Vol. XXII, No. 69
Thursday, October 30, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Today’s Headlines
UN chief warns against curbs as sentiments worsen
MIGRATION HAS NOT BEEN SPARED by the global financial crisis, putting further strain on economies — especially those dependent on remittances — and necessitating the need for increased cooperation among countries, United Nations (UN) secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon yesterday said.
"Today, we face a cascade of national financial crises throughout the world. None of our economies are insulated," Mr. Ban told the Global Forum on Migration and Development being held in Manila.
With global growth slowing and countries slipping into recession, "it would be naive to think the current crisis will have no effect on the movement of people across borders, and on how publics perceive migration and the migrants in their midst," he said.
Mr. Ban said there was "mounting evidence" of a significant slowdown in remittance flows, while immigration had also increasingly become a political issue in many countries, "heightening the risk of discrimination."
"Already migration flows are reversing. In several instances, we are seeing a net outflow from countries facing economic crises," he said, noting that industries such as construction and tourism have been badly hit.
But instead of imposing measures to curtail migration, governments must intensify cooperation across borders, he said, adding that constraining legal migration could increase the number of illegal migrants.
"Migration will flow through unsafe and irregular channels. This will undermine confidence in our ability to govern — confidence that has already been damaged by the financial crisis."
Migration, the UN chief told a press conference, "can be a tool to offset the global financial crisis", and that it was "up to the policy makers to make sure that migration can work for development".
William Lacy Swing, the director general of the International Organization for Migration, said migration was not an obstacle to development, but was also not "a magic wand to achievement".
"We must work towards policies that are carefully shaped to boost the positive potential of migration for development, while reducing negative repercussions."
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who also spoke at the summit, called on governments to ratify international conventions assuring migrant worker rights.
"Development cannot occur in the economy without human development ... We urge all countries which have not yet done so to ratify the international convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families," she said.
"It is essential that the major economies of the world, along with strong representation from emerging economies which are the source of migrant workers, be part of the global consultations to resolve challenges in the global financial system, particularly its negative impact on migrant workers."
There are around 200 million migrants around the world, eight million of which are Filipino overseas contract workers. The Philippines ranks fourth in terms of remittances received from overseas contract workers. Remittances, which represent around 10% of gross domestic product, are expected to reach $16.6 billion this year.
Labor Secretary Marianito D. Roque, in a statement, said the Philippines was reaching out to destination countries to sign bilateral and multilateral labor agreements not to restrict migration flows and to protect worker rights.
Local labor officials denied that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were losing their jobs because of the financial crisis.
"There have been no terminations yet reported to us and there are countries that are booming like in the Middle East," Overseas Workers Welfare Administration chief Carmelita S. Dimzon said.
Several countries, she claimed, will soon be signing agreements with the Philippines for the deployment of OFWs, but noted that Spain had asked that a deal regarding a caregiver pilot project be shelved. Ms. Dimzon stressed that this did not mean Spain would be cutting down on workers sourced from the Philippines.
Meanwhile, hundreds of activists faced off with riot police in the metropolis. They branded the forum as an ineffective talking shop that promoted "modern-day slavery".
"We don’t see migration as a tool for development. It is a reflection of a country’s underdevelopment and is not a solution to poverty," said Sarah Maramag, a spokeswoman for the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees, a parallel gathering of more than 140 groups from Asia to Latin America. — reports from AFP, Alexis Douglas B. Romero, and Emilia Narni J. David
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