ILO Tripartite Technical Meeting on Labour Migration
4 November 2013, Geneva

Needing ILO on Labour Migration
John K. Bingham,
International Catholic Migration Commission

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ICMC is pleased to be one of the NGOs invited here; thank you.

I speak today in the name of our own organization and also as global coordinator of civil society activities in processes of the High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development (HLD) and Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD). In our five minutes, we have three things to say: on substance, tools, and process; and two questions to ask.

1. Substance. As many know, at the HLD last month global civil society presented its 5-year 8-point plan for collaboration with governments and international organizations [copies are on the table outside]. All 8 of the points involve the work of the ILO. Referring to four of them:

• Point 1 emphasizes improving decent work and sustainable development at home to reduce forced migration and family breakup. For those who do migrate, Point 8 insists on guaranteeing labour rights and social protection for migrant workers and their families. These are central messages of civil society worldwide, here today, and everywhere. Together with other Catholic organizations around the world, ICMC recently published a statement that decent work and social protection belong explicitly in the post-2015 development agenda; it is also on the table outside.
• Point 6. In the Civil Society Days of the GFMDs in 2011 and 2012, civil society invited one UN organization: yours, to keynote; and referred most directly to one UN organization: yours, in its final statement and recommendations. In that direction, Point 6 calls for collaboration with governments and others on “redefinition of the interaction of international mechanisms of migrant’ rights protection” that “revives emphasis on the distinct mandate of the ILO for worker protection” in migration contexts.
• Point 7 calls to reform the migrant recruitment industry. As civil society has said at the GFMD, we believe that enough governments, civil society actors—including in particular our partners in workers groups—and donors and legitimate businesses are interested in reform that progress on this goal is within reach. In many ways, we think the issue and momentum is similar to what so successfully propelled the Domestic Workers Convention a few years ago. In addition to concentrated work on recruitment at recent GFMD meetings and around the HLD in New York this year, civil society has formed an International Labour Recruitment Working Group to take this forward.

2. Tools. A rights-based approach needs a tools-based approach.

• One solid ILO tool, used in some places—but not enough—is the Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration. Filled with practical policy approaches and practice, and concrete examples of cooperation, its 10 year anniversary is 2015. An update—and new momentum—would be terrific, including current examples of protection-sensitive, family-positive mechanisms for safe, ordered and legal labour migration and regularization programmes. What is your thinking on this, and how can we work together on it?
• ILO Convention 181 on Recruitment (“Private Employment Agencies Convention”, 1997) is another valuable tool, with 27 ratifications, including 11 EU member states. What is your thinking to promote standards like this in recruitment, and how can we work together on it?

3. Finally, process specific to the ILO.

• This conference. Thank you for this focus. What a contribution it would be if you convened with such specific focus and purpose every year, with practical benchmarks and conclusions that move.
• Global Migration Group. We welcome ILO’s chairing for the full year 2014. Because migration and related development revolve almost entirely around work and the families of workers, ILO’s protection mandate cross-cuts migration and focuses of the other 15 GMG agencies. Specific issues like recruitment, labour migration and migration in the post-2015 development agenda do too. We urge you to lead the GMG, assertively: on the strength of this organization, and protection.

To close with 9 words from migrant workers and global civil society broadly: we really need the ILO more active in this. And NGOs and broader civil society are so eager to work more closely with you at it.

/Thank you.