Mr Co-Chair,
Thank you for the opportunity to address this meeting. Thank you, too, to the Australian and Indonesian Governments for providing the forum.
It has been both interesting and rewarding to hear of the progress being made in the Process. This afternoon we will be proceeding to look at what we do next.
Since the inception of the Bali Process, in 2002, discussion on the questions surrounding people smuggling and trafficking has brought to the fore many of the realities of the situation.
For the Federation, the realities of direct concern include:
• Vulnerability, in general;
• Vulnerability for special groups, including especially children;
• Evidence of changing patterns in the groups themselves – for example larger numbers of women and children;
and, as I mentioned in my intervention this morning,
• The coincidental rise in xenophobic attacks and community violence with campaigns against migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and so on; and,
• Appreciation that in many of our countries the economic contribution of migrants is essential to the maintenance of economic growth and stability.
I am heartened to hear these issues being mentioned by others today.
It has been a consistent position argued by the Federation that it is not possible to address issues of asylum-seekers, undocumented movement and the like without addressing the need for all countries to build coherent migration policies. We will continue to make the point. It is not plausible to attack asylum-seekers generically when countries have not developed their own policy approaches to population movement.
Our view on this is reinforced by the views of our member Societies. The Manila Action Plan, adopted by the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the Asia-Pacific Region in 2002, includes a section on population movement.
Key messages from the Plan have been delivered in the past at Bali Process meetings, but there is a need for a renewed commitment to the principles it states.
A central need is the need for Governments, throughout the process of identifying and addressing vulnerability, to respect their National Societies as dialogue partners and auxiliaries having specific legal status founded on international law and the national legislation of each State.
Some of the key considerations supporting the Manila Action Plan are pertinent to the agenda scoping the way forward for the Bali Process.
The Federation and its National Societies are not concerned with the legal status of the persons trafficked or smuggled. Our primary concern is the vulnerability of the people themselves, and to ensure that their basic needs are met.
We believe that Governments have a responsibility to identify and address the needs and vulnerability of all those persons in their territory affected by population movement and displacement.
Throughout the world Governments have accepted that National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, with their role as auxiliaries to the public authorities in the humanitarian field, have a special knowledge of vulnerability. Governments should proactively engage in this role, especially with respect to persons trafficked or smuggled.
Governments should work with their auxiliaries, their National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to develop a strategy aimed at providing hope, comfort, protection and assistance to those affected by trafficking and smuggling in a targeted and effective manner.
Governments should, to the greatest extent possible, adopt common approaches to the solution of problems arising from population movement and displacement.
An important feature of such a process is the ratification of international treaties relevant to the issues – such as the 1990 Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
Flowing from this, Governments must incorporate in their asylum processing procedures relevant elements from universally accepted international laws, such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Above all, Governments must recognise that they cannot hope to combat what is labelled “illegal movement” without first adopting migration laws setting a coherent migration policy in place.
We are further concerned that a feature of modern population movement has been a rise in the proportion of women involved. This is, among other things, due to the increased need or capacity of women to make decisions for themselves and their families in many countries. It is also due to increased awareness of the need for accurate information on the trafficking of women and children.
The Federation maintains a strong interest in the work of the Working Group on Gender Issues established by the International Organisation for Migration in 1995.
Most importantly, we see the absolute need for gender issues to be included in the terms of reference of all groups working on issues concerning trafficking and smuggling.
National Societies are actively involved in worldwide efforts, pursued at global and local levels, to combat discrimination.
The Federation delivered a Pledge at the 2003 International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, one element of which was to work with Governments to develop partnerships, promote dialogue and support programs aimed at promoting tolerance, non-discrimination and respect for diversity.
That is, we, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in your countries, wish to work with you to alleviate the plight of the vulnerable.
The broad issues of migration and population movement have been identified worldwide, including by the UN itself, as being at the top of priority for the international community for the foreseeable future. Governments clearly share this recognition of priority, and the Bali Process itself is evidence of part of that acceptance.
There is now a clear need for the Bali Process to move beyond the criminality associated with trafficking and smuggling, and to see these phenomena within the wider population movement agenda.
This means that root causes need to be addressed, and this Bali Process Senior Officials Meeting should consider the value of examining more profoundly why people are tempted by smuggling, and why people sometimes sell their own children into trafficking.
The Federation’s work in this area has included support for National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies which are offered opportunities to sign agreements with governments or international organisations concerning the provision of services and support to persons in situations of displacement.
This position is endorsed by the governance of the Movement, in a formula, which recognises that its concern extends to “people who have migrated to avoid untenable circumstances and find themselves in a situation of vulnerability”.
Mr Co-Chair and Members, we would, therefore, be happy if this Brisbane Meeting could resolve to put the issue of addressing Vulnerability high in the priorities for future work in the Process, whether in continuing working groups or any future streamlined process.
Within that, our key messages to this Senior Officials Meeting are that:
First, all action to combat people trafficking and smuggling and related transnational crime must be accompanied by active measures to combat discrimination, racism and xenophobia; and,
Secondly, countries should use the linkages established by the Bali Process to intensify links between themselves and civil society and other organisations with a view to addressing the vulnerabilities that lead to smuggling, trafficking, discrimination, racism and xenophobia.
Thank you.