Officers of the Philippine Mission to the UN and Other International Organizations in Geneva, Minister Enrico T. Fos (right) and Labor Attache Delmer Cruz (left) at the IOM International Dialogue for Migration held in Geneva from July 18 to 19

02 August 2017, GENEVA — The Philippine delegation, led by Ambassador Evan P. Garcia, Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, showcased the country’s experience and lessons learned in addressing the protection gaps for migrants in vulnerable situations, during the two day International Dialogue for Migration (IDM) organized by the International Organizations for Migration (IOM) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from July 18 to 19.

“Let us not fall into the trap of the false dichotomy between the practical and doable solutions on the one hand, and the human rights-based approach on the other. These are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the starting point for the practical and doable solutions to migrants’ vulnerabilities should always be the recognition of the human rights to which migrants must always be fully entitled,” Ambassador Garcia reminded the participants of the Dialogue.

Ambassador Garcia also cautioned the Dialogue participants of the danger of viewing migrants in irregular situations as somehow having less rights than those in regular situations.

“This is again a false dichotomy.  In fact, both regular migrants and those in irregular situations have the same set of human rights. To uphold the false dichotomy is a recipe for making migrants in irregular situations even more vulnerable to further abuse and exploitation”, he emphasized.

This year’s IDM in Geneva focused on vulnerable migrants and the solutions-based approach that would reduce the vulnerabilities of migrants and empower them.

The Dialogue is part of the consultation process for the formulation of the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM).