Migration and Development Conference Migration and Development Conference

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Migration and Development Conference Migration and Development Conference Migration and Development Conference and Development Migration Migration and Development Conference March 2006,Brussels Prepared by: Final Report The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Liaison and Coordination Office to the European Union Rue Montoyer 40, 1000 Brussels, Phone: 32 2 282 45 60, Fax: 32 2 230 07 63 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.belgium.iom.int/internationalconference A joint initiative: March 2006 March The Goverment of the Kingdom of Belgium The International Organization for Migration (IOM) The European Commission The World Bank Conference on migration and development 15/16 March 2006, Brussels CONFERENCE REPORT BELGIUM The World Bank Acknowledgements The Conference on Migration and Development, held on the 15 and 16 March 2006 in Brussels was an important and groundbreaking event organized by the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the International Organization for Migration with support from the World Bank, the European Commission and a great number of governments worldwide. A conference steering and advisory committee was set-up prior to the event, composed of representatives of the Belgian Ministries for Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation and Interior, IOM, as well as the World Bank, the European Commission Directorate General for Development and the European Commission Directorate General for Justice, Liberty and Security. The steering and advisory committee was in charge of the main policy and organizational aspects for the preparation of the conference and its follow-up events. Chair Ambassador Pierre Vaesen – Head of Cabinet of Armand De Decker, Minister for Development Cooperation, Government of the Kingdom of Belgium Coordination Peter von Bethlenfalvy - Regional Representative, International Organization for Migration, Brussels Members The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium: Igor Haustrate – Deputy Director General, Directorate General for Development Cooperation, Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Government of the Kingdom of Belgium Re´gine De Clercq – Ambassador for Immigration and Asylum, Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Government of the Kingdom of Belgium Isabelle Mazzara – Counsellor, Cabinet of Patrick Dewael, Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Interior, Government of the Kingdom of Belgium Bruno van der Pluijm – First Secretary, Cabinet of Karel De Gucht, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of the Kingdom of Belgium Marleen Maes – Asylum and Immigration, Permanent Representation of Belgium to the European Union Nicolas Janssen – Collaborator, Cabinet of Armand De Decker, Minister for Development Cooperation, Government of the Kingdom of Belgium Benjamin Uyttebroeck – Collaborator, Cabinet of Patrick Dewael, Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Interior, Government of the Kingdom of Belgium 3 Conference Report The International Organization for Migration Nina Salden – Programme Coordinator, International Organization for Migration, Brussels Mariam Mahmoud - Programme Assistant, International Organization for Migration, Brussels Kartini Pouchous – Programme Assistant, International Organization for Migration, Brussels The European Commission Robertus Rozenburg – Policy Desk Officer, Directorate General for Development, European Commission Jean-Pierre Bou – Policy and Program Officer Legal Affairs, Directorate General for Justice, Liberty and Security, European Commission The World Bank Haleh Bridi – Special Representative, The World Bank, Brussels Ve´ronique Jacobs – Counsellor, The World Bank, Brussels The Conference organizers wish to express their deepest gratitude to H.M. King Albert II, King of the Belgians, for his honourable presence at the Conference. We are grateful to Frank E. Coninck, Grand Mare´chal de la Cour, Jacques van Ypersele de Strihou, Head of Cabinet of His Majesty and Anick Van Calster, Economic and Social Counsellor at the Royal Palace for coordinating the presence of His Majesty. The Conference organizers wish to thank Martine van Dooren, Director General, Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Government of the Kingdom of Belgium for her overall support to the event. We thank Marc Buys and his services for their greatly appreciated work in the organization of this event. We wish to specifically acknowledge the outstanding work of Irena Omelaniuk, Advisor on Migration at the World Bank, in drafting the Conference Conclusions. We also wish to thank the staff from the World Bank Poverty Reduction and Research Groups for their valuable input to the conference content, particularly vis-a`-vis the conference’s focus on development priority issues. Special thanks go to Michelle Klein-Solomon, Director Migration Policy, Research and Communication Division and Frank Laczko, Head of Research and Publications Division at IOM Geneva as well as the personnel of IOM missions worldwide for their continuous support and assistance in the preparation of this event. We thank the Directorate General for Development and the Directorate General for Justice, Liberty and Security (DG JLS) of the European Commission for their support to the event. Special thanks go to Jonathan Faull, Director General of DG JLS, Jean-Louis de Brouwer, Director of Immigration, Asylum and Border at DG JLS as well as Carlo Presenti, Chief of Cabinet and Stefano Bertozzi, Member of the Cabinet of Franco Frattini, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Liberty and Security, for their assistance in organizing the Commissioner’s participation in the conference. 4 Acknowledgements Professor Johan Wets and Tom de Bruyn from the University of Leuven as well as Dr. Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah and Macha Farrant from the Institute for Public Policy Research, London deserve special thanks for the drafting of background documents for the conference. The Conference organizers also wish to thank Marc Pellizzer and Emilie Marette for setting up the photo exhibition of MIDA Candidates that was displayed at the conference. Above all, we would like to thank all speakers, chairpersons and rapporteurs for their valuable contribution to the success of the event. The organization of the conference was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium. The World Bank and the European Commission have also given valuable support through financial and in-kind contributions. 5 Table of Contents I. FOREWORD 13 II. CONFERENCE AGENDA 15 III. CONFERENCE CONCLUSIONS 21 IV. CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS 25 Welcome address • Armand De Decker, Minister for Development Cooperation, Government of the Kingdom of Belgium 27 • Brunson McKinley, Director General, International Organization for Migration 34 Opening session • Patrick Dewael, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Government of the Kingdom of Belgium 43 • H.E. Hon. Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Minister for the Interior, Ghana on behalf of H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor, President of Ghana 47 Session I - Migration and Development: “Migration and the Millennium Development Goals: facts and myths” Background paper 53 Speeches by: • Sir John Kaputin, Secretary General, African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States 57 7 Conference Report • Danny Leipziger, Vice-President for Poverty Reduction and Economics Management, The World Bank 60 • Bience Gawanas, Commissioner for Social Affairs, African Union 66 • Nand Kishore Singh, former Commissioner, Global Commission on International Migration; Chairman of the Management Development Institute, India. 72 Session II - Migration Policies and Development: “How to achieve greater coherence of migration and development policies?” Background paper 79 Speeches by: • Hania Zlotnik, Director Population Division, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs 83 • Jan O. Karlsson, Former Co-chair Global Commission on International Migration 89 • Jeff Crisp, Special Advisor, Policy Development and Evaluation, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 92 Session III A - Partnership among countries of origin, transit and destination: Mali- Morocco-Belgium/ European Union Background paper 99 Speeches by: •Re´gine De Clercq, Ambassador for Immigration and Asylum, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium 103 • Oumar Hamadoun Dicko, Minister of Malians Residing Abroad and African Integration, Mali 105 • Olga Zrihen, Senator, Belgian Senate 120 • Aziz Jillali Sghir, Head of Migration Division, Ministry of Interior, Morocco 123 8 Table of Contents Session III B - Partnership among countries of origin, transit and destination: South Asia – Europe/North America Background paper 129 Speeches by: • Athauda Seneviratne, Minister of Labour Relations and Foreign Employment, Sri Lanka 132 • S. Krishna Kumar, former Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, India 137 • Jan De Wilde, Chief of Mission, IOM London 140 • Jeremy Kinsman, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Canada to the European Union 142 • Reflections on the discussions by Alan Winters, World Bank 149 Opening statement of the second conference day • Brigitte Girardin, Minister Delegate for Cooperation, Development and the Francophone Countries, France 159 Session IV - Migrant Communities and Development Background paper 167 Speeches by: • Nouzha Chekrouni, Minister Delegate in Charge of Moroccans Resident Abroad, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Morocco 171 • Agnes van Ardenne, Minister for Development Cooperation, The Netherlands
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