Partnerships and cooperation between countries and other stakeholders on the six key themes of the 2020 GFMD 

The third Regional Consultation held this year as part of the GFMD 2020 Regional Meetings involved the Asia Pacific region and it took place under the aegis of the Bali Process, a major Regional Consultative Process focused on combating people smuggling, trafficking in persons and transnational crime in the region. 

In January, the Summit will have the outcomes of all six consultations as background documents, thanks to the work of a group of Thematic Leads, experts selected to follow the proceedings of the Regional Meetings, ensure coherence between regions and assist in the preparation of the Summit Roundtables.  

Each Thematic Lead anchors one theme and the Bali Process consultations focused discussions on three key thematic areas: exploring means of leveraging technology to empower migrants; addressing gaps in migrant protection; and issues relating to irregular migration. 

“Partnership is crucial in addressing the challenges of migration” – the voice of civil society at the Asia Pacific Regional Consultation 

Sumitha Kishna, director of the NGO Our Journey, presented opening remarks on behalf of Civil Society in the region, stressing the importance of the preparatory meetings held within civil society to arrive prepared at the regional consultative processes, which allowed them to be able to bring everyone’s voice collectively. 

Partnerships, this year’s key theme, was highlighted several times in Sumitha’s speech, who emphasized the necessity to “include all stakeholders, employers groups, trade unions, civil society organizations and where they exist also National Human Rights Institutions in the discussions to be truly effective in addressing and protecting migrants’ rights.” 

She also called on a change of perspective about regular and irregular migration pathways: migrants migrating through irregular channels or migrants becoming undocumented are the evidence of states failing in implementing and monitoring their migration systems, not the other way round. 

Click here to read Sumitha’s full intervention  

For more information about the regional meetings, please consult the following page.