Civil Society statement by APMM, APWLD, ARROW, CARAM-Asia, GAATW, MFA, MMN and Seven Sisters* on the Asia-Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the General Assembly High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development 2013
May 31, 2013
About 60 representatives from a diverse group of CSOs, NGOs and Trade Unions came together to prepare for this preparatory meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, in preparation for the General Assembly UN High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development scheduled to take place at the UN General Assembly in New York in October, 2013.
We were looking forward to 3 days of informed and informative discussion and debate with member States on the issues facing migrants in the Asia-Pacific region, that would eventually form our input for the upcoming High-Level Dialogue, we are not happy with the final outcome.
Though this Asia-Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the General Assembly High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development 2013 was able to obtain a negotiated outcome, we are disappointed that the text adopted by consensus by member States failed to sufficiently locate migrants and migrants’ rights at the centre of the migration agenda.
Time and again, in the name of national sovereignty, States placed restrictions on the rights they were prepared to extend to migrants. This is a movement away from previously agreed by consensus positions and a clear breach of international human rights standards.
We will, however, continue to engage in this process and forward our recommendations to the Informal interactive hearings for the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development United Nations, New York on 15 July 2013.
Please see the Civil Society Joint statement and the Outcome Document from the Asia-Pacific Regional Civil Society Consultation held in Bangkok from 29-31 May 2013 .
For comment, please contact:
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development
[Pranom Somwong ,+668-31887600,+601-92371300 ]
Migrant Forum in Asia
[William Gois , (+63-2) 928-2740 / 433-3508]
Background note:
The full title of the meeting was the “Asia-Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the General Assembly High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development 2013”. It was held in Bangkok from 29 to 31 May 2013.
This statement is issued jointly by Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Coalition of Asia-Pacific Regional Networks on HIV/AIDS (7 Sisters), Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM Asia), Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW), Mekong Migration Network (MMN), and Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA).