The Solutions is Rights

“When I saw the picture of Aylan Kurdi” – the three year old boy drowned on his way to Greece and found on the beach in Turkey – “…my heart was broken because I have the same story.” Abu Kurke Kebato, survivor of a harrowing migration journey during which only 9 out of his 63 companions survived, including small children, spoke during the opening Plenary of the Civil Society Days of the 2015 Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Istanbul, Turkey.

“When I see this still happening, I feel sad because the international community can do something to stop this. There is a solution: if we had rights in our countries and the ability to support ourselves, we wouldn’t leave”.

The first of the two Civil Society Days wrapped up Monday evening. A record number of more than 260 civil society leaders and networks from some 80 countries participated along with over 100 representatives of governments and international organizations. The GFMD, taking place regularly since 2007, is held this year in Turkey, the country which at present houses the highest numbers of refugees in the world. Abu Kurke was one of several speakers leading discussions on safe migration and the need for practical solutions at an international level.

Among other speakers addressing the gathering of civil society in the Opening Plenary, Sir Peter Sutherland, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Migration, highlighted the importance of civil society in bringing these issues to the top of the political agenda. “The NGO world is a vital player in this moment of history… There has never been another moment when the nexus between civil society and governments has been so important”.

The Civil Society Days lead into an interactive meeting that brings together all of the civil society participants with some 600 representatives of over 150 governments. Civil society presents recommendations from these two days of discussion at the opening of the interactive meeting, followed by two days of governmental GFMD meetings, 15-16 October.

Civil society participants represent a wide array of organizations in every region of the world including migrant, diaspora, human rights, and development NGOs, as well as academia, trade unions and the private sector. This year, over half are migrants or members of diaspora themselves.

Other central themes discussed today and tomorrow include the new global Sustainable Development Goals recently adopted by the UN General Assembly, the reform of migrant recruitment and employment practices, the role of migrant and diaspora in social inclusion and job creation in countries of origin and destination, and social entrepreneurship.

About the GFMD Civil Society Days

The Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) is the primary international process aimed at advancing cooperation and reinforcing partnerships on issues linked to migration and development. Originated as an outcome of the UN General Assembly High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development of 2006, the Forum has come to its 8th edition and will take place in Istanbul from 12 to 16 October 2015.

A voluntary, informal, non-binding and government-led platform, the Forum is open to all Member and Observer States of the United Nations. The Civil Society Days gather non-governmental organizations working on migration and development issues in all regions of the world, allowing them to bring forward civil society and local perspectives to the international level. Since 2011, the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) has been invited to act as the GFMD Civil Society Coordination Office.

For more information:
You can access this press release at any time on the GFMD Civil Society website. You can also download the GFMD 2015 Programme and other background material in the Background Documents section.