Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

INTRODUCTION

It is a distinct honor and privilege to be invited to this Fifteenth Plenary Meeting of the Transatlantic Council on Migration, and I wish to thank Demetrios, Katheleen, and the Migration Policy Institute, for organizing this important event -- a platform on which to explore how governments can mitigate the rising financial, economic, and political costs of forced migration. I am delighted that you have selected ‘Forced Migration in a Context of Heightened Geopolitical Challenges’ as the theme for this discussion. This topic is most timely.

We live in an era of unprecedented human mobility -- a period in which more people are on the move than ever before. We are facing an unprecedented level of forced migration compounded by an unparalleled number of simultaneous, complex, protracted crises involving armed conflicts, political upheavals, natural disasters, and abject poverty -- ranging from the Western bulge of Africa all the way to the Bay of Bengal.  

Not since the Second World War have so many persons been forcibly displaced, a number exceeding 60 million. Humanitarian crises force people to flee their homes in search of safer places and frequently generate prolonged displacement, which in turn can sweep away hard-won development gains. All of these factors exacerbate the number of mixed migration flows all over the world.

More than a migrants -- including refugees have arrived in Europe since January 2015. Tragically 3,700 migrants have drowned or remain missing since in period.

The challenge we face today, is that our migration policies have not kept pace with human realities. There is a disjuncture between contemporary patterns and processes of forced migration, and the current legal and frameworks to protect forced migrants. The increasingly visible, unintended consequences of the current system call for a new way of thinking about protection, development, and humanitarian response.

I. The Drivers of Migration and Displacement

Migration is a “mega-trend” because of a half-dozen or so “drivers” of large-scale migration, I list them under the letter “D” for easy memory:

1. Demography - an aging North in need of workers -- some 40 million in Europe by 2050 -- and a youthful, jobless South;
2. Disasters;
3. Demand for labor - the lure of improved working and living conditions developed countries is certainly a strong “pull” factor amidst the dominant “push” factors;
4. Socio-economic Disparity - between global North and global South;
5. Degradation - of the environment and climate;
6. Digital Revolution - today, nearly half the world’s population has access to the Internet and, therefore, to instant information;
7. Distance-shrinking technology that enables one to get to places quickly and cheaply.

II. Global Migration Trends: Challenges facing the International Community today

Let me now highlight the key challenges the international community faces in its ability to respond to contemporary migration crises.

A. The ‘gaps’ in existing frameworks

The contemporary drivers of forced migration are complex and multi-causal. The blurring of the lines between voluntary and forced migration, between “refugees” and “economic migrants” , together with the expansion of irregular migration have contributed to a range of ‘gaps’ in existing frameworks.

The international humanitarian system has produced well-developed mechanisms to provide a coordinated international response to crisis situations. However, the existing frameworks do not comprehensively cover all patterns of mobility during crises and not all those on the move. In its humanitarian response and assistance, IOM has experienced first-hand the gaps the existing frameworks have left in this respect.

B. Unprecedented anti-migrant sentiment and political malaise

At present, public discourse is toxic. Migration has become a negative word, particularly following the November 2015 Paris attacks, and the recent events in Cologne, Germany. We are witnessing a period of unprecedented anti-migrant sentiment -- even though there is unfilled labor demand created by an ageing Europe and the OECD area.

Increased border controls alone will fall short of stopping irregular migration. Exclusive reliance on border controls, walls, fences and other “closed door” policies and restrictive measures such as tightened visa regimes and criminalizing irregular migrants will not lead to the expected results some would have you believe. These isolated national measures will only change the direction and routes taken by irregular migrants.

Excessive border control measures run the risk of hindering a migrant’s legitimate access to asylum and is only putting individuals at larger risk by increasing the role and leverage of smugglers. Don’t get me wrong -- I believe that states have the sovereignty to protect their borders and ensure orderly cross-border migration. However, restrictive measures must not come at the expense of saving lives or present unnecessary hardships or risks for already vulnerable populations legitimately seeking protection.

III. Responding to the Challenges of Forced Migration

How then should we respond to these challenges?

A. Change the toxic migration narrative

First, we must find a way to change the toxic migration narrative. Historically, migration has been overwhelmingly positive. Many countries, including mine, were built on the backs and with the brains of migrants. As public officials and as thought leaders, we need to use our power of public pronouncement to accurately articulate the positive contribution of migrants to our communities.

Many countries are facing major challenges in migrant integration. What we all need to understand is that integration will only be possible by promoting tolerant societies that value diversity and recognize what migrants bring. Diversity is a source of strength, not of weakness. Media support is critical in this endeavor.

B. Partnerships

Bold, collective partnerships are needed to develop a truly comprehensive approach to the governance of migration. Migration involves a shared responsibility among countries of origin, transit and destination. The Valletta Summit in November between the African Union and the EU constitutes an important step towards meeting migration-related challenges in a spirit of mutual responsibility.

Disjointed approaches and isolated national measures will not work. Credible resettlement and relocation mechanism -- for persons in clear need of international protection -- are necessary to ensure a fair and balanced participation of the international community to the disproportionally high migratory pressures experienced by many countries. Return migration also plays a key role in contemporary migration dynamics, but greater partnership among returnees, local communities, diasporas and countries of departure and origin are critical  for return to become a durable solution that can contribute to address the drivers of forced migration.

C. “High-road” policies

We need migration policies that will lead to what I describe as a “High Road” scenario. These policies must have three objectives:

1. respect the human rights of migrants;
2. address the drivers of migration; and
3. promote safe, and orderly mobility.

A comprehensive framework that addresses all forms of international migration is essential. Solutions to the crisis of protection and forced migration can only be found within a wider, coherent and long-term policy framework that addresses both drivers behind migration and countries’ legitimate need for labour migration. Establishing legal channels of migration, corresponding to both labour market needs as well as protection obligations, will significantly reduce the vulnerabilities and risks incurred by those who would otherwise use dangerous irregular channels.

CONCLUSION

Migration is as old as humankind.  Migration is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be managed -- a fairer, smarter, more humane manner.

We need to ensure the continued provision of practical protection for migrants. At the rate things are going, we can be sure that the scale of conflict-driven and environment-related movement will continue. If we do not keep pace with relevant and responsive migration policies, it will continue to strain the existing regime for the protection of forced migrants. Migration will inevitably be a fundamental feature of our time. We need therefore to work together to ensure that migration benefits everyone: countries of origin, transit and destination and, of course, the migrants themselves.

As regards the migration scene in Europe. I remain hopeful. I agree with Chancellor Merkel that this may be the greatest challenge that she and the EU have faced.

But Europe has survived both the Euro Crisis and the Greek Crisis. And I can see several possible outcomes of the current crisis of leadership within the Union:

• That the EU might finally be able to agree on a common comprehensive, long-term migration and asylum policy -- an objective that has eluded the EU for many years.
• Two, that the current migration challenge might bring the EU and Turkey closer together, in a more formal way; and
• Three, that all, of at least most of the EU’s 28 Member States would become formally refugee resettlement countries with respectable annual refugee resettlement quotas.

To achieve these positive outcomes, three evolutions will be required:

1. First, Europe and other parts of the world must overcome “refugee amnesia”
2. Second, Europe must overcome systemic dysfunctionality.
3. Third, to accept that after four centuries as a continent of origin, Europe has over the past four decades become a continent of destination.