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OAS ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL: MIGRATION HELPFUL TO LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN AS WELL AS RECEIVING COUNTRIES

“For the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, migration is a core component of our economy and social life,” Organization of American States Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin declared in Washington today, at the launch of a Migration Information System of the Americas (SIMA).

Migration is equally important for the receiving countries, Ambassador Ramdin argued to member state delegates and international experts at the Special Forum on Migration Issues, at OAS headquarters. Uruguay’s Ambassador to the OAS, María del Luján Flores is presiding over the one-day meeting as Chair of the Special Committee on Migration Issues. Ambassador Roberto Alvarez, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic and Chairman of the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs, also addressed the opening session of the Forum that has brought together experts from international organizations and specialized agencies as well as policy and political experts and civil society, to share perspectives on the subject of migration.

In his remarks, the OAS Assistant Secretary General cited World Bank research showing the impact of remittances as one element of the benefits of migration. According to the statistics, total remittances to Latin American and Caribbean countries increased ten-fold, “in real terms,” over the past two decades. In some countries, remittances constituted a major portion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), he asserted, citing Haiti where, in 2004, remittances accounted for more than half of GDP. He noted that the same World Bank report underscored remittances as having a positive impact on the economy of the countries receiving them.

Despite that positive impact, remittances should not be a pretext for delaying or refraining from implementing sustainable long-term development policies, Ramdin insisted.

As well, Ramdin suggested it is important to recognize the need for migration to be factored into countries’ development plans and poverty-reduction strategies. “From an integral, cross-cutting perspective, the subject of migration involves a host of issues,” Ramdin continued, identifying human rights, political, social, economic and cultural dimensions, along with integration, security, health, labor rights, and regulatory frameworks among key issues. “As such, it is of fundamental importance for the hemisphere, and for the OAS,” he stated.

Ramdin expressed the hope that this Forum will provide a genuine opportunity for dialogue and cooperation, based on the understanding that no country or region on its own can address the challenges and opportunities that accompany the movement of people effectively, without working in a multilateral framework to establish the most appropriate measures to benefit from migration optimally.

The Forum is organized around panels addressing migration trends in the Americas; migration and human rights; and economic social, health, labor, social and cultural aspects of migration.

Reference: E-133/08