Civil Society Preparatory Day (in relation to the IMRF)
The Civil Society Action Committee will culminate its year-long preparatory process to the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) with a self-organized, open Civil Society Preparatory Day that will take place on Sunday, 15 May 2022.
This preparatory meeting, open to all civil society, aims to share and consolidate the key civil society joint inputs and points of engagement for the May 16 Multi-Stakeholder Hearing and the rest of the IMRF.
All are welcome to join online, or in person in New York. Click here to register.
IMRF Updates
The International Migration Review Forum and the multi-stakeholder hearing will be held from 16-20 May 2022. The registration process is now closed, however the IMRF will be broadcast live on UN Web TV with interpretation in all official languages. Thus, if you did not or were unable to register, you will still be able to follow the events through webcast.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, practical arrangements for participation will be decided closer to the date and communicated on the webpage of the President of the General Assembly. For more information about the IMRF, explore the conference website here. Should you have questions, please email unmignet@iom.int.
Click here to access the timeline for stakeholder participation in the IMRF.
Click here to access background information on the IMRF (note: you will need to log into the Migration Network Hub to access this documents).
Click here to read the information note for participants.
Progress Declaration - Rev 2
A second revised draft (Rev 2) of the Progress Declaration is now available. Click here to read Rev 2.
The co-facilitators are continuing to lead consultations on the Progress Declaration in New York. Click on the following link to access the updated roadmap.
Townhall Briefings
Summaries from the previous townhalls can be found on this page (note: you will need to log into the Migration Network Hub to access these documents). Please scroll down to the "Events" section of this weekly update for links to recordings of the previous three townhall meetings.
John K. Bingham, Geneva Representative of the NGO Committee on Migration, made a 4-minute intervention on regular pathways and regularization at the Second Townhall Briefing with Stakeholders and UN entities. The Town Hall was convened on-line March 25th by IMRF co-facilitators Bangladesh and Luxembourg for feedback on their zero draft of the Progress Declaration that UN Member States have begun to negotiate as the outcome of the first IMRF in May. View the NGO Committee statement by first clicking here, then scrolling down to the section entitled "Latest", clicking on "Second Town Hall Briefing" and going to 1.44.17.
NGO CoM IMRF Spotlight: Progress in draft of IMRF Progress Declaration
ISSUE & SIGNIFICANCE:
With strong input from the NGO Committee on Migration and civil society partners around the world, UN Member States have been working on an official “Progress Declaration” that will be the principal outcome of the first International Migration Review Forum at the UN General Assembly May 17 – 20, 2022. The Declaration will be an internationally agreed statement not only of commitment by governments to implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), but also a report of concrete action they have already taken to implement the Compact since they adopted it in 2018.
RAPIDLY EVOLVING DRAFTS & ADVOCACY
Led by Co-facilitators Ambassador Rabab Fatima of Bangladesh and Ambassador Olivier Maes of Luxembourg, a ”zero draft” of the Progress Declaration was circulated March 17, followed quickly by revisions on April 1 and April 12. Along the way, the drafts have grown from 9 to 11 pages, with the aim to finalize the Declaration before the IMRF mid-May.
The NGO Committee on Migration, civil society partners worldwide, and the global civil society Action Committee have been reviewing these drafts directly with UN Member States, including the Co-facilitators, vigorously advocating experience- and rights-based focus, commitments and language to strengthen the ultimate Declaration. Members of the NGO Committee have participated in all processes open to non-State actors, making statements at three international Town Halls organized by the Co-facilitators, monitoring and reporting on the States-only informal consultations on the drafts, and coordinating with civil society partners worldwide.
DIRECT ADVOCACY WITH 23 STATES SO FAR
Drawing from the NGO Committee’s “four-sider” Priorities and Practices for Solutions to achieve the SDGs, GCM and IMRF, together with the global civil society Action Committee’s 12 Key Ways for States to get Back on Track which included all of the NGO Committee’s major points (also available in Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish), members of the NGO Committee on Migration have spoken directly with 23 UN Member States since March, in NGO Committee mission visits and members meetings, the Town Halls and a meeting with States that come together as “Friends of Migration” or “UN Champion States” for implementation of the GCM.
ADVOCACY IMPACT THUS FAR
Revisions to the drafts of the Progress Declaration have incorporated many of the recommendations (at times even language) of all four subcommittees of the NGO Committee on Migration [Migrants in Vulnerable Situations and Mixed Migration, Children in Migration, Climate-induced Displacement, and Xenophobia, Racism and Inclusion.] Most notably, the revisions have:
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Widened and strengthened sections on expanding regular pathways for migration, especially for migrants in vulnerable situations, workers and for family reunification
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Increased scope and detail on responding to people displaced by climate change, disasters and environmental degradation
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Added entirely new sections on children in migration, xenophobia, and migrant voice and agency, with many further new and strengthened references throughout the text
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Greatly expanded and strengthened sections on protecting the rights of women migrants and workers, including to portability and recovery of wages earned but unpaid (wage theft).
ALSO WELCOME IN THE DRAFTS, retention of reference to:
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regularizing migrants in irregular status
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a commitment to develop a set of indicators to measure concrete implementation of the GCM
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a commitment to instituting mechanisms to save lives and promote respect for other international obligations at borders and in transit
FOR FINAL PUSHES FOR ADVOCACY, NOW, directly with the States-- not just with the UN or in side events. Past experience has demonstrated the enormous potential and peril of last changes in drafts of the SDGs, the New York Declaration and both Global Compacts. So for the IMRF Progress Declaration:
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Ensuring that any references to detention are clear on ending immigration detention of children, which is never in a child’s best interest and therefore always a violation of their rights
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More fully emphasizing rights-based regularization as a solution that exists in many countries, with specific language that united civil society has recommended for States to commit to in the Declaration: “We will organize structured, whole-of-government and whole-of-society exchange within the auspices of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), on the experience of regularization mechanisms implemented in many regions and States, both before and during the COVID-19 response and recovery, to examine their contribution to sustainable solutions in economic and human development, integration, and formal employment and economies.”
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Reducing the tone and over-emphasis in the drafts on enforcement-related action in contexts of return, human trafficking and migrant smuggling, which imply a securitized approach to migration, criminalization of people on the move and militarization of borders.
WHAT YOU CAN DO, including with the NGO Committee and other civil society colleagues:
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Review the IMRF advocacy documents of the NGO Committee on Migration and Action Committee cited above, together with the latest draft of the IMRF Progress Declaration
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Speak --without delay --directly with or write senior officials of governments in their Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York, Geneva, Brussels, Vienna and Addis Ababa, and in national capitals
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Contact and explain to media (also to colleagues, family and friends) the urgency of these issues to real people
Save the Dates:
People's Forum
The People’s Migration Challenge (PMC) is convening to mobilize a parallel event to the IMRF to drive practical and much needed action to assess the GCM implementation. Following the reflection series and regional consultations under the auspices of PMC, the People’s Forum aims to provide space for civil society to engage in a grounded and meaningful discussion on migration policy.
Mark your calendars and join the PMC through a hybrid format in New York and online on 17-20 May 2022 from 9:00am - 1:00pm (EDT)!
People's Road to the IMRF
The International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) is taking place in less than one month, and the People's Migration Challenge (PMC)'s series of events in its run-up continues.
With the informal consultations on the IMRF's Progress Declaration coming to an end and after the fourth stakeholders townhall briefing, the People's Road to the IMRF is reconvening for additional Rounds of Reflections to comment on the Progress Declaration and to organize and shape our advocacy in the lead up to the People's Forum and the IMRF.
Click here to register and save the dates for the upcoming rounds of reflection:
- Wednesday, 27 April, 9:30am (EDT)
- Wednesday, 4 May, 9:30am (EDT)
- Wednesday, 11 May, 9:30am (EDT)
Multiple Statements Shine a Spotlight on Ukraine
Over the past weeks, as the humanitarian crisis has unfolded in Ukraine a number of organizations have released statements pertaining to the crisis and concomitant calls for action. The following statements pertain to those fleeing the violence and related concerns:
The NGO Committee on Migration (NGO CoM), and its Subcommittee on Xenophobia, Racism and Social Inclusion released a statement addressing the need to combat racism and xenophobia in the response to the current refugee crisis. Click here to read the statement. In addition, the NGO CoM Subcommittee on Children in Migration, issued an appeal in response to the crisis in Ukraine. It calls upon Member States to prepare for the safe and humane treatment of all refugees, especially young children. Read the NGO Committee on Migration's statement here.
Missing Children Europe released a set of joint recommendations to protect children at risk of going missing, violence, and exploitation due to the Russian war in Ukraine. Read the recommendations here.
The Africa-Europe Diaspora Development Platform (ADEPT) issued a statement expressing solidarity towards all the people affected by the conflict in Ukraine, and condemning the appalling treatment of Africans at the borders, reiterating that all people have the rights to cross international borders during conflict. Read ADEPT's statement here.
Alianza Americas issued a statement highlighting how the outpouring of solidarity for Ukraine's asylum seekers stands in stark contrast to past harsh and xenophobic responses by the U.S. and Europe to mass migration events, involving majority non-White asylum seekers. Read Alianza Americas' statement here.
In its statement, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians, and adherence to international law, respecting and protecting humanitarian access and space. They also urge governments to extend the same leadership and solidarity shown in response to Ukraine across all humanitarian crises globally. Read ICVA's statement here.
Migrant Women Forum (MWF) calls on states to #BreaktheBias and recognize the inhumane and xenophobic treatment towards migrants and refugees of color in Ukraine, and to urgently address the needs of vulnerable populations seeking refuge during this devastating crisis. Read MWF's statement here.
Endorse the Open Letter on Shrinking Space for Civil Society
On Tuesday 15 March 2022, the Civil Society Action Committee, alongside many of its member and partner organizations, submitted an open letter to the President of the General Assembly (PGA), to express its concerns on the shrinking space for civil society in the UN in general, and calling for meaningful participation in the upcoming International Migration Review Forum (IMRF).
Click here to read the open letter to the PGA (also available in French and Spanish).
The Civil Society Action Committee is calling civil society organizations to endorse the letter: click here to have your organization's name included among the list of endorsers.
NGO Committee on Migration: Priorities and Practices for Solutions
The NGO Committee on Migration produced a four-page advocacy document, entitled Priorities and Practices for Solutions in the SDGs, the Global Compact for Migration, and the International Migration Review Forum in 2022 and beyond.
The document reflects the advocacy priorities of the NGO Committee on Migration and will guide our upcoming visits with representatives of Permanent Missions to the UN, in the lead up to the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF).
It calls attention to the following thematic areas:
- Lessons of COVID-time: make permanent and replicate positive practices and partnerships
- Climate change
- Migrants in vulnerable situations, including mixed migration
- Children in migration
- Xenophobia, racism and fostering inclusion
This document provides concrete examples of solutions that have been developed by the worldwide membership of the NGO Committee on Migration: practitioners and advocates, networks and organizations with members on the front-line at grass-roots, national, regional, and international levels; partners with States, local authorities, and business. Many of these whom are migrants, refugees, diaspora, or their family members.
Click here to read the priorities document.
Renew your CoM Membership & Join a Subcommittee!
We are continuing the process of collecting annual membership dues and convening subcommittees.
The NGO Committee on Migration organizes many of its activities through member participation in the following four subcommittees:
- Climate-Induced Displacement
- Children in Migration
- Migrants in Vulnerable Situations / Mixed Migration
- Xenophobia, Racism & Social Inclusion
By formally joining a subcommittee, you will be able to receive a link to access the online subcommittee gatherings, which precede the general portion of each Member Meeting.
Click here to renew your CoM membership and here to join one of the four subcommittees listed above!