Statement by Michael Schulz, Permanent Observer a.i. to the United Nations, in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York
Thank you for the opportunity to share with Member States some points with regard to the work of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
The issues I shall raise have also been made at the 59th Session of the UNHCR Executive Committee meeting earlier in October this year, in Geneva.
In November 2007, the 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent recommended that our Movement embark on a strategic initiative in humanitarian assistance and protection for migrants, irrespective of their legal status.
Accordingly, the IFRC has undertaken to develop a global policy on migration for its National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
This will enhance the predictability as to what the Red Cross/Red Crescent can do, and under which conditions, in providing assistance and protection for migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees.
A new advisory body on migration consisting of senior experts from sixteen National Societies has met on September 24 to embark on the initiative.
Of course, Red Cross and Red Crescent work for migrants is a long-standing tradition. So is our cooperation on the ground with UNHCR: National Societies cooperate with UNHCR in many forms and situations.
Their contribution is often crucial due to the special partnership they offer – a partnership which reaches down to the very local level and to our volunteers on the spot.
Our assessment of needs is informed by the people themselves, and Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are renewing their appreciation of the vulnerabilities of migrants.
For example, with the multiple crises now facing the world, our global network of volunteers and National Societies are reporting increasing evidence of the vulnerabilities experienced by persons in migration. They are usually the most exposed to risks and hardest hit first by unemployment in their host countries. One consequence of this is that their countries of origin are then affected by a loss in remittances, and, as if not enough, there is an éclatant gender dimension to this scenario as more women are affected first.
At the same time, our National Societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent are also important for their roles as auxiliaries to public authorities in the humanitarian field.
One of the high priorities of the IFRC, within the framework of its initiative on migration, is to support the capacity of National Societies collectively to utilise their auxiliary role at all levels, and with all public authorities along the migratory trails.
In their auxiliary role, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies depend on the respect of public authorities for the humanitarian prerogative to assist migrants, irrespective of their legal status.
Humanitarian principles cannot be applied selectively. National Societies’ work should include migrants in need even if deemed “irregular migrants”.
It is therefore very important that at the 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Governments and National Societies endorsed the work of National Societies for people adversely affected by migration, irrespective of their legal status.
This said, we entirely agree with the High Commissioner’s concern about the increasing difficulties for asylum seekers to claim asylum, especially if they are part of ‘mixed population movements’.
The IFRC fully supports specific legal and institutional regimes with regard to different categories of concern. It is in the sense of complementarity and partnership that Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies will pursue an encompassing approach, focusing on needs and vulnerabilities.
The need for complementarity and partnership is underlined by the UNHCR's Note on International Protection which points out a number of cross-cutting protection risks, risks that actually affect people on the move regardless of their status.
Thus, xenophobia often puts foreigners as such at risk of discriminatory administrative practices, exploitation in the labour market, human trafficking, and other abuses.
These are indeed cross-cutting protection concerns.
Efforts by the United Nations since 2005 to strengthen structures and assign responsibilities for ‘clusters’ of humanitarian action, including for protection, are significant and important for us all.
For our part, I assure you that the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies stands ready to participate in collaborative partnerships, including within the framework of the High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges.