PH Ambassador Leads PH Delegation to the IOM Council Session 

GENEVA 12 December 2018 – The Philippines noted that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stands at a strategic crossroads in the global discourse on migration, and the role it will be playing in shaping the conversation.

This was conveyed by Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva Evan P. Garcia as he delivered the Philippine Statement at the 109th Session of the IOM Council held in Geneva on 27-30 November 2018. 

Ambassador Garcia said that while the IOM “must continue to provide the capacity-building and other assistance to our Member States”, it must also prepare to face future challenges, including the “necessity of fulfilling its new responsibilities and secretariat and coordinator of the new UN Global Migration Network established by the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) that is scheduled for adoption in Marrakech in less than a month’s time.”

According to Ambassador Garcia, while a handful of countries are reviewing support for the GCM, the Philippines is of the view that “negotiations for the GCM was a vital platform that facilitated the discussion on all aspects of migration and for governments to disclose their interests in all levels, be they national, regional or global interests.”

The Philippines remains optimistic that governments that may “not be ready to commit to the agreement nonetheless recognize the clear need to discuss migration, and to strengthen further these institutions and processes that are in place to support migration governance at the national, bilateral, regional and global level, within the framework of state sovereignty, and of the international dialogue and cooperation, for improved global migration governance.”

Ambassador Garcia went on to say that “Filipinos overseas have contributed to the welfare and quality of life in their host countries while supporting the development and well-being of their families and communities in the Philippines.

“The Philippines believes that it is the shared responsibility of the international community, through the IOM, through GCM implementation, and through relevant bilateral, regional, interregional and multilateral arrangements, not only to preserve and protect the human rights of migrants as individual rights-bearers, but to also balance the excessively negative narrative to which migration has recently been subjected,” shared Ambassador Garcia.

The Philippines has been a member of the IOM since 1988, and hosts the largest IOM Administrative Center in Manila.  Recognized as a champion of migration governance, the Philippine Government will continue its push for elevating the discourse on managed migration at the Intergovernmental Meeting to Adopt the GCM in Marrakesh from 10 to 11 December 2018. END

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