The International Legal Framework: Multilateral Cooperation and its Opportunities

1. The International Legal Framework: Multilateral Cooperation and its Opportunities Panel discussion on the occasion of the International Migrants Day 17 December 2010, New York

2. Website www.migrantsrights.org Global Ratification Campaign 20th Anniversary

3. Labour migration trends and characteristics UNDESA, 2009

4. Labour migration trends and characteristics (cont.) UNDESA, 2009

5. International legal framework • International human rights law • ILO international labour standards • UN Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers 1990 • N.B. This instrument is also one of the core human rights treaties

6. Sharing the vision of the benefits of migration with the public at large… "Despite the evidence, few issues still elicit stronger reaction than that of migration (…)," says IOM Director General William Lacy Swing for the 2010 International Migrants Day. "Unfortunately, many of these discussions are based on emotions and myths and not on social and economic reality."

7. …Sharing the vision of the benefits of migration with the public at large • Migration is here to stay and governments have to choose between adopting a "high road" or a "low road" scenario to manage migration. • The "low road scenario" is one of status quo based on stereotypes, fear, and short-term political expediency.   It is characterized by restrictive migration policies and the paucity of dialogue on migration, at national, regional and international levels. • At the opposite end of the policy spectrum, a "high road" scenario would heighten recognition of migration as an integral part of the global economy and of migrants as vital constituents to any full recovery from the current economic crisis. It would implement policies that better meet increasing demands for labour migration, protect the rights of migrants, promote regular dialogue and cooperation between countries of origin and destination and highlight the economic and social contribution of migrants both in home and host countries.

8. Inter-state cooperation (Part VI) • Obligations upon States to • consult and cooperate to promote sound, equitable and humane migration conditions - Art 64(1) • collaborate to prevent and eliminate irregular migration - Art 68 • punish traffickers, smugglers and those who exploit migrant workers (e.g. employers) - Art 68(1)-(2) • see also Trafficking and Smuggling Protocols to International Convention against Transnational Organized Crime 2000

9. Conclusions « Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world. » Eleanor Roosevelt

10. Thank you! International Migration Law Unit (IML@iom.int)