29 June 2016
Co-Facilitators Issue HLM Zero Draft Declaration
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The co-facilitators of the UN General Assembly's (UNGA) High-level Meeting on Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants (HLM) have issued the zero draft of the HLM's outcome document, which takes the form of a declaration.

A draft of the Global Compact on Responsibility Sharing for Refugees, envisaged as an annex to the Declaration, will be issued shortly.

An informal meeting to discuss the drafts of the declaration and of the Global Compact is planned for 1 July 2016.

rm27 June 2016: The co-facilitators of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) High-level Meeting on Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants (HLM) have issued the zero draft of the HLM’s outcome document, which takes the form of a declaration. A draft of the Global Compact on Responsibility Sharing for Refugees, envisaged as an annex to the Declaration, will be issued shortly. An informal meeting to discuss the drafts of the declaration and of the Global Compact is planned for 1 July 2016.

The zero draft was prepared following informal consultations convened by the co-facilitators, David Donoghue, Permanent Representative of Ireland, and Dina Kawar, Permanent Representative of Jordan, on 2 and 17 June 2016 to discuss possible elements of the outcome document.

The zero draft declares that “migration should be a choice, not a necessity.” Noting that the world is characterized by an unprecedented level of human mobility, with roughly 65 million displaced persons, including 25 million refugees and asylum seekers and 40 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), the document seeks to set out a “new global consensus” on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants. It calls for ensuring that all provisions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that bear on refugees and migrants, directly or indirectly, are fully implemented.

The draft notes that while the treatment of refugees and migrants, respectively, may be governed by separate legal frameworks, the two groups face many common challenges, including in the context of large movements. It adds that large movements of refugees and migrants have political, economic, developmental and humanitarian ramifications, which call for global approaches and global solutions, and that “no one State can manage such movements on its own.”

The declaration outlines principles to ensure safety and dignity for displaced persons, including: sharing the global responsibility to manage challenges represented by large-scale population movements “in a humane and sustainable manner”; building on key commitments made at the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), which aim to address gaps in humanitarian assistance for displaced vulnerable people; responding early to human rights violations to lessen the likelihood of conflict; calling for action on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and the Paris Agreement on climate change; and endorsing the relevant parts of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) on financing for development, including on enhancing the productive use of remittances.

On commitments for migrants, the zero draft: recalls the emphasis in the 2030 Agenda on the positive contribution made by migrants to inclusive growth and sustainable development; calls for ensuring that migration is mainstreamed in global, regional and national sustainable development and humanitarian policies and programmes; notes the need to develop guidelines on the treatment of vulnerable migrants who have not qualified for refugee status and who may need protection and assistance; and calls for developing more opportunities for safe, orderly and regular migration, including labor mobility at all skill levels, family reunification and education-related opportunities.

The zero draft also welcomes “the [agreement] to bring the International Organization for Migration (IOM) into a closer legal and working relationship with the UN,” and recommends that the UN Secretary General prepare a transition plan to support the further integration of IOM into the UN system as a related organization. It also commits to the adoption of the Global Compact on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration, and notes this Compact will: be rooted in the 2030 Agenda; reflect commitments made during the HLM; take account other proposals and recommendations, including from civil society and other relevant stakeholders; be negotiated and agreed in an intergovernmental process launched during the HLM; and be adopted at an intergovernmental conference in 2018.

On commitments for migrants and refugees jointly, the draft: notes a commitment to implement border management procedures, including disembarkation procedures, that will be sensitive to the needs of women, children, persons with disabilities, the elderly and others who may be at risk; and calls for intensifying international cooperation to strengthen search and rescue mechanisms. It also notes the need to: “vigorously combat” human trafficking and migrant smuggling, including through targeted measures to identify victims of trafficking; and ensure adequate, sustainable and predictable financing to enable host countries to respond to the immediate humanitarian and developmental needs of arriving refugees and migrants.

On commitments for refugees, the declaration: underlines the centrality of responsibility-sharing and burden-sharing in international refugee protection; encourages the adoption of legislation to facilitate access to civil registration and documentation for refugees, including birth registration, national identity cards and other personal documentation; recognizes that refugee camps should be “the exception” and, to the extent possible, temporary; encourages Member States to establish resettlement programmes at the earliest opportunity; calls for providing quality primary and secondary education for all refugee children within a few months of the initial displacement, and for ensuring that refugees’ health needs are met, such as through community-based projects and by reinforcing local health systems. The draft states that the Global Compact on Responsibility-Sharing for Refugees will be adopted during the HLM, and will be complementary to and have equal status with the Global Compact on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration.

On follow-up and review, the text requests the UN Secretary-General to ensure an annual assessment of progress on commitments made at the HLM, which should form part of the reporting to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The draft indicates that a further high-level meeting may be useful within the next few years to assess progress on commitments.

The HLM will convene on 19 September 2016, in New York, US. Modalities of the meeting were agreed by UN Member States on 17 June 2016. [Co-facilitators’ Letter and Zero Draft of Declaration] [IISD RS Story on Consultations on Outcome Elements] [IISD RS Story on Briefing on Global Compacts] [IISD RS Story on HLM Modalities] [IISD RS Story on Discussion of Report of UN Secretary-General] [HLM Website]


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