Foreign secretary for establishing new migration framework

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Bangla Tribune Report
Published : 09:13, Jun 21, 2019 | Updated : 09:15, Jun 21, 2019

Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque.Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque has proposed to establish a new migration framework to make it beneficial for everybody.

In a writing titled ‘Making Migration Work for Everyone’ published in Project Syndicate, he proposed, “It is time to establish what I call Migration Order 3.0.”

The foreign secretary is vying for deputy director general post of International Organisation for Migration and its election will be held on June 21 (Friday).

Before World War II immigration was controlled by governments and the transnational human mobility was subject to Migration Order 1.0. After the war Migration Order 2.0 was created and international organizations like United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and International Organization for Migration (IOM) were established to govern cross-border movement.

“During this era of Migration Order 2.0, the movement of people across national borders was governed by mutually agreed norms, standards, and practices,” he wrote.

In today’s world migrants are facing backlash from host communities due to growing anxieties. In many cases, migrants are vulnerable to abuse, owing to lack of access to resources and power.

The foreign secretary is of the view that investment in empowering migrants is a win-win proposition for everyone.

“The vicious cycle of migration, economic hardship, and social backlash can be turned into a virtuous cycle of integration and economic growth,” he said.

He acknowledged that it is an uphill task as every government struggles to strike a balance between economic gains of migration, protecting citizens’ interests, and ensuring national security.

The Sustainable Development Goals and new Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM) are the two instruments for optimizing migration governance and benefits.

These ‘does not offer a silver bullet, but it will serve as the blueprint for building a workable Migration Order 3.0’, he said.

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