Red Cross Red Crescent calls for greater ratification of migrant and refugee conventions
25 November 2002

The desperate plight of millions of migrants and refugees without access to basic rights, often socially excluded and subjected to racism and discrimination, can be improved if more governments ratified existing migrant and refugee conventions, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said today.

A call for fair and humane migration policies to be put into place by governments domestically and internationally and for the rights of all moving and displaced people to be respected, comes as representatives at the 6th Asia Pacific Regional Conference of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Philippines, plan on how they can better address these issues.

With 60 per cent of the people in the world living in Asia Pacific, the region faces severe population and population movement pressures. It hosts the largest number of refugees in the world - approximately six million - but it also has the fewest ratifications of the major human rights conventions, including the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The region also has more than 4.5 million internally displaced people with Indonesia and Afghanistan accounting for nearly half that figure. Asia also provides the largest source of migrants. Undocumented population movement makes it difficult to ascertain a realistic picture of the scale of migration, however, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates there are between 5-7 million international migrants in Asia Pacific and a further 8-9 million in the Middle East. In addition, the scale of internal migration is huge in the region with 58 million people being moved by large dam projects in recent years in China and India alone.

Whether refugees or a migrants, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people, threatened either by a loss to life or livelihood, to seek refuge in another country and live in dignity. Those who do succeed, with or without documentation, are increasingly exposed to violence and deprivation and often separated from families and loved ones.

"We need to confront attitudes that discriminate against migrants and refugees. People are struggling to have even the basic right of access to health care. Population movement has left a trail of poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion in its wake and it is very disturbing that many Asian countries have yet to sign and ratify the international conventions that would protect the rights of migrants and refugees," said Didier Cherpitel, Secretary General of the International Federation.

Among these treaties is the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. Twelve years on from being adopted at the UN General Assembly, it has been ratified by only 19 countries and needs one more before it can enter into force.

Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Asia Pacific and the Middle East are providing protection and assistance to refugee and migrant communities such as in Iran and Pakistan where there are still more than 3 million Afghan refugees. Assistance is also being provided in Indonesia, the Philippines, Nepal and many other countries. This includes running tracing services to link separated families and programmes that provide health services and support to families who are left behind by migrant workers, often in dire circumstances.

For further information, or to set up interviews, please contact:

In Manila:
Tessie Usapdin, Philippine National Red Cross - Tel: + 63 25 278 38 84
Jemini Pandya, Press Officer - Tel: + 41 79 217 33 74
Omar Valdimarsson, Regional Information Delegate - Tel: + 66 1 823 92 18

In Geneva:
Media Service duty phone Tel: + 41 79 416 38 81

The Geneva-based International Federation promotes the humanitarian activities of 181 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies among vulnerable people. By coordinating international disaster relief and encouraging development support, it seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering. The Federation, National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross together, constitute the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.