IRRI-KIIB expert seminar:
“The Global Governance of the international Migration: A Belgian Perspective”
Brussels, Egmont Palace, 12 June 2006

Introduction
Mrs. Regine De Clercq
Ambassador for Migration and Asylum Policies, FPS Foreign Affairs

Welcome to this seminar on the Global Governance of the International Migration, organised by the Royal Institute for International Relations, for the preparation of the UN High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development to be held in New York next September. It is the last  of a series of public debates organised by the Belgian government. In January, we hosted a first conference on migration and security, freedom, wellbeing and justice in the EU and its neighbours. In March, we had a conference on migration and development, which looked into the reciprocal relation between these two elements by questioning how migration can contribute to development and how development determines the migrant flows.

Today, we will analyse the governance of migration. Last week, Mr. Kofi Annan published his report on migration and development in preparation of the High-Level Dialogue indicating how  worldwide divergencies  make people move and look for opportunities and better prospects elsewhere. In conjunction with the revolution in communication and the development of electronic networks, which are cheap and easy accessible, the higher mobility brings more people aware of opportunities that exist elsewhere. Migration therefore will stay and in fact, it increases.

The nature of migration changes. Migration is no longer for ever for many people as it was in the past, because of greater mobility they can go home easier. It is more and more a global phenomenon: people move easily across oceans and not only to the neighbouring country. Prices for transport and communication are reduced and this makes migrating far away more accessible. International networks make it easier for people to learn about opportunities elsewhere.

Inside the countries, migration becomes more and more a multisectoral issue that requires a coherent approach at national and international level. We see it is no longer as a matter only for the Ministry of Interior, but also as a social-economic question where development, foreign relations, education, trade and agriculture  policies… play a role. See for instance how Senegalese pirogues are now used to irregularly transport migrants to the Canaries islands, as Japanese boats are emptying the fishing grounds on the shores of Senegal. But these boats received concessions from somebody and are not taking into account the impact of their fishing activities on the local population.

The debate on migration between States seems to become stronger. The report of the Global Commission was really a catalyst for this debate and we are glad to see that Dr Jenny, who was the Executive Director of this Commission, is present here today. We have the discussions between the EU and Africa, which will be held in Rabat next month. There is a group in Geneva working on the preparation of the High-Level Dialogue. Everywhere, the debate is taking place on the bilateral and also on the multilateral level. On the national and European level, we are more and more aware of the fact that a new, less defensive and more proactive approach in migration is necessary.

Nevertheless, the internal debate on migration often criminalizes the migrants. That is a danger  for the cohesion of our societies, as we actually may  need more migration in the future. Therefore, we should try to avoid to label migrants as people who take advantage of the system or worse.

At the high level dialogue, we hope to cooperate and dialogue constructively  with the countries of origin on ways that ensure that migration contributes to development and on those issues which make that development (or often non development) impacts on migration flows. The aim is to find solutions that are beneficial to everyone, including the migrants themselves.

It is necessary to share best practices between countries on how to turn migration into a success. One of the key elements is a to have a coherent  migration policy that includes also an integration policy. Are we equipped with the necessary structures to develop such a policy?

How to make sure that at the national and international level such coherent policies come about is a question of governance, and that is the subject of our discussion today.