12 år sedan
Demetrios Papademetriou on future migration: Unnecessary barriers for foreign workers stall economic growth
The Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) has led to increased international cooperation on migration issues. The challenge for the Swedish chairmanship 2014 will be to turn the ideas generated by the forum into concrete actions on the ground. This according to Demetrios Papademetriou, President of the Migration Policy Institute, who next week participates together with Swedish Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy, Tobias Billström at Global Utmaning’s and the Swedish Ministry of Justice’s seminar “The Future of Migration – challenges and opportunities for migration and development”. Read an interview with Dr. Papademetriou below.
In your opinion, what role does the Global Forum on Migration and Development play and what has been its main contribution so far?
The Forum is the only global entity providing space for reasoned dialogue on migration and development issues. It has taken a potentially divisive issue—migration—and made it the focus of collegial, practical exchanges among states from around the world.
The Forum has fostered a spirit of goodwill among states that has led to greater bilateral and regional cooperation.
In the process, it has advanced important ideas on issues ranging from using circular migration for development, to reducing remittance costs, engaging diasporas, and jointly protecting migrant rights.
What issues would you like to see raised at the Global Forum on Migration and Development 2014? What, in your opinion, are the main challenges ahead?
There is no shortage of vital issues to address in 2014. But if I were to focus on a single one it would be how to make labor markets work more effectively. Too many countries place too many barriers in front of workers who seek employment abroad; when these barriers are unnecessary, economic growth suffers.
At the same time, we need to pay for closer attention to the challenges our communities face in integrating migrants. We have seen a very acute reaction against migrants in many countries and, as experts and policymakers, we must listen very carefully to the fears of our publics—and we must address them.
But in everything we do we must remember that the most vulnerable actors in migration are the millions of migrants forced to work in the shadows, frequently exploited, their rights ignored, and subject to rising discrimination in the context of the persistent economic crisis. Their valuable skills and experience too often go untapped by both their countries of destination and origin.
What are your expectations for the Swedish chairmanship? What role can Sweden play in forming the future work of the GFMD?
Sweden has long been a leader on international migration issues, and it played an absolutely crucial role in the creation of the Global Forum in 2006.
Minister Billström and his team will occupy the chair of the Global Forum at an important moment—during the High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development, which will take place at the United Nations in September 2013. States will determine then what ambitions we should have for improving the governance of international migration, and Sweden will play a pivotal role in that debate.
As host of the Forum in 2014, Sweden also will lead the discussion of the long-term agenda for the Forum. The main challenge will be how to ensure that all the good ideas that the Forum helps generate are translated into actions on the ground that improve the lives of migrants and of our communities.
