Originally published on the CGS blog on January 27, 2016.
Last month I suggested that a UN-led conference would be necessary to confront the growing refugee and migrant crisis. Now I am pleased to report that the UN has called for a high level Summit on “Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants.”
The forum is scheduled for September 19, 2016 at UN Headquarters in New York, one day before the opening of the UN General Assembly. A report of the Secretary-General will be published in May to structure the discussions and to facilitate research and the collection of up-to-date information at the national and regional levels.
Ms. Karen AbuZayd of the U.S. has been appointed as the Special Adviser–effectively the organizer–for the Summit. From 2005 to 2010, she was Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Previously she held high posts in the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She is an academic specialist on the Middle East.
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) recently published a report on international migration indicating that there are some 244 million migrants; some 76 million live in Europe, 75 million in Asia, 54 million in North America, and others in the Middle East, Latin America, and the Pacific, especially Australia and New Zealand. In addition, there are about 20 million refugees who have crossed State borders fleeing armed conflict and repression, as well as some 40 million internally displaced persons.
The flow of refugees and migrants toward Europe during 2015 has made the issue of migration and refugees headline news. The disorganized and very uneven response of European governments to this flow has indicated that governments are unprepared to deal with such massive movements of people. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have not been able to deal adequately with this large number of persons despite many good-will efforts. Certain political movements and political parties have used the refugee issue to promote narrow nationalist and sometimes racist policies. A much smaller flow of refugees to the U.S. has also provoked very mixed reactions, few of them welcoming.
December’s climate conference (COP21) was an opportunity to highlight the issue of “ecological refugees”–people who move due to changes in the climate and the environment. The persistent drought in the Sahel States of Sub-Saharan Africa has led to large-scale movements and very difficult socioeconomic conditions.
The September 2016 UN Summit provides an opportunity for coordinated NGO action. UN conferences or summit forums serve as a magnet, pulling governments to agree to higher ideals and standards collectively than they would individually. This is not only hypocrisy–though there is certainly an element of hypocrisy, as governments may have no plans to put these aims into practice. Rather, it is a sort of “collective unconscious” of government representatives who have a vision of an emerging world society based on justice and peace.
The role of non-governmental organizations is to remind government representatives of the seriousness of the issues and of the need for collective action. National NGOs can highlight local conditions and provide information to the international NGOs in consultative status with the UN that will be at the Summit in New York. NGOs close to the people can provide a realistic view of the needs of individual families and of the type of community responses required. Between now and the end of August gives us time to assemble the research, to analyze both short and longer-term consequences, and to make policy proposals to governments. However, there is no time to lose, and efforts must be made now.
