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PRESS RELEASE NO. 5 MANILA, Philippines—The 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) provides a perfect venue for the new global opportunity and protection of the migrant workers and their families, a leader of an international labor group said today.
Sharan Burrow, Conference Chairperson and President of the International Trade Union Confederation, said the forum offers the capacity to shape a new architecture of protection for migrant workers in the light of two critical threats--the global financial crisis and climate change.
In order to deal with these critical threats, Burrow cited the need for new rules and transparency.
“The challenge is no less for the world leaders to ensure that the potential for the mobility of people that is born of choice and not desperation, and one that provides opportunities and not exploitation, is framed by a new architecture of protection,” she said.
However, she said, no government acting alone can guarantee a rights - based system of migration.
She said every government must act collectively to meet the standards set by the United Nations and the International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions.
She also said the voice of civil society needs to be heard and listened to. “It is my view that this forum must be brought under the UN mandate and genuinely include the presence of those who are supposedly at the center of the debate.”
She asked the participants to make sure that the opportunity be focused on action.
“Let’s make our stories, our concerns, our frustrations that lever for a platform for action that has its focus on a small number of priorities that will urge governments to adopt and help shape a global architecture for both opportunity and protection for migrants and their families in all of our nations,” she stressed
She also urged governments to swiftly act on putting an end to the exploitative practices of the fly-by-night recruitment agencies who charge illegal fees to workers.
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