Report

 

The delegation of the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (C.P.A.), was composed of Senator Raynell Andreychuk, and Senator Mobina Jaffer. The conference was sponsored by the U.K. branch of the C.P.A. and was held in U.K. Houses of Parliament: Portcullis House and Westminster Hall.

CONFERENCE AIM AND OBJECTIVES

 AIM: To equip Parliamentarians to hold their Executives to account on the challenges of managing migration for the benefit of all and curbing human trafficking.

OBJECTIVES:

To:

·         Address the breadth of contemporary migration issues for origin and destination countries.

·         Explore linkages between migration and development.

·         Review current migration management approaches and their implications for different categories of migrants.

·         Explore the links between climate change and migration

·         Consider strategies to curb human trafficking and encourage migration that is beneficial to all.

·         Issue a communiqué and formulate a toolkit.

There were four main themes of the conference: migration and development, migration policy coherence, curbing human trafficking and protecting migrants, and integrating migrant and settled communities. Delegates explored these themes through questions proposed in 12 workshops with answers summarized in the communiqué. The questions were as follows:

Migration Management and National Priorities

1) Opening Plenary: Contemporary International Migration, Human Trafficking and the Commonwealth

·         Looking beyond the headlines – an introduction to contemporary trends and issues for the Commonwealth. Negotiating divergent interests to find common ground?

2) Migration and Development: Realising Opportunities for Countries of Origin

·         How can migrant remittances contribute to development?

·         What are the obstacles to remittances contributing to development?

·         What are the benefits of migration beyond remittances for countries of origin?

·         How can obstacles to the development potential of migration [e.g. brain drain] be mediated?

3) Destination Countries: Policy Coherence between Immigration and Development Assistance?

·         How can conflicting policy priorities within a destination country be reconciled?

·         How much do immigration policies take into account development assistance priorities?

·         How can demand for workers [skilled/unskilled] serve both destination and origin country needs?

4) Human Trafficking: A Persistent Problem?

·         What circumstances produce human trafficking?

·         How is human trafficking often misunderstood and to what effect?

·         Reconsidering definitions and measures.

Managing Safer Migration: The Rights of People on the Move

5) Protecting People on the Move: Responsibilities and Experiences

·         How are international protections or migrants incorporated into national migration related policy and practice?

·         How are social factors such as gender, age and nationality which shape migrant experiences taken into account?

·         Considering the needs of marginalised groups of migrant workers.

6) Negotiating Child Migration

·         What are the specific needs of migrating children – accompanied and unaccompanied?

·         How does the convention on the Rights of the Child [CRC] address the needs of child migrants – what are state obligations?

·         How are the needs of child migrants incorporated into national policy and practice?

·         Distinguishing between child migrants and child trafficking.

7) Measures to Curb Human Trafficking: Protecting the Trafficked

·         Experiences of translating the Palermo Protocol on human trafficking into national policy.

·         What are the needs of the trafficked?

·         How do measures to curb trafficking impact on the human rights of the trafficked?

·         Considering the victim-centred approach.

8) Visit Migrant Community Support in London/Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum (MRCF)

·         What are the needs of migrant communities arriving in settled communities?

·         How do different migrants negotiate housing, work, access to health and integration in a new country?

·         Migrant community groups share their experiences of what has helped and hindered the process in London.

Integration, Policy Making and Preparing for the Future

9) Integrating Migrant and Settled Communities: Avoiding Conflict

·         How are settled communities reconciled with migrant communities?

·         What are the tensions between migrant and settled community needs and interest?

·         What different national policy models are being used to avoid inequalities and xenophobia?

·         What are their strengths and limits, and how can those limits be mediated?

10) The Role of Parliamentarians

·         Delegates consider strategies for more beneficial and safer migration, anti-trafficking and integration policy making and identify core principles and current priorities for change at local and international levels.

 

 

11) Climate Change and Migration: An Uncertain Future

·         Will climate change impact on migration flows across the Commonwealth?

·         What are the implications for immigration policies?

·         What existing laws will protect this potential new category of migrant and what gaps remain unaddressed?

12) Challenges for the Commonwealth: International Migration Trends and Human Trafficking

·         How will changing economic conditions, trade flows, new markets and new technologies amongst other factors affect future migration trends and what are the policy implications for Commonwealth countries? With growing international attention on human trafficking what are the priorities for the Commonwealth?

Where do we go from here?

Throughout the conference delegates attended presentations from qualified speakers, went on a field trip to the Migrant Community Support in London/Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum (MRCF), and engaged in workshops. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association had the added benefit of parliamentary members input from non-commonwealth countries (i.e. Lithuania, Romania, and Sweden). The 48 Parliamentarians representing 29 Parliaments of Commonwealth and other countries agreed upon the following Communiqué:

1.    We the 48 Parliamentarians representing 29 Parliaments of Commonwealth and other countries, met at the Houses of Parliament in London 2-6 February 2009 for an innovative and progressive conference on “International Migration and Human Trafficking: Maximizing Benefits, Overcoming Challenges”. Our purpose was to determine principles and priorities to hold our respective Executives to account on the challenges of managing migration for the benefit of all and curbing human trafficking.

2.    We recognise that the potential benefits of well managed international migration are not being harnessed in contemporary international migration policies. Policies which in the short-term could provide acce4ss to labour and skills which otherwise might not be available within national borders; contribute to development through remittances and “brain-gain” enabling migrants and their families to access opportunities which otherwise might not be available to them; and which in the longer-term could help alleviate the social inequalities of race, age and gender, thereby making for more equal and just societies capable of negotiating the challenges of globalisation.

3.    We recognise that current policies for managing international migration have not done enough to limit the exposure of migrants, especially vulnerable children and women, to exploitation, abuse and human trafficking; promote integration between settled and migrant communities; curb undocumented flows of migrants across international borders which also increase vulnerability to exploitation and human trafficking; and to address “brain-drain” and alleviate poverty in countries of origin.

4.    We recognise that international migration has doubled from 99.8 million to over 200 million between 1980 and 2008 and therefore the need for greater coherence and harmonisation in migration policies at the national, regional and international level is a priority for the management of safe and beneficial migration and to curb human trafficking; and that the international community needs to legislate for more documented migration.

5.    We welcome and encourage the continuing coordination of regular high-level international meetings and their attention to joined-up migration policy-making such as the International Labour Organisation’s Conference of June 2004; the Global Commission on International Migration of 2005; the United Nation’s High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development of 2006; the Global Forum on Migration and Development hosted in Brussels in 2007 and in the Philippines in 2008; and the UN’s Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking in 2008. Efforts at the regional level also are commended; it is estimated that some 20 regional and inter-regional governmental groups considering the links between migration and development, whilst primarily a consultative and non-binding in the character of their outputs, these processes have undoubtedly contributed to strengthening inter-State cooperation.

6.    In particular, we welcome this international conference which has brought us together to share experiences and develop new alliances; its attention to equipping Parliamentarians to engage with core issues to enable us better to hold their respective Executives to account on the challenges of managing migration for the benefit of all and to curb human trafficking.

7.    We consider it vital that migration and human trafficking policies have the human rights of migrant and settled communities at their heart, and that those future policies should pay more attention to the diverse needs and experiences of migrants.

8.    As representatives of 29 Parliaments and Legislatures, we strongly urge our Executives to:

·         Ensure international migration and human trafficking policy proposals are based on well informed and balanced data and consultations with ALL relevant communities, including diverse migrant groups, origin and settled societies and service providers (Civil Society and NGOs) working with migrants and survivors of trafficking

·         Ensure international human rights law and regional human rights instruments inform police making and draw upon technical assistance from the UN and IOM

·         Encourage and engage in international cooperation for policy coherence through international and regional dialogue on migration and human trafficking policies; greater harmonisation of the legislation of destination and origin countries; greater consideration of the impact of destination country policies on origin countries, especially of the synergies between migration and development

·         Support inter-Ministerial cooperation for policy coherence including the establishment of inter-Ministerial committees for the scrutiny of policy and its implications for trafficked persons and other social groups

·         Promote continuity and sustainability between successive migration and human trafficking policies, including integration policies central to safe and mutually beneficial migration and which reduce the vulnerability to human trafficking

·         Ratify and implement the 1990 UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families; the 2000 Palermo Protocol on Human Trafficking and other relevant UN conventions, drawing from the above principles and technical assistance from the UN, IOM and other agencies

·         Support initiatives to develop an open and constructive review mechanism of national and international progress vis-à-vis the implementation of the 2000 Palermo Protocol on Human Trafficking involving the participation of all relevant communities

·         Ensure integration policies respect the cultural heritage and identity of migrants

9.    In turn we Parliamentarians pledge to:

·         Initiate and harmonise legislation in our respective countries where necessary.

·         Encourage scrutiny and debate in our legislative bodies, including promoting the formation of relevant committees, associations and networks where necessary.

·         Use our influence and links with political leaders, our citizens and constituents, the private sector and the media  to strengthen networks, raise awareness and highlight accurate representations of international migration and human trafficking, and to redress harmful and divisive stigma

·         Work for the establishment of strong regional and international links between governments for safeguard more beneficial international migration, and an end to human trafficking

 

SUBMITTED by Senator Raynell Andreychuk in consultation with Senator Mobina Jaffer.

 

Respectfully submitted,