Global Forum on Migration & Development
So, we've (or, rather, they've) got Global Forum on Migration & Development
I'll check more later. But what I know is: their (govts') policy on migration is - strategically - a disaster; and on "development" - the best, even if a bit too sharp, quote I know is the famous one from "Development dictionary": "The idea of development stands like a ruin in the intellectual landscape. Delusion and disappointment, failures and crimes have been the steady companions of development and they tell a common story: it did not work…. Nevertheless, the ruin stands there and still dominates the scenery like a landmark."
In the meantime:
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By Mark John
BRUSSELS, July 9 (Reuters) - A senior U.N. official criticised some European countries on Monday for failing to work together to cope with migration, urging them to tackle it with more spending on aid and education.
U.N. Special Representative for Migration Peter Sutherland also said the United States risked undermining global efforts to address migration by snubbing a global forum on the issue due to
open in Brussels on Tuesday.
Sutherland said countries such as Spain and Malta could not deal alone with the thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa who have headed across the Mediterranean to Europe's southern
shores, and that it was a problem for Europe as a whole.
"It is absurd not to have a common European policy. To think that one can champion national sovereignty on migration is insanity because it is ostrich-like," Sutherland, a former World
Trade Organisation chief and ex-European commissioner, told Reuters in an interview.
"To simply pretend that the Pyrenees (mountain range) becomes the line of defence is ludicrous."
He noted that many of those who landed in Spain or elsewhere in southern Europe saw their final goal as one of the rich countries of the north.
NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE
Malta and others have accused their northern European Union partners of leaving them to address the problem alone, pointing to the fact that the new EU border agency Frontex has suffered
persistent shortages of everything from boats to helicopters.
African migration has triggered rows within the bloc. Some northern states were infuriated by a Spanish move in 2005 to grant amnesty to some 600,000 illegal migrants.
"Europe has to get its act together," said Sutherland. "There is a price to be paid here. Nor can you dump it all on the Spaniards."
Europe and the West should spend more on development in poor countries to alleviate the misery that prompts many migrants to leave their homes, while also paying for education and cultural
adaptation of migrants taken in by host countries, he said.
Sutherland was in Brussels on the eve of the first "Global Forum on Migration and Development", an effort launched by former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan to prompt greater international cooperation in addressing migration.
The two-day forum will hear from officials from some 145 countries, who hope to produce ideas for non-binding initiatives and policy guidelines to better channel migration.
A glaring absence will be that of the United States, which will be represented by a single observer. Washington has argued that migration is best tackled by existing regional forums.
Sutherland acknowledged it was a "big worry" that the U.S. absence could undermine the impact of the initiative and said he failed to understand Washington's reluctance to take part.
BTW, Peter Sutherland has quite an impressive career path. From WTO to BP to the UN. Hmmmm.
I'll check more later. But what I know is: their (govts') policy on migration is - strategically - a disaster; and on "development" - the best, even if a bit too sharp, quote I know is the famous one from "Development dictionary": "The idea of development stands like a ruin in the intellectual landscape. Delusion and disappointment, failures and crimes have been the steady companions of development and they tell a common story: it did not work…. Nevertheless, the ruin stands there and still dominates the scenery like a landmark."
In the meantime:
-----------------------------------------
By Mark John
BRUSSELS, July 9 (Reuters) - A senior U.N. official criticised some European countries on Monday for failing to work together to cope with migration, urging them to tackle it with more spending on aid and education.
U.N. Special Representative for Migration Peter Sutherland also said the United States risked undermining global efforts to address migration by snubbing a global forum on the issue due to
open in Brussels on Tuesday.
Sutherland said countries such as Spain and Malta could not deal alone with the thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa who have headed across the Mediterranean to Europe's southern
shores, and that it was a problem for Europe as a whole.
"It is absurd not to have a common European policy. To think that one can champion national sovereignty on migration is insanity because it is ostrich-like," Sutherland, a former World
Trade Organisation chief and ex-European commissioner, told Reuters in an interview.
"To simply pretend that the Pyrenees (mountain range) becomes the line of defence is ludicrous."
He noted that many of those who landed in Spain or elsewhere in southern Europe saw their final goal as one of the rich countries of the north.
NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE
Malta and others have accused their northern European Union partners of leaving them to address the problem alone, pointing to the fact that the new EU border agency Frontex has suffered
persistent shortages of everything from boats to helicopters.
African migration has triggered rows within the bloc. Some northern states were infuriated by a Spanish move in 2005 to grant amnesty to some 600,000 illegal migrants.
"Europe has to get its act together," said Sutherland. "There is a price to be paid here. Nor can you dump it all on the Spaniards."
Europe and the West should spend more on development in poor countries to alleviate the misery that prompts many migrants to leave their homes, while also paying for education and cultural
adaptation of migrants taken in by host countries, he said.
Sutherland was in Brussels on the eve of the first "Global Forum on Migration and Development", an effort launched by former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan to prompt greater international cooperation in addressing migration.
The two-day forum will hear from officials from some 145 countries, who hope to produce ideas for non-binding initiatives and policy guidelines to better channel migration.
A glaring absence will be that of the United States, which will be represented by a single observer. Washington has argued that migration is best tackled by existing regional forums.
Sutherland acknowledged it was a "big worry" that the U.S. absence could undermine the impact of the initiative and said he failed to understand Washington's reluctance to take part.
BTW, Peter Sutherland has quite an impressive career path. From WTO to BP to the UN. Hmmmm.