Philippines Continues Firm Advocacy on Migrants Rights at the United Nations

Ambassador Evan P. Garcia (left), Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva and head of the Philippine Delegation to the UN 5th Thematic Consultation for a global compact on safe, orderly and regular Global Compact on Migration (GCM) together with Ms. Louise Arbour, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for International Migration, at the Vienna International Center on 4 September 2017.

07 September 2017 VIENNA – The Philippines continued its firm advocacy of the rights and protection of all migrants at the two-day United Nations Fifth Thematic Consultation for a global compact on safe, orderly and regular Global Compact on Migration (GCM) held at the Vienna International Center on September 04 and 05.

The UN Fifth Thematic Consultation on GCM was convened to address the issues of smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons and contemporary forms of slavery, including appropriate identification, protection and assistance to migrants and trafficking victims

Ambassador Evan P. Garcia, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva who is leading the Philippine Delegation in Vienna, called on the international community to rally around the cause of protecting migrants, noting that migrants contribute to sustainable development in both their host and home countries and are often in vulnerable situations.

Ambassador Garcia emphasized the importance of adherence to key UN binding agreements for the protection of the rights and welfare of migrants and members of their families such as the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crimes and its Protocols on trafficking in persons and on smuggling of migrants and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

He noted that many victims of smuggling and trafficking resort to dangerous measures because of absence and difficulties with regular and legal migration routes, even if for family reunification and employment purposes. He called for greater efforts to open and maintain regular and legal pathways to facilitate the safe and orderly movement of migrants and to enable them to maximize their ability to contribute to development.

The Philippines was represented in the UN Fifth Thematic Consultation on GCM by Ambassador Garcia, Minister and Consul General Enrico T. Fos, Labor Attaché Delmer Cruz, and Ms. Karen Arlan of the International Labor Bureau of the Department of Labor and Employment.

The DFA conducted an Experts’ Workshop on Global Compact and Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration last August 23 to 24.

For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/genevapcg. END