Distinguida Señora Viceministra del Ministerio de Relaciones
Exteriores de la República Dominicana, Señora Nellys
Pérez;

Distinguido Señor Viceministro del Ministerio del
Interior y Policía de la República Dominicana,
Señor Washington González;

Distinguidos y distinguidas jefes y miembros de delegaciones de
la Conferencia Regional sobre Migraciones;

Señoras y señores, buenos Dias!

Quisiera iniciar esta intervención agradeciendo a la
República Dominicana, en su calidad de anfitrión por
la hospitalidad que nos ofrece al recibirnos en su casa.

Introduction

It is an honour to be present at this distinguished forum and I
congratulate the Dominican Chair for the exceptional organization
of this important meeting. I wish to thank President Fernandez, the
Government and the Dominican people for their legendary
hospitality.

Let me express to you my deep gratitude for including this
segment in the opening of the RCM to commemorate the 60th
Anniversary of IOM. It is a particular honor for IOM to be
recognized for its work with Member States during the last six
decades.

I would also like to congratulate one of our closet partners,
UNHCR, who are also commemorating the 60th anniversary of the
Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 50th anniversary of
the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

In my brief remarks today, I would like to highlight three main
points:

I. The Migration "Mega Trend"

Today, more people are on the move than at any other time in
recorded history: one billion people -- comprising a seventh of
humanity. A variety of elements – not least the information
and communications revolutions – are fuelling this
unprecedented movement of people.

A. Prioritizing Migration

Today, migration has become a priority for virtually every
government in the world. More and more governments have established
cabinet posts to handle migration including diasporas and nationals
living abroad.

Surprisingly, migration as an issue or priority was absent from
most government agendas a decade ago. Nor did migration feature
anymore prominently within the UN system in that period; the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) do not mention migration; it
was only last year that United Nations climate change documents
referred to migration and population displacement – for the
very first time.

B. Migration Drivers

The forces driving the prioritization of migration as a priority
issue will endure well into this Millennium:

- demographic trends of an ageing industrialized population and an
exponentially expanding youth population without jobs in the
developing world; - resulting in labour market demands that can no
longer be satisfied by the domestic workforce;

- widening North-South economic and social disparities; and

- climate change, natural and other man-made catastrophes.

Together, these forces have made migration a 21st Century
"Mega-trend." The critical question for States, therefore, is how
to manage migration effectively – both nationally and
regionally — because, given these global trends, large
population movements are inevitable. Migration is also necessary,
and if managed properly, desirable as well. How do we strike a
balance between controlling migration and facilitating migration?
Isn't this what the Puebla Process is all about?

C. Migration Management Priorities

Migration is increasingly complex. Consider, for example, the
key priority issues that deserve our utmost attention:

1. Migrant Human Rights: Migration is the right to leave one's
place of birth or abode in search of new opportunities and a better
life. We need to be concerned, therefore, about the prevalent and
growing anti-migrant sentiment that characterizes current migration
debates – a sentiment that has led to stigmatization and
xenophobic tendencies in many countries of destination. Together,
we must do more to promote the truth about migration -- that
migrant labour -- skilled and unskilled -- is desirable and needed
to recover from the economic crisis and encourage economic growth;
and that migration is an essential driver of the global
economy.

2. Trafficking in human beings and the smuggling of migrants is
the third most profitable illicit trade after drugs and arms. A
heinous crimes that feeds on vulnerability. Anti-migrant sentiment
and the global financial crisis have led many countries to tighten
their visa regimes; this, in turn, drives more migrants into the
hands of traffickers. During the past decade, IOM has assisted
50,000 victims of trafficking. Sadly this is only the tip of the
ice berg. We need to do more to assist and protect victims; to
generate awareness; to prosecute traffickers and smugglers; and to
protect migrant rights.

3. Migration and development is another area of growing
relevance. In this regard, migrant remittances to developing
countries -- $350 billion in 2010 (equivalent to the GDP of Austria
or Kuwait) contribute to poverty alleviation and raise living
standards. Central American countries and Mexico know what an
important contribution remittances make to their national
economies, and Canada and the United States know the contribution
migrants make to their work force and the taxes they play. The
challenge is to influence positively the macro-economic
environment. Here we have had success creating transfer mechanisms
that have enabled migrants to secure their transfers, reduce the
transaction fees paid, and pool their resources so as to maximize
their impact – as with Mexico's "Home Town Associations."

4. Diaspora make an important contribution to development beyond
remittance transfers; they contribute innovation and development of
countries of origin and provide "brain gain" and "brain
circulation" to counter the effects of "brain drain."

5. Migration and the environment: The displacement of people due
to slow-onset disasters is a growing concern in this region and
elsewhere. We all need to deepen our understanding and our
prevention activities to help mitigate the effects of climate
change on populations, including adaptation measures.

6. The Global Migration Debate: These and other issues have
given rise to the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD)
– an outcome of the 2006 UN General Assembly High Level
Dialogue on Migration and Development. The GFMD has held four
annual meetings to date to discuss a range of topics, and I would
like to take this opportunity once again to congratulate Mexico on
its superb organization of the successful 4th edition of the Global
Forum last year. Congratulations to Switzerland, the current Chair
of the 5th Global Forum, and it is good that the Swiss Chair is
represented here today. In 2013, a second meeting of the High Level
Dialogue will take stock of progress.

II. IOM's 60th Anniversary: Reflecting a World on the
Move

With the phenomenal expansion of migration – both in
numbers and complexity – so too, has the International
Organization for Migration expanded and evolved over the past 60
years into the only international organization with a global
mandate exclusively devoted to migration – and a global
"footprint."

A. IOM Evolution

Over the past 15 years, IOM Member States have doubled from 67
to 132; its budget quadrupled to US $1.5 billion; active projects
at any one time expanded from 600 to 2500; and staffing from 1200
to current levels of 7500 staff serving in 440 sites around the
globe.

The Organization has passed through three distinct phases since
1951.

1. Post World War II (1951 – 1964): In the immediate
aftermath of World War II, IOM resettled 406,000 European refugees
in overseas locations, including Latin America. IOM's name at the
time reflected this aspect of our work: the Provisional
Intergovernmental Committee for the Movement of Migrants from
Europe (PICMME).

2. Regional and Intra-State Conflicts (1965 – 1989):
During the "Cold War," years in the 70s and 8os, IOM continued with
its refugee resettlement programmes in Africa, Southeast Asia, and
Central America – where regional and intrastate conflicts
caused large-scale population displacement. It was at this time
that IOM began playing a role -- in no small measure building on
experiences in Latin America – the incubator for most of the
organization's programs in what would later be called "migration
and development".

3. Globalization Phase (1990 – Present): During the past
20 years, or the "Globalization Phase" as I call it, Member States
have called on IOM to undertake a wide range of migration-related
services including labour migration, counter trafficking, return
and reintegration, DDR, SSR, migration health, in addition to
resettlement activities.

B. Vision

As we enter a new phase of migration – the "Era of the
Migration Mega-Trend," it is estimated that the number of
international migrants will almost double from 214 to 405 million
in the next 40 years. (World Bank).

The conflict in Libya demonstrates the extent to which some
countries rely on migrant labour. Of the almost 1 million people
fleeing violence and registered by IOM and UNHCR on Libya's
borders, half are migrant workers with their families. To date, IOM
with UNHCR, has evacuated and repatriated 140,000 migrants to 46
countries, using 900 charter aircraft and more than US $ 100
million to do this.

III. The Regional Conference on Migration on Migration
(RCM)

This brings me to my third point, the importance of (RCPs), such
as the Publa Process. Given their non-binding and informal
character, RCPs facilitate regular inter-state dialogue and
cooperation and by so doing, play a critical role in enhancing
confidence between countries of origin, transit and destination.
But you, of all people, know this from your own direct
experience.

The establishment some sixteen years ago of the Regional
Conference of Migration (RCM), also known as Puebla Process, and
the collective work you have undertaken is a credit to the
commitment of the eleven RCM Member States. After all, Puebla
covers the largest North-South migration corridor in the world.

Moreover, the RCM has prioritized a wide-ranging choice of
themes for projects and activities, including: women and children
and other vulnerable groups; the productive use of remittances;
labor migration flows; the integration of migrants; and consular
protection. This is a clear indication of your vibrancy as an RCP
and your ability to adapt to the ever-evolving migration
landscape.

The participation of civil society in discussions of the Puebla
Process constitutes a vital step toward ensuring dialogue and
cooperation on migration issues that brings in all interested
parties.

I take this opportunity to reiterate my personal commitment, and
that of the IOM as an Observer, to continuing to support the work
of the RCM and to provide administrative and technical services to
the Technical Secretariat and to the Conference.

Conclusion

As IOM celebrates its 60th Anniversary, our commitment to
assisting migrants and governments with quality services is
unwavering.

Our experience assisting 14 million migrants worldwide has
taught us many things, among them the importance of the support
that you, our Member States, provide.

I thank you for that, and assure you that IOM will continue
doing its best to support you and your Governments and migrants to
address the challenges and opportunities of migration just as we
have throughout the past six decades.

Together, we must continue to devise a formulae that on one
hand, respects a country's national sovereignty over migration and
its expectations that all migrants will uphold local laws and
customs; and on the other hand, an approach that respects an
individual's age-old desire to migrate to seek a better life
– mankind's oldest poverty reduction and development
strategy, and the person's expectation that his / her rights as a
person will be honored and respected.

Muchas gracias a todos y todas y muchos éxitos en esta
Conferencia.