26 July 2018
A little over two years after UN Member States adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, the drafting process of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) has come to an end, with the final draft available as of 11 July.
Throughout the negotiations, the civil society Action Committee worked to bridge multiple civil society initiatives, and to ensure the necessarily link with the developments in the parallel process to develop the Global Compact on Refugees. In particular, these included issues such as mixed migration, protection of migrants in situations of vulnerability and climate. As we move towards the adoption and implementation of the Compact, the Action Committee will keep bringing together civil society actors to look at questions around national regional and global implementation, follow-up and review. An important upcoming milestone is Migration Week in Morocco this December, where the Compact will be adopted, and the GFMD is also taking place.
Last push in the 6th and final round of GCM negotiations
The Action Committee initiated a strategy meeting with civil society to discuss the final round of negotiations. The result was a statement presented to the co-facilitators on Tuesday 10 July. This statement highlighted some of civil society's major concerns regarding the 3rd draft of the Compact, including questions on the protection of migrants in vulnerable situations, the criminalization of migrants and those who help them, or the need for a more robust implementation, follow-up and review mechanism. The document was open for sign-on and was signed by close to 200 organizations representing every continent of the world, collected within just 24 hours.
=> Click here to read the full statement.
Concluding joint statement by civil society
During the conclusion of the negotiations on 13 July, civil society presented a joint final statement to the co-facilitators and Member States based on the final draft. The statement summarizes civil society's priorities and concerns, with an eye to concrete action in the months leading to the formal adoption of the Compact during Migration Week in Marrakesh in December and beyond.
In this statement, civil society acknowledges the Compact as a sound framework for governing migration in a manner which respects human rights and the rule of law – if properly implemented and with strong commitment to address remaining gaps in some issues. These are the achievements civil society identifies:
- Working to end child detention;
- Expanding regular avenues for migration and measures for regularization as a way to increase safe, orderly, and regular migration and reduce vulnerabilities;
- Emphasizing community-based alternatives to detention, and not promoting detention as
- deterrent to irregular migration;
- Protecting migrants in situations of vulnerability, including those fleeing slow and sudden onset natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate change, and environmental degradation;
- Safeguarding the rights of children by adhering to the principle of the best interest of the child at all times and ensuring their protection and access to sustainable solutions;
- Ensuring decent work and labour rights
- Promoting concrete gender responsive policies and the empowerment of women as agents rather than from the lens of victims;
- Guaranteeing due process, individual assessment and effective remedy in return procedures, by upholding the prohibition on collective expulsion and the principle of non-refoulement;
- Strengthening the collection of data on migration in order to better inform humane policy responses, in a manner which respects the right to privacy;
- Investing in sustainable development at national and local levels in order to honour the right of migrants to live and support their families in their countries of origin;
- Cooperating to provide international protection to migrants in situations of vulnerability at borders;
However, some major gaps remain in the Compact. In particular, civil society wanted stronger language on topics such as the non-criminalization of migrants, firewalls or access to basic services and full labour rights for irregular migrants. Civil society reiterates its strong commitment to interpret the Compact in accordance to international law, and to strengthen its provisions in their implementation and follow-up at every level.
The Global Compact for Migration is the beginning of a process, not the end. The statement ends with saying that while civil society continues to work on behalf of migrants and their communities around the world, we look forward to participating meaningfully in the next steps.
The Statement is currently open for sign-on.
READ and SIGN ON to the final statement here.
Next steps and preparations for Marrakesh in December
Applications for the GFMD Civil Society Days 2018 are now open!
==> Click here to find the application forms and all relevant documents.
For updates regarding registration for the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the GCM, please consult the official website here.
More information on next steps and civil society organizing towards Marrakech and the GFMD will follow. Stay tuned for more!