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OAS Secretary General Highlights Importance for the Region of Debates in the United States Congress on Immigration Reform and Gun Control

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today expressed his optimism at the progress that has been made in the United States Congress on two important issues – immigration reform and gun control – which, despite their national nature, have a strong impact on the entire region.

Insulza highlighted the significance of these debates for all the Member States of the OAS. “The importance lies,” he said, “in that the reform directly impacts not just the lives of the large number of citizens in the region that have migrated to the United States, but also the relationships between nations, concerned from many points of view over this situation. When an important percentage of citizens of a country reside in the United States, no one can expect their governments to be indifferent to their fate or that the issue won’t become an integral part of Inter-American relations.”

In addition, the OAS leader stressed the alarm caused in Latin America and the Caribbean by the illegal trafficking of arms to their countries, and expressed his hope that improved control over the internal commerce in arms could contain this illegal trafficking.

He also noted the importance that the OAS, as well as the government of President Obama, and the United States Congress, places on both issues. “They are issues being dealt with today in the United States, but they also form part of our common priorities,” said Insulza.

He added that "just by opening the legislative debate on these matters, it creates a climate of expectation throughout the region, and it shows the existence of a major political sensitivity to the real needs of the most vulnerable sectors of the hemisphere. That leads us to think that the solution is close."

Insulza recalled that the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), which promotes multilateral cooperation in this area, has been ratified by 31 of the 35 members of the organization and expressed his hope that, in this new climate, the United States and Canada could ratify this important treaty.

The OAS, recognizing at the vital role migration plays in the development of the citizens and societies of the Americas, as well as the challenges this phenomenon presents to its Member States, established the Migration and Development Program (MiDE) in 2008. MiDE’s role is to provide technical expertise and information to the country representatives in order to take appropriate and effective measures on a regional scale to address the challenges and opportunities of human mobility.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-137/13