inclusive world development that is socially sustainable. The human person and his/her dignity is at the center. For this reason, the fundamental and inalienable human rights of the human person must be protected independently of geography of origin. The State, therefore, has the obligation to safeguard the human rights of everyone in its territory. Since migration is a transnational phenomenon, it concerns also multilateral agreements and the whole international community. Hence the necessity of a global system of protection and coordination.

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church offers the following summary of where its reflection and universal view has arrived:

6. A balanced juridical framework that takes into account the rights of individual migrants and of the State seems an appropriate way forward for a constructive global migration policy. The Convention on Migrant Workers and other related instruments translate the principles of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights into practical measures.

The continuation of the work for their wide ratification remains critical. The development of legal norms for the protection of migrants is an incremental process that is slowly making progress. It is a long-term task. As migrations will continue and increase, even in new forms, a human rights centered approach becomes a greater priority for a positive comprehensive response.

For decades, the International Catholic Migration Commission has been at the forefront in field work and advocacy for refugees and migrants. Its new publications: Strengthening Protection of Migrant Workers and Their Families with International Human Rights Treaties: A Do-it-yourself Kit, keeps up a valuable tradition and it adds strength to a right-based coordinated, coherent and constructive international migration. May this timely initiative meet with great success.

+ Silvano M. Tomasi, c.s.