The
Crisis Migration Project October 2013
High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development United Nations General Assembly – 68th Session Trusteeship Council (CB), New York, 3-4 October 2013 Interactive Roundtable 2: Respect for and Protection of the Human Rights of All Migrants
Intervention from the floor by Sanjula Weerasinghe, ISIM I will make four points and four recommendations about migrants caught in crisis and transit situations.
1. The threats to migrants in crisis and transit situations impact their fundamental human rights. The Libyan crisis highlighted the threats faced by migrants struggling to escape conflict. Similar to war, when natural and man-made disasters strike—whether it is a flood, a nuclear accident or a hurricane—migrants face particular difficulties finding safety. Equally, the safety of migrants who transit by land or by sea, are often at the mercy of organized criminal elements bent on their exploitation. It is not hard to see how fundamental human rights are jeopardized in these situations.
2. A range of factors affects the vulnerabilities of these migrants. These factors include absent or insecure legal status, language barriers, limited access to information or consular channels, misinformation, restrictions placed on exercising fundamental rights and targeted discrimination and exploitation, to name but a few.
Contact Contact Information Information Project Director Susan Martin martinsf@georgetown.edu Project Manager Sanjula Weerasinghe ssw33@georgetown.edu Research Associate Abbie Taylor act64@georgetown.edu
3. Protecting migrants caught in crisis and transit situations is the shared responsibility of a range of actors. Among them, governments of countries where conflicts or disasters occur, governments of countries of transit, governments of countries from which migrants originate, the international community, the private sector and in particular employers, as well as international organizations, civil society and affected migrants.
4. Our research shows some promising practices to protect migrants in crisis as well as some harmful practices. Promising practices include an alert system to monitor crises and to initiate emergency response and evacuation procedures, the dissemination of emergency response materials in languages relevant to migrant constituencies, the suspension of immigration enforcement activities during crises and effective cooperative arrangements between and among states and international organizations. We have also come across harmful practices with allegations of discrimination in the provision of relief and emergency services and both non-state actors and state actors implicated in the abuse and exploitation of migrants.
1
The Institute for the Study of International Migration Harris Building 3300 Whitehaven Street NW Third Floor, Suite 3100 Washington, DC 20007 T 1 202 687 2258 F 1 202 687 2541 E isim@georgetown.edu
The
Crisis Migration Project In this context, my four recommendations are as follows: 1.
Crisis preparedness plans should take into account the presence and protection needs of migrants, and these plans should be duly implemented when a crisis occurs.
3.
The prohibition against refoulement and the principle of family unity should guide all action towards migrants caught in crisis and transit situations.
2.
4.
During a crisis, emergency services should be afforded to all migrants on the same basis as they are available to citizens, regardless of status.
A more effective framework for protection is needed that clarifies the rights of migrants in crisis and transit situations, as well as responsibilities of all actors. To this end, IOM’s Migration Crisis Operational Framework, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and other identified promising practices, provide an appropriate starting point.
Thank you and thank you to relevant governments and in particular the United States and the Philippines for their leadership on this issue.
For information on the High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development visit: http://www.un.org/esa/population/meetings/HLD2013/mainhld2013.html?main
For the United Nations Webcast of Roundtable 2 visit: http://webtv.un.org/watch/interactive-round-table-2-high-level-dialogue-oninternational-migration-and-development/2719494943001/
For information on the project, forthcoming products, and publications visit: http://isim.georgetown.edu/work/crisis/.
ISIM, founded in 1998, is based in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and affiliated with the Georgetown University Law Center. Staffed by leading experts on immigration and refugee policy, the Institute draws upon the resources of Georgetown University faculty working on international migration and related issues on the main campus and in the law center. ISIM applies the best in social science, legal and policy expertise to the complex issues raised by international migration. It conducts research and convenes workshops and conferences on immigration and refugee law and policies. In addition, the Institute seeks to stimulate more objective and well-documented migration research by convening research symposia and publishing an academic journal that provides an opportunity for the sharing of research in progress as well as finished projects.
The Institute for the Study of International Migration Harris Building 3300 Whitehaven Street NW Third Floor, Suite 3100 Washington, DC 20007 T 1 202 687 2258 F 1 202 687 2541 E isim@georgetown.edu