"Friends of Migration" meeting organized by GFMD 2016 Chair

On 21 October 2016, an event focusing on the process to develop a Global Compact on Migration was organized by the government of Bangladesh. Bangladesh and other governments expressed their determination to form and meet as a Geneva branch of the government “Friends of Migration” group that had been launched by Bangladesh, Benin, Mexico and Sweden in New York ahead of the 19 September UNGA High-level Summit for Refugees and Migrants. Speakers were Bangladesh, Mexico, Sweden, Francois Fouinat, representing the UN Special representative for International Migration Peter Sutherland, and representatives of the International Labour Organization, IOM, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

Notable in the presentations:

• Shahidul Haque, Foreign Secretary and current Chair of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, gave a vigorous 25-minute presentation of a vision for the new Global Compact on Migration to take the same approach as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: that is, provide a set of goals and targets specifically on migration to which UN member states, in a UN General Assembly vote in 2018, would commit to achieving over the next 15 years.  (the following Monday 24 October, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and the Cjhair of the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families jointly issued a news release in the same direction.)
• Francois Fouinat confirmed that the “Sutherland Report” on global governance of international migration will be published “by the end of the year”, with chapters focussing on the range of migration, rights, protection and development issues, with concrete recommendations.

Read ICMC’s notes from the meeting