This session will examine the policies and conditions that can create more opportunities for legal migration supportive of development. It will share good practices in migrant labour admissions programs, particularly temporary and circular labour migration, and the unilateral, bilateral, regional and multilateral frameworks for managing labour flows to the mutual advantage of migrants, their families and the origin and host countries. It will address the overriding need for better linked-up labour market and migration planning, including the role of private sector and other non-state actors in achieving this. It will consider the effectiveness of joint efforts to avoid and redress the negative impacts of highly skilled migration on development efforts, e.g. through “brain drain”; but also the capacities required by developing countries to manage labour emigration and partner effectively with other countries in sustaining their domestic labour requirements while responding to global demand.

The session will draw on the compendium of good practices in temporary labour migration prepared by the Spanish and Moroccan governments, the outcomes of the workshop on circular migration by the Mauritian Government and the EC, and the evaluations of the UK and the Global Health Workforce Alliance on codes of ethical international recruitment practices in the health sector. It will aim to further consolidate the compendium of best practices as a guide for governments to achieve more inclusive and mutually beneficial migration arrangements.

This session will examine the links between irregular migration and development, in particular how unregulated systems of migration can weaken personal and public security and the potential flow-on gains for development, It will look at effective programs that address migrant smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal recruitment problems, which can negate the economic and social benefits of migration to the migrants and their host and origin countries. The role of NGOs, international organizations, and other civil society actors in addressing such irregular migration issues will be discussed with a view to promoting closer cooperation among them and with governments on preventing harmful illicit practices, protecting migrants from abuse and exploitation, and assisting victims of trafficking.

The session will give regard to the special circumstances of forced migrants and other vulnerable groups within mixed migratory flows, as well as the push and pull factors encouraging them to resort to irregular forms of migration. The benefits of cooperation between countries of origin, transit and destination will be discussed, also in the context of south-south movements, and in regional processes focused on this issue, such as the “Bali Process” in Asia and the “5 plus 5” among Western Mediterranean countries.

This session would complement session 2.1 on fostering more opportunities for legal migration. It will aim at identifying effective practices within and between origin and host countries to curb smuggling, trafficking and other related illicit activities, and the capacities needed by developing countries to pursue such practices.