On the 21 – 22 May 2024, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) held its first 2024 session of the International Dialogue on Migration (IDM), centred this year on ‘Facilitating Regular Pathways to a better future: Harnessing the power of migration’. Attempting to bring together a wide range of stakeholders, including States, UN agencies, civil society, the private sector and others, the objective of the session was to explore how to create more and better opportunities for people to move in a regular and beneficial way, as part of a comprehensive approach to human mobility.
Despite challenges, such as a lack of funding available for civil society and grassroots organisations, Civil Society Action Committee (AC) members attended the IDM in strong numbers. Participants represented the NGO Committee on Migration, Alianza Americas, the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN), the Migration Youth & Children Platform (MYCP), the Climate, Migration and Displacement Platform (CMDP), the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR), the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), and the Migrant Rights Initiative (MRI).
The New York session situated the discussion within the ongoing Regional Reviews of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), as well as the preparations for the Summit of the Future, and saw panels focused around ‘evidence-based findings’, ‘innovative policy solutions’, ‘effective community engagement and social cohesion’, ‘diaspora private sector’, and ‘achieving more accessible, responsive and socio-economically inclusive regular pathways’. Four avenues of action were identified as key: (1) multilateral action and effective partnerships at all levels, (2) systematic and meaningful involvement of the private sector, effective engagement with local communities and authorities, (3) the centring of migrant and diaspora voices, and (4) advances in innovation and technology for better access to information, resources, training and skills recognition. Overall, there was a consensus on safe and adaptable models for regular pathways, and recognition of the need for multi-layered cooperation, and more opportunities for regular migration.
Civil society interventions
MYCP representative Josefina Etchenique served as a panellist on Panel 3, ‘Effective Community Engagement and Social Cohesion’, delivering a statement highlighting the crucial need for more regular pathways for children and youth and ensuring grassroots voices on the vital need for safe and legal routes were heard and championed.
AC members also contributed robust interventions into the various sessions. Dr Ian M Kysel, Director of MRI, delivered a collective intervention on behalf of the AC calling for all discourse, planning and implementation of regular pathways to be rights-based, with the long-term protection, meaningful representation and inclusion of all migrants at the center.
Dr. Kysel also presented an intervention during Panel 1 on the findings from MRI’s Migrant Rights Database around pathways ensuring family unity, the right to life at borders, and regularisation of migrants.
Kevin Appleby from CMS later advocated for using legal tools in States’ ‘immigration tool boxes’ to create effective and humane legal avenues, including labour permits and assertion of the right to work, the promotion of family reunification visas, and the use of parole authority to permit migration and regularisation during critical situations, and regional or in-country processing. Fr. Márcio Toniazzo also intervened on behalf of SIMN, highlighting the complex and diverse drivers of migration, vulnerabilities during transit and upon irregular arrival, and emphasised the need for collaboration with local governments, monitoring and evaluation systems, and private sector buy-in.
The NGO Committee also prepared a statement for Session 3, emphasising the need for the decriminalisation of migrants and assisting civil society in ensuring access to regular pathways, the role of civil society in facilitating social inclusion, and cooperation at all levels of government with diverse stakeholders.
Read the full statements below:
Strengthening partnerships at the IDM: Side meetings with IOM DG Amy Pope & PRM
The AC also conducted valuable meetings on the margins of the IDM.
On the first day, AC IDM attendees, joined by further representatives from the Church World Service (part of CMDP), AFL-CIO and the Women in Migration Network (WIMN), met bilaterally with IOM Director-General Amy Pope to discuss IOM’s 2024-2028 priorities and meaningful civil society engagement. This valuable meeting was a key step in the AC’s ongoing discussions and collaboration with IOM to aid in ensuring civil society and grassroots participation and a rights-based, migrant-centered approach at all levels.
On the second day, several US-based and focused members met with officials from the Population, Refugees and Migrants Bureau of the Government of the United States of America for an informal lunch. Promoting informal exchanges and strong relationships between States and civil society, particularly those operating on the ground, continues to be crucial in developing and implementing effective, safe and rights-based migration policies.
