IMA Pursues Engagement for Global Compact That Truly Serves the Interest of Migrants

On the first informal interactive multi-stakeholder hearing for the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, affiliates of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA) shall be present to register the voice of grassroots migrants towards a global compact that is based on the human rights of migrants, oriented towards a development framework that shall end – not perpetuate – forced migration, and operationalized with the active participation of grassroots migrants to realize concrete changes in the condition of migrants and policies on migration.Sringatin, chairperson of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union in Hong Kong (IMWU-HK) and spokesperson of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB-IMA-HK) shall speak as a panelist on the contribution of migrants. Meanwhile, Wardarina of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) shall be part of the panel on the drivers of migration.The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), associate member of the IMA, shall also be present to observe in the thematic session as well as in the hearing. APMM is a member of the GC< Stakeholder Steering Committee.The hearing shall be held at the United Nations (UN) in New York City on July 26. It will follow the Thematic Session on the contributions of migrants and diasporas in sustainable development on July 24 and 25. These are all parts of the preparatory process that is expected to contribute to the crafting of the Global Compact on Migration.IMA and its members and partners are also gearing to take part in regional processes related to the Global Compact. An Asia Consultation is set to be held in September this year.In September 2016, the UN Summit on Migrants and Refugees came out with the New York Declaration wherein the agreement to work for a Global Compact on Migration – as well as the Global Compact on Refugees – was expressed.It should be recalled that IMA Chairperson Eni Lestari spoke before leaders of UN Member States in the opening plenary of the said Summit. In her speech, Lestari urged UN Members States “to commit – to justice, to a development that does not tear families apart and to a future that relies on the strength of its people, not to the continued export and exploitation of our labour.”Since after the UN Summit, the IMA and its members have continued to intensify the human rights campaigns and advocacies of migrants in the international, regional and even more in the national level. Such campaigns and advocacies have highlighted the need for governments of the world to implement urgent actions that will address the exploitation, modern-day slavery and commodification of migrants.Furthermore, governments must rethink the labor export-oriented and remittance-driven neoliberal prescription and work towards a system that addresses inequalities, genuinely sustainable, inclusive of the grassroots and truly based on equality, human rights and justice.Reference: Eni Lestari, IMA chairperson