On Monday, 168 member-states of the United Nations signed the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), making it the first comprehensive international framework on how to manage people on the move.
Why is this important to the Philippines given the sheer size of its overseas population? The Compact recognizes that our own government is not alone in making sure that our modern-day heroes get the protection that they deserve. It says that all nations have to share in that responsibility, just as we equally have to share in the obligations to protect the migrants living in the Philippines.
For all eyes on earth to be able to read, reflect on and follow an actual document that captures the world’s perception of migration, is something short of a miracle.
Let me quote from the Global Compact:
“It is crucial that the challenges and opportunities of international migration unite us, rather than divide us. This Global Compact sets out our common understanding, shared responsibilities and unity of purpose regarding migration, making it work for all.”
Two words: shared responsibilities. I believe that phrase is the one that will make this compact soar.
During the ’70s and ’80s, when my father, the late Blas Ople, was labor minister, he often spoke of how difficult it was to get labor ministers from labor-sending and labor-receiving countries together in one room to discuss labor migration.
When practiced bilaterally, regionally and multilaterally, that magical phrase, “shared responsibilities,” can save lives.
- Shared responsibilities in promoting fair and ethical recruitment can lead to international cooperation on the elimination of hidden charges that lead a domestic worker into debt bondage. It also means zero tolerance for substitution of contracts in favor of involuntary servitude.
- Shared responsibilities in establishing comprehensive and needs-based pre-departure and post-arrival programs for migrant workers would result in their empowerment, safety and protection. This can also be a stepping-stone toward the education of foreign employers and foreign recruitment agencies.
- Shared responsibilities in enacting and implementing legislation that penalizes hate crimes targeting migrants would lead to a kinder and more compassionate world, where one matters not because of the color of the skin or the origin of your passport, but by virtue of who you are.
- Shared responsibilities also mean ensuring that the hard-earned money of an honest, diligent migrant worker is not eaten up by monopolistic fees charged by foreign banks in the guise of a sweeping anti-money- laundering policy.
- Shared responsibilities include provisions for sustainable reintegration pathways for migrants, overseas workers, and especially for the re-entry of children on the move.
Our Department of Foreign Affairs served as the voice of migrant workers everywhere throughout the negotiations for the historic compact. In the margins of plenary discussions, some countries would sidle up to our own diplomats to inquire on whether their wordings were acceptable to the Philippine contingent.
Sadly, countries such as the United States, Austria, Australia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Slovakia and the Dominican Republic opted out of the process. Their domestic border concerns may have prevailed, with the US government describing the pact as advancing global governance at the expense of the sovereign rights of states.
We must not begrudge these nations their own parochial interests. Protectionism over multilateralism has increasingly become the lone pragmatic choice for political leaders aiming to please their anxious constituents. A careful reading of the Compact, however, shows nothing but utmost respect for sovereign rights of nations. It merely counsels the world that migration is here to stay, and that it must be managed fairly to ensure that the sunlight of human rights never dims.
The Global Compact on Migration informs us about the kinder world we live in, and why this is, indeed, a great time to be alive.
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Susan Ople heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a nonprofit organization that deals with labor and migration issues. She also represents the OFW sector in the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking or IACAT.