Bangladesh calls for global governance framework

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangladesh government is pushing for a comprehensive global-governance framework to address all issues relating to human mobility.

Bangladesh is chair of the 2016 Global Forum on Migration and Development, which culminated with the 9th Annual Forum Meeting in Dhaka last Dec. 10 to 12.

During the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York held in September, world leaders reaffirmed migrants’ human rights and committed to strengthening global governance on this issue.

The New York Declaration focused on two global compacts: to share responsibility for taking in refugees and to ensure orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration.

Bangladesh proposed the second compact in April 2016.

That compact, to be adopted at an inter-governmental conference in 2018, offers a historic opportunity to improve the way governments and other stakeholders cooperate on migration, Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Minister Shahidul Haque said in a paper.

He said building walls and discriminating against migrants or refugees on the basis of ethnicity or religion is antithetical to the 2030 SDG agenda, which aims to free people from the shackles of poverty, reduce inequality, and promote shared prosperity.

“Sadly, governments worldwide have become preoccupied with deterring migration and restricting people’s movement, rather than creating safe, dignified channels for human mobility. Unsurprisingly, this obsession with control has had little impact on irregular migration flows, because it runs counter to the pull of market forces and the push of personal aspirations,” Haque said.

To achieve the best outcome, the two global compacts need to be pursued in a coordinated fashion, and treated as two parts of a single framework for governing migration, the official also said.

In 2017, governments would begin to negotiate the details of the framework.

As the chair of the GFMD, Bangladesh is tasked to communicate Dhaka summit’s recommendations to countries’ negotiators, he added.