Thank you to Ambassador Hamamoto and Ambassador Rebong for hosting this consultation and thanks to your Governments for taking up the call of the international community to develop a government-led initiative to address the situation of migrants caught in countries experiencing conflicts or natural disasters.

And thanks to all of you who have joined us here today for this discussion.I am particularly pleased to have such a diverse group of private sector actors represented, from companies employing and recruiting migrant workers to companies providing essential services in humanitarian response.

This is the first consultation ever organized – as far as I know – engaging the private sector to discuss how to better protect migrants in a country that suddenly experiences a crisis and I congratulate the Philippines and the United States for accepting the invitation to discuss with you directly a matter of great concern to an organization like IOM, increasingly preoccupied with the wellbeing of migrants in a world affected by a growing number of conflicts and natural disasters.

It is very important to have you here and to hear from you – your thoughts, experience, concrete practices and questions will substantially inform the guidelines that the MICIC Initiative is developing to better protect and assist migrants caught in a country in crisis.

I have three brief points to make:

1. First, on the timeliness and relevance of the MICIC Initiative in an increasingly mobile world.
2. Second, on how it connects with the current crisis we are facing in regard to movements from Syria and Iraq to Europe.
3. And finally, on the importance of your engagement and contribution.

I. First, I would like to stress the importance of this very timely initiative led by the Governments of the Philippines and the United States.

We are living in the era of the greatest human mobility in history: with more than one billion migrants – some 250 million international migrants and more than 750,000 internal migrants, migrants are one in every seven people in the world.

Increased migration is (i) inevitable due to demography, disasters, and other driving factors; (ii) necessary for equitable and durable socio-economic development and growth; and (iii) desirable if well-governed.

People around the world migrate in search of better lives and livelihoods, and to escape rights abuses, conflict and disasters. At the same time, no country is safe from disasters, a painful lesson from Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina in the United States or Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

IOM believes that in the coming years we will be seeing more crises in which migrants are among those most affected. Given the expansion of human mobility, more and more countries host significant migrant populations – and this includes countries prone to political crises as well as to natural disasters.

Migrants are too often invisible – or simply not accounted for – in preparedness and emergency response, and even less so in recovery and reconstruction efforts. Yet their rights, dignity and needs are as important as those of nationals. The consequences of not addressing the needs and rights of migrants reverberate more broadly: the consequences affect families, and host and home communities and societies who depend on them for livelihoods and the stability of economies. This is also an issue for you in terms of business continuity. Consequently, supporting and protecting migrants caught in countries in crisis is a challenge and imperative for all of us.

The Migrants in Countries in Crisis Initiative is working to address this gap and increase the protection and assistance of migrants in crisis. This is therefore both a timely and needed effort.

II. Second, I would like to look at the current situation of migration crisis in the Mediterranean.

We are currently witnessing numerous human tragedies suffered by migrants and refugees who are fleeing conflict in Syria and other desperate circumstances on their way to European countries.More than 850,000 people have made the journey this year alone.

Since the beginning of 2015, at least 3,519 men, women and children have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean. The consequences of the Syria crisis provide further urgency to the need to better integrate migration and mobility considerations within humanitarian planning and response processes.

We need to do this in a manner that does not diminish attention to other populations of concern. More efforts are needed to protect migrants’ basic rights. This includes reducing deaths and human suffering during and as a result of migration. It also includes addressing the urgent protection and humanitarian needs of vulnerable migrants regardless of their status and throughout their migratory process.

In the face of the current migration crisis, the MICIC Initiative is more relevant than ever because it is one of the few concrete processes addressing crisis migration.

As Ambassador Rebong explained, the Migrants in Counties in Crisis Initiative is keeping its focus on non-nationals caught in countries experiencing conflict or natural disasters. But, I believe that the work of this initiative and your discussions here at this conference will generate best practices that can also improve conditions for migrants and displaced persons more broadly.

III. Finally, let me finish by stressing how important it is to have you engaged in this Initiative.

Humanitarian assistance to migrants who find themselves affected by crises is at the core of IOM’s mandate, and we are determined to assist wherever needed. The safety, dignity and well-being of migrants and mobile populations are at the heart of all that we do in support of our 162 Member States, through more than 470 field offices and nearly 9,000 staff worldwide.

However, this cannot be done without the support of a broad array of actors. IOM recognizes that effective humanitarian action requires innovative partnerships. The private sector has a critical role to play in humanitarian response – and is already broadly engaged in providing emergency assistance and services in ongoing and past crises. You also have an important role to play in governing migration more broadly, and ensuring that migration takes place in a safe, orderly and dignified manner that benefits you, and migrants.

We are working very closely with the private sector and constantly seeking new avenues for cooperation. To give you an example, in many crises IOM is using a Displacement Tracking Matrix, which is used to monitor and track displacement during crises, and often serves as the basis for planning of humanitarian response. This tracking system has been developed in close cooperation with companies specialized in geographic information systems and data analysis.

As Ambassador Hamamoto stressed, of the world’s 232 million international migrants, 90 per cent are workers and their families. As employers of migrants, you play a crucial role in assisting your staff. I am sure you will share many interesting examples of what you are already doing to help and assist migrants. We are here to learn from your various experiences and see how we can better work together to protect migrants in need. Unfortunately, I cannot be with you for the full coming two days, but am very much looking forward to hearing the results of this discussion.

Thank you for your participation and I wish you a productive consultation.