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Voices of migrants should be heard in forthcoming debate on international migration and development

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On Wednesday, 12 July 2006, the President of the United Nations General Assembly will host Informal Interactive Hearings with representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations and the private sector. These interactive hearings will take place at the UN headquarters in New York. The Interactive Hearings will be on issues related to international migration and development, to interact with Member States and to offer input for the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development which will take place at the UN on September 14-15, 2006. Pia Oberoi attends the event on behalf of FORUM-ASIA.On 12 July 2006, the President of the United Nations General Assembly will host Informal Interactive Hearings with representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations and the private sector. These interactive hearings will take place at the UN headquarters in New York. The objective of the July 12th Informal Interactive Hearings is to provide an opportunity for civil society to address issues related to international migration and development, to interact with Member States and to offer input for the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development which will take place at the UN on September 14-15, 2006. This dialogue is an important opportunity for governments jointly to discuss the question of international migration, and to address the promotion and protection of the human rights of all migrants, regardless of their status.

Migration is an issue of vital importance to the Asian region. While migrants bring with them economic prosperity and cultural diversity, too often they are vilified as criminals, terrorists or worse. Particularly when they lack legal status, migrants are subjected to horrific human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary detention, and extreme deprivation of food, water and adequate housing. Yet the economies and even the societies in Asian countries have benefited from this undocumented labour; which includes cheap construction workers, domestic servants and service providers for the tourism industry. Migrants are routinely denied the right to form trade unions, or even to join together in informal associations to protect themselves and their rights. Women migrants are unfairly dismissed from their jobs when they fall pregnant, and have to endure gender-related violence in the workplace. The children of migrant workers are often routinely denied their basic right to education, and even to be registered in the country of their birth.

It is issues such as this and more that FORUM-ASIA and other civil society organizations from Asia will bring to the Informal Interactive Hearings in New York on 12 July. Civil society, including human rights organizations, plays a critical role in many aspects of migration, particularly through representing the views of migrants themselves, providing important services to migrants, and advocating for the fundamental human rights of all migrants to be respected, promoted and protected. We bring the voices and stories of the migrants to the room, and we bring also suggestions for providing a rights-respecting framework to the issue of “international migration and development”.

We call on all Asian Member States of the United Nations to send appropriate representation to the July 12 hearings in New York, to listen to the presentations of the participants, and to be prepared to participate actively in the discussion. The voices of migrants, the voices of NGOs and of civil society are fundamentally important, and it is vital that states and the UN provide them an appropriate platform at the July 12 hearings, as well as the High Level Dialogue in September.