ROUND TABLE – 10/02/2015

CONCEPT NOTE

ROUND TABLE

RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH TO MIGRATION: THE ROLE OF THE TRADE UNION NETWORK ON MEDITERRANEAN AND SUB-SAHARIAN MIGRANTS

10/02/15

1. BACKGROUND

To tackle the growing pressure at our external borders the European Commission is developing a European Agenda on Migration, “which will balance a fairer and responsible approach to legal migration, in order to make the EU an attractive destination for talent and skills, with firm measures against irregular migration and people trafficking and smuggling. Improving the management of migration means better linking our migration policy with our external policy, fostering greater internal and external cooperation, offering protection to persons in need, based on responsibility and solidarity and preventing tragic events such as those recurrently happening in the Mediterranean”¹.

According to UNHCR, at least 207,000 migrants/refugees had crossed the Mediterranean Sea to reach the shores of Italy while 3,419 had died attempting the crossing by early December. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, millions of men, women, and children are escaping from wars, poverty, political, religious and ethnical discrimination and repression, hoping to find a better living and working opportunities. There is a growing number of migrants from Syria, Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Mali, etc, and in the MENA region alone, there are 25 million migrants proceeding from Africa and Asia. They verse in very un-human conditions, and some of them under forced labor or “kafala” system, and with a restriction of political, civil and economic rights.

In the light of the ongoing challenges in the Mediterranean region, the EU recognizes the lack of a coherent and strategic approach to its migration policy. This will require a re-design of EU policy approach to migration shifting away from security-oriented and short-termist policy actions, towards an inclusive rights-based approach to migration and international cooperation and development policy aimed at improving economic and social development in origins and destination countries.

2. OBJECTIVES

1. To enhance political dialogue and technical cooperation between trade unions across the southern Mediterranean countries involved in the management of migration flows;
2. Strengthen solidarity and common actions between unions of countries of departure and destination and transit countries, sub-Saharan, North African and European workers’ unions;
3. Enhance and strengthen dialogue between workers’ unions, civil society from southern Mediterranean countries and the European Commission.

3. FORMAT

The round table will take place at the FES office in Brussels on the 10^th of February from 15:00 to 17:30 and it will host a delegation of representatives from the Trade Union Network for Mediterranean and Sub-Saharian Migrants, as well as representatives of the European Commission.

3. THEMATIC PRIORITIES

1. Promoting Rights-based approach to migration: the role of the European Neighbourhood Policy

In the light of the on-going challenges faced by Southern Mediterranean Countries, in terms of growing influx of refugees from Syria, Mali, Afghanistan, and the severe socio-economic impacts on transit and destination countries, the EU should take a stronger action to promote and ensure a rights-based approach to its migration policies, and foster social dialogue within the framework of the revision of the European Neighborhood Policy. Migration policy aspects are in fact a clear priority in EU’s ENP policy, notably in the context of substantially rising migration flows into the EU via the Mediterranean Sea during 2014.

In line with EU migration and neighborhood policy priorities, the contribution of labour migration to employment, economic growth, development and the alleviation of poverty should be recognized and maximized for the benefit of both origin and destination countries. The EU, national governments and social partners, in consultation, should promote social integration and inclusion, while respecting cultural diversity, preventing discrimination against migrant workers and taking measures to combat racism and xenophobia. In this context, the role of a strong and organized Trade Union Network in the Mediterranean countries plays a crucial role to promote and ensure well-managed migration and human rights-based human mobility, and they should be recognized as key interlocutors of the EU in the context of the revision of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2015.

The ENP should be enhanced to be used as a tool to ensure inclusive migration governance in Southern Mediterranean Countries– in consultation with social partners- and to promote the ratification and implementation in ENP countries of international labor standards such as the principles enshrined in the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

2. Promoting a rights-based approach to migration in the framework of the sustainable development goals

Council Conclusions on Migration in EU Development Cooperation, adopted on 12 December 2014, highlight that the nexus between migration and development is one of the thematic priorities of the EU Global Approach to Migration and Mobility, which provides the overarching framework for the EU external migration policy, and is also integrated into the EU development policy framework, of which the Agenda for Change is the latest building block.

Inequalities resulting from employer-driven migration governance systems often result in migrant workers suffering from underpayment, non-payment and delays in payment of wages and unwarranted additional costs. Low-skilled workers are frequently made to work in arduous conditions for longer hours than envisaged by the law, without overtime payments. In the Middle East, there are some 600,000 forced labour victims and 3.4 in every 1,000 of the region’s inhabitants are compelled to work against their free choice .

To face these on-going and persistent challenges, the EU should adopt a rights-based migration and development policies in line with the Civil Society Stockholm Agenda on migrants and migration in post-2015 development agendas² in order to promote human development and achieve social justice. This should focus on promoting decent working and social conditions for all migrants that conform to international labour standards; extending social protection for migrant women, men and children in countries of origin and destination; Increasing migrant participation and contribution in public policy planning and implementation; Facilitating safe, orderly and regular migration, through enhanced international cooperation

In this context, the role of a strong and organized Trade Union Network embracing Mediterranean and Sub-Saharian countries should play a central role within EU migration and development agenda, by ensuring equal pay and conditions for all through collective agreements, and thereby avoiding exploitation and social dumping- and they should be recognized as key interlocutors of the EU in the post-2015 framework as potential development enablers.

1 http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/pdf/cwp_2015_en.pdf

2 http://gfmdcivilsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Civil-Society-Migration-Stockholm-Agenda-June-2014.pdf