Manila - The United Nations and the European Union launched
Tuesday a 15-million-euro joint initiative to promote migration and
help protect migrant workers amid the global financial crisis.
Amid warnings that the global crisis could force countries to
restrict the entry of migrant workers, the UN-EU initiative aims to
highlight the 'positive impact of migration' on development.
The programme was launched on the sidelines of the Global Forum on
Migration and Development in Manila, which will be addressed by UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday.
Under the programme, financial grants will be provided to projects
dealing with migrant communities, migrant rights, capacities of
migrants and migrant remittances.
Gerhard Sabathil, a director of the European Commission in Manila,
said 16 labour-providing countries, including the Philippines, will
be covered in the initiative.
Peter Sutherland, the UN secretary general's special
representative on migration, urged countries not to restrict the flow
of migrant workers despite the economic slowdown.
'We've seen how ineffective simple prohibition policies in regard
to migration actually are,' he said. 'They don't really work.
Migrants migrate. They will find a way, one way or another to do it.'
'What we have to do is foster adequate cooperation between
countries of origin and countries of destination to constructively
address issues of migration,' he added.
During the global forum, government officials and civil society
experts were expected to come up with policy recommendations for the
protection of migrant workers.
On Monday, Sharon Burrow, president of the International Trade
Union Confederation, said restrictions on migration amid the global
financial crisis might lead to a rise in illegal migrants.
She also warned that restrictions could also lead to higher
unemployment in countries of origin of migrants and threaten
remittances being sent by overseas workers.
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