The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

11 April 2006

Mr. Chairperson, Distinguished Guests, Distinguished Delegates, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour and privilege for the ACP Secretariat to welcome you to this technical preparatory meeting for the 1^st Meeting of ACP Ministers in charge of Asylum, Migration and Mobility. I would like to thank you all for having responded positively to our invitation to examine together some pertinent issues that are essential for poverty eradication, sustainable development of our States and peoples, as well as the long-term future of the ACP Group. The general framework of our cooperation is laid down in the Georgetown Agreement, adopted in 1975 by the ACP Group. Since then, the fight against poverty and the promotion of sustainable development have been the key objectives of the ACP Group, as manifested in the Cotonou Agreement as well. 

I am pleased to be here today to reaffirm the importance of human development in terms of the implementation and operationalisation of our legal basis of cooperation with the European Commission.  Our people are the future, and we should do our utmost to create situations that contribute to their well-being and indeed development.

We are gathered here at a time when the international community has integrated the issue of Asylum, Migration and Mobility within the globalization context.  To this end, Asylum, Migration and Mobility can therefore be regarded as a cross- cutting issue in terms of the majority of the respective Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. Chairperson,

Population migration and mobility in the ACP States are a simple and concrete fact - it can even be considered, in most of our countries, as a real cultural heritage, having always been a feature in human development.

In the proceedings of your work over the next two days, you will consider all the issues related to the movement of people - forced or voluntary, legal or illegal.  The movement of people constitutes an increasingly complex process owing to the inter-related connectivity of history, geography, economic systems, sociological mores and political ideologies. I encourage you to consider these issues in a new, innovative, and holistic manner - the challenge is to go further than ever before, and not to limit the management of population mobility to the regulation of international migration.

Migration and Mobility constitute one of the major challenges facing ACP States and their development partners. We have entered the 21^st century knowing that the intensification of the movement of capital, goods and services, and the unprecedented growth in communication and transportation technologies have accelerated population mobility and generated new patterns thereof.  During your meeting, you will also discuss the contradictory effects of these movements - the existence of migrant workers brings benefits to the home countries, but the large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers is an index to the existence of political instability in their home countries. ACP

States should deal with all these migratory forms, especially within the framework of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, and particularly at this moment when developed countries are actively articulating policies aimed at preventing the in-flow of people from ACP States.

Mr. Chairperson,

You have the difficult task of ensuring that all aspects of your discussions over the next two days will be reflected in the draft Declaration and Plan of Action that you will be presenting to the 1^st Meeting of ACP Ministers in charge of Asylum, Migration and Mobility on Thursday 13 April 2006. From this general framework, you will have to reflect on the challenges for the ACP Group - (i) to ensure that people are able to freely and safely exercise their right to move legally within and between countries; (ii) fight against the phenomenon of illegal immigration; (iii) assist the ACP States to engage actively in political dialogue to address the challenges of population mobility; (iv) ensure the mobility of students and human resources; (v) evaluate the impact of brain drain; and (vi) increase intra-ACP cooperation on issues related to migration and mobility. 

Mr. Chairperson,

I am sure that the results of this meeting will assist the ACP Group of States to consider these issues in a coordinated, focused and well-structured manner. At the highest level, our Heads of States and Government have constantly underlined the need to follow closely the migration and development nexus in the formulation of development policies, programmes and projects. The Nadi and Maputo Declarations, adopted by our Heads of State and Government in 2002 and in 2004 respectively, have specific recommendations related to migration and development.

Our Ministers have also insisted on the necessary means to support capacities in ACP States for the management of migration flows, and decided to create an ACP Migration Facility that will finance capacity building in the ACP States to deal specifically with South-South Migration and migration flows to Western countries.

Mr. Chairperson, Distinguished Guests, Distinguished Delegates, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

You have a great responsibility over the next two days, since the conclusions of your meeting will also define the position and the general strategy of the ACP Group of States during the High-level meeting on Migration and Mobility that will be held in New York during September 2006. 

Today, I consider myself as a temporary migrant in Belgium. I invite you to endorse this status during the few days of your stay, and I am sure it will inspire your debates.  I wish you a successful meeting.

I thank you for your attention.