Champion Migrants and Refugees' Rights - 2nd Migrants Echo on GCM held
We should acknowledge that migrant groups are as vulnerable to exploitation, discrimination, and oppression as other marginalized sectors are.
This is the message of Hafsar Tameesuddin, a refugee leader from the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), during the 2nd Migrants’ Echo Conference on the Regional Review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration on 21 October 2021.
The 2nd Migrants’ Echo comes after a successful 1st Migrants Echo Conference on 21 May 2021, where delegates from 70 migrant organisations, trade unions, women and feminist platforms, and faith-based and civil society organizations came together to discuss pressing issues in migrant and refugee communities around the globe.
The 2nd Migrants’ Echo is co-organized by the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) together with the Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD), Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN), Boniĝi Monitoring, Churches Witnessing With Migrants (CWWM), Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM-Asia), Films4Peace Foundation, International Detention Coalition (IDC), the International Migrants Alliance Asia Pacific and the Union Network of Migrants (UNEMIG-FIRST Union).
Over 140 migrants and delegates from organisations across the Asia Pacific attended the 2nd Migrants’ Echo. Together, they discussed and united on the Progressive Statement, “A Global Compact For, With and By Migrants”.
The Progressive Statement for the 2nd Migrants’ Echo highlighted five key points:
Immediate aid for all distressed migrants.
Uphold rights and justice for all migrants.
Address all drivers of forced migration.
Ensure migrants’ participation in the GCM process.
Strengthen accountability of States on migration.
The plenary shared insights and thoughts to create a Progressive Statement that will be used by all participant individuals, groups, and organisations in further amplifying the demands of grassroots migrants and refugees, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees raised the need to emphasize calls to nationalize industries as a way of providing more jobs, eliminating placement fees and other means to exploit migrant workers, and amplifying calls to stop arresting, deporting, and detaining migrants due to COVID-19.
Several participants also remarked how the GCM process must be made more accessible and inclusive because grassroots migrants seldom reap the benefits of initiatives done by their respective governments.
After wrapping up the discussion on the Progressive Statement, the plenary built on the unities and recommendations from the 1st Migrants Echo to discuss four points on the GCM. During the segment “Walking and working together on the Road to IMRF”, the participants broke off into breakout groups to discuss and answer four GCM-related questions.
1. GCM for migrants: Which advocacy strategies can we do to amplify issues of migrants and migration?
Educate more people on the meaning of GCM, objectives, and strengths and weaknesses for migrant workers and communities.
Come up with shadow reports by migrants and their families as a way to amplify migrant issues.
Lobby national governments to support GCM processes for grassroots migrants.
2. GCM with migrants: What are our key recommendations on making the GCM process truly open, inclusive and effective for migrants and CSOs? How can we send these key recommendations/messages across?
Cover the cost of migrant participation in GCM processes by creating safe spaces for participation and enabling grassroots migrants.
Keep the GCM relevant by urging the United Nations (UN) to produce meaningful documentation on the GCM and work towards providing tangible results for migrants.
Keep the language and material simple and accessible for migrants to participate.
3. GCM by migrants: What do migrants need to effectively engage in the GCM process? What can we do to address these needs?
Migrant voices must be amplified on every level by helping eliminate the fear of persecution that comes with participation and encouraging media coverage of migrant issues.
More inclusive structures should be provided for migrants to participate in by providing national representation.
Assist grassroots migrants in capacity-building by creating Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the GCM and conducting skills training for GCM processes.
4. Cooperation strategies: What concrete steps can we take to sustain this cooperation to ensure migrants’ and other peoples' voices towards and during the International Migration Review Forum?
Conduct cross-movement collaboration with other movements to strengthen partnerships in the local and national level.
Hold preparatory meetings with different networks that are active in this space of working together with the UN and other government bodies.
Have a series of events count down to the IMRF and push the days of extension of the IMRF to increase space for migrant engagement.
The program was closed by Hafsar Tameesuddin and migrant leader Iweng Karsiwen of Kabar Bumi. Hafsar Tameesuddin emphasized the need to have migrants and refugees with lived experiences to lead the process of amplifying the demands of these marginalized groups.
Iweng Karsiwen highlighted how COVID-19 worsened the situation of grassroots migrants. According to her, migrants have always been treated as tools neoliberal development, and the pandemic has allowed global capitalists to further exploit migrants. “Only in empowerment can we affect change,” she remarked.
Going forward, participants of the 2nd Migrants’ Echo will continue to work together in implementing the plans and suggestions made during the Conference.