Asia Pacific Preparatory Meeting for the 2013 UN General Assembly High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development, May 29-31, 2013 Side Event Roundtable Discussion on: People on the Move: The "push factors" of environmental degradation, climate change and humanitarian emergencies EMERGENCY TOOLS AND FRAMEWORKS Oliver Lacey-Hall - Head, OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, When my friends from IOM asked whether I would be willing to speak on the subject of international tools and services for migrants in humanitarian emergencies my immediate reaction was to say that I didn't feel qualified to do so. But, if we boil this issue down, it actually relates to how people are provided with humanitarian aid when they find themselves in need of it - it's as much as anything a coordination issue - and thus I guess I am somehow qualified to provide some limited remarks. Our rather narrow perceptions of aid tend to make us think of shelter, food, health services, water and sanitation for people who have been displaced from their homes, sometimes crossing a border. These live-saving forms of aid are vital; ensuring that their delivery is as effective, efficient and fast as possible has been the subject of a two day policy workshop that my office held yesterday and the day before here in Bangkok. But as the world becomes ever more intertwined, as people move from country to country in search of better economic opportunities, and, by so doing, increase (in some cases) their levels of vulnerability to shocks and crises, there is a clear and present need for humanitarian agencies - be they governmental or nongovernmental - to engage on the needs of migrant workers who may, through no
fault of their own, find themselves caught up in civil unrest, conflict or natural disaster, and thus need that all-important element of humanitarian aid - protection. But neither national (with some few exceptions), regional or international humanitarian systems are very well equipped to address the specific needs of migrant workers caught in crises. Even when assistance is provided to migrants who have been caught in the crossfire, prior to repatriation or, if conditions permit, return to the country of employment, current arrangements are somewhat ad hoc and haphazard. There is no specific reference to the needs of migrants in the humanitarian resolutions which govern international humanitarian action. Existing Conventions don't provide a clear legal framework, and there is no "designated agency" to specifically address the needs of migrants in disaster situations - not that I am necessarily arguing that there should be. For migrants caught in sudden onset crises there are a range of issues that we are not well equipped to address. As Brian noted in his remarks, funding was a highly problematic issue in the context of the Libya crisis. But beyond the funding for repatriation flights was the need for people to be temporarily housed, for agreements to be reached with the Governments of neighbouring countries to allow temporary stay of migrant workers, pending their return to their homes; for provision of the basics - food, water, a means to communicate with their loved ones back home. To be frank, there is very little specific humanitarian governance that specifically aims to support migrants caught in these circumstances. A number of migrantsending countries have taken some steps to address the specific needs of their own migrant workers, and some solid networks have been built to promote contingency planning and early warning by migrants themselves but, at the international level, migrant workers will find themselves lumped in with others. In fact, as noted by IOM's spokesperson a year after the Libya crisis:
Very often the plight of migrants comes very last when responses are being organized in reaction to conflicts or man-made disasters. Yet, we know that we live in a world of global mobility when more and more people are on the move, more and more migrants are on the move. There s very little understanding that stranded migrants, minors, victims of human trafficking, who are also vulnerable, deserve also not just evacuation assistance, but also protection assistance, he said. That this issue is now clearly "on the table" and has been articulated in the Regional Coordination Mechanism's statement on international migration and development is welcome. However, even there, out of 9 pages of text there is limited mention of the needs of migrant workers specifically in humanitarian contexts - but there IS a "call for Governments to consider the consequences of humanitarian emergencies for migrants and migration, including for longer term development, in particular regarding the situation of international migrants affected by acute crises in destination or transit countries, and the impact of return migration, and also specifically considering the role of human mobility in disaster risk reduction strategies, disaster preparedness, national climate change adaptation programmes and sustainable urban planning". So - a veritable shopping list indeed. And considering that the ILO estimates that there are some 175 million migrant workers around the world, even if we are talking of only a small percentage of them being exposed to these sorts of crisis situations, then there is still an incumbency on our part to put procedures and instruments into place which afford them greater protection than is currently available, as well as access to humanitarian aid. There are others who are a great deal more qualified than I am to provide more detail on the legal aspects of such protection. The Institute for the Study of International Migration is taking a careful look at this issue and has, so far, refrained from
articulating or endorsing a single definition of "protection". They seen the concept in sub-national, national, regional and international contexts, working on multiple levels. But they include in their deliberations access to humanitarian assistance. The issue seems in part to be that we don't face situations where migrants need to be addressed as a vulnerable group as often as we do for other vulnerable people or groups of people. As IOM notes, as a key thrust for this roundtable, there is a need to come up with some clear operational procedures for the protection of migrants in complex emergencies. Migrant workers have specific needs related to their repatriation but there are no clearly agreed procedures for this. This leaves their fate somewhat to chance - as we saw in the Libya crisis and, prior to that, during the first Gulf War and the situation in Lebanon in 2006. Governments, at least of labour-sending countries, are on board with the need for development of standard procedures and better preparedness for migrants caught in crises - as articulated during consultations under the Colombo Process. Indeed, it would seem that the labour-sending countries are the main drivers in thinking around the development of a more clearly structured international framework to support migrants. But the scope of their deliberations needs to be broadened to include receiving countries. The Abu Dhabi Dialogue of 2008 was a step in the right direction but focused only on the mechanics of migration - not the potential fall-out from disasters and crises. So - we need standard operating procedures - but in order to develop these we need a forum. Can the General Assembly's High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development later this year identify how this might best be done? Probably yes, but only if that meeting is provided with some really clear recommendations. Since Asia is one of the largest migrant-worker producing regions of the world it's clear that there is a role to be played here..and now. This Regional Coordination Mechanism Meeting aims to "provide a forum for the identification of key migration issues,
challenges and priorities for the region, and to arrive at a consensus on a practical set of recommendations that benefit countries in the region in optimising the benefits for migration and managing its adverse impacts, while protecting the rights of migrants". If we agree that there is a need for the development of clear operational agreements at the international level, then this is the place to flag that need in strong and clear language. IOM's "Issue in Brief" - Asian Labour Migrants and Humanitarian Crises of last year provides a series of recommendations - all of which are intended to ensure that the needs of migrants are met during such crises. I commend that document to you and suggest that we take up its recommendations in the context of the outcome of the RCM. So - addressing sudden shocks and their impact on migrants remains an area which is somewhat neglected or perhaps under-resourced, and where much work remains to be done. But what about the more insidious forms of crises that we will face in the coming years. Climate change, food shocks, water shortages, fuel price hikes, urbanisation.and migration - the so-called global challenges that my organisation articulated in a policy brief a few years back. The need to recognize and to assess compounding effects of the intersection of these challenges becomes even clearer as we look at their evolution over the next decades. By the year 2025, the world s population is forecast to reach 8 billion, with this population growth occurring in less developed regions. This demographic expansion, coupled with changing consumption patterns, will necessitate a corresponding increase in global food production by an estimated 50%. Noting that agriculture currently consumes 70% of the world s fresh water supply, an increase in food production would imply a rise in water usage, which could further aggravate water shortages that already affect some 1 billion people. Simultaneously, some predict a 50% increase in energy demand by the end of that decade, with fossil fuels still accounting for 80% of the demand. Furthermore, by 2025, some 5 billion people
(about two-thirds of the world's population) are likely to be living in an urban or periurban setting (compared to 3.17 billion in 2005). The rapid formation of slums in urban areas promises to lead to limited access to basic services such as food and clean water, while increasing the risk of disease outbreaks. Compounding these problems will be population pressures exerted by growing youth unemployment and by groups migrating to cities in search of better living conditions and economic opportunities. Parallel to these demographic changes, the impacts of the food, fuel and economic crises may continue to stunt GDP growth and slow recovery in many poor countries, forcing cuts to vital social safety nets, causing increased unemployment, pushing the poor further into extreme poverty, particularly in rural areas with acute humanitarian needs, and increasing the risk of social unrest and violence. Yet, it is also important to recognize that the effects of global challenges will not necessarily be all doom and gloom. Technological innovations, policy shifts, and new partnerships prompted by responses to these global challenges may all provide the world with unexpected new tools and capacities. But this will only happen if we plan ahead. Currently there are very limited frameworks to address migration caused by slow-onset factors such as climate change. But research would suggest that by 2050, anywhere between 50 and 200 million people may become domestic or international migrants as a result of climate change. While the numbers are very broad estimates, the trend is undeniable. Whether at the low or high end, these are enormous numbers of people. New frameworks need to be put into place and current instruments need to be modified to ensure migrant protection. Some work is already being done in this context. The Crisis Migration Project, UNHCR, IOM, OCHA and others are thinking through these issues, seeing where and how current normative frameworks are already equipped to address these challenges..and where they are not.
But what is clear is that we are not yet prepared. The fact that we do not even have clear and agreed procedures to address the needs of migrants in sudden onset crises should be addressed as a priority - but while addressing this issue we should not forget that there are longer term challenges which the international community needs to face together. Cooperation at regional and international levels is essential. The United Nations is the clear entry point for this - and so the outcome of the General Assembly's High Level Dialogue later this year needs to take us at least a step closer to agreeing the way forward. As we have seen through the UNFCCC negotiations, taking measures to mitigate the impacts of even one of the global challenges is fraught with difficulty at the political level. But that doesn t mean that we should give up. Thank you.