World | Philippines
Ban calls for migrant workers' protection
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged developed countries not to drive away migrant workers while solving their economic ills.
- By Estrella Torres, Correspondent
- Published: 23:43 October 29, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Protesters march towards the Philippine International Convention Centre in Manila, the venue for the opening ceremony of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, addressed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday.
Manila: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged developed countries not to drive away migrant workers while solving their economic ills.
"It is beneficial for developed countries to support and create favourable conditions for the migrant workers in their host countries," Ban told leaders of member states, who are attending the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Manila.
"We should all look at the practical aspect of containing [the effects of the financial crisis and protecting migrant workers is one solution to that problem]," Ban said, adding that developed countries must deal with overseas workers properly while leaders are addressing their country's financial crisis.
Explaining the negative impact of restraining the flow of migrant workers in developed countries, Ban said, "If we [in the developed countries] needlessly constrain legal means for migration, migration will flow through unsafe and irregular channels.
"This will undermine confidence in our ability to govern and that confidence has already been damaged by the financial crisis," he said.
Constraints
"If there are constraints, this migration will go to illegal channels that will create more problems to social integration of the migrants," Ban warned.
He said that developed countries should stop dwelling on "political discourse on immigration [that] has become discouragingly negative [and has been] heightening the risk of discrimination [on overseas workers]".
With additional inputs by Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief.
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