MANILA — The Philippines is “walking the talk” and has been implementing measures that would ensure better treatment and protection to Filipinos and other migrants under the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM).
This was the gist of the Philippine intervention at the International Dialogue for Migration (IOM) in Geneva on Monday, with Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola informing foreign delegations that Manila has been implementing the yet adopted document.
In her intervention at the dialogue’s session on advancing migration governance, Arriola said the measures undertaken by the Philippines highlight the experiences and recommendations of stakeholders worldwide in addressing challenges and opportunities in migration, and allowing the conversation to continue to lead up to the final signing of the compact.
“In August this year, just barely a month after the final text of the Compact was gaveled in New York, the Philippines hosted the Manila Conference on the Future of Migration to build on, and keep, the momentum of the Compact from July on to the final signatures of leaders in Marrakesh in December,” Arriola said.
Arriola said the Manila Conference highlighted five themes central to the compact’s objectives, namely the human rights of migrants; drivers of migration; smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons, and other forms of exploitation and abuse; decent work, and labor and skills mobility; and international cooperation and migration governance.
“The conference has proposed a three-fold approach to addressing the complexities of migration. These includes getting international consensus and universalization of the compact’s principles, universal adherence to relevant international agreements, and the optimal use of global and regional organizations and processes,” Arriola added.
The Manila Conference also stressed the importance of national and regional action plans; and identification of key indicators and targets to the effective implementation of the compact, Arriola said.
She added that country participants were welcome to use the inputs of the conference to craft their national plans for the compact.
The final text of the compact, which is due for adoption in December 2018 in Morocco, is firmly anchored on human rights – with the protection of the rights and promotion of welfare of migrants regardless of migration status—and particularly domestic workers—at its core, which will benefit the more than 10 million Filipinos overseas. (DFA PR)
