Tuesday 23 September 2003

Press Briefing Notes
Tuesday 23 September 2003
Spokesperson: Jean-Philippe Chauzy

1. DUBAI - DG Addresses Bankers on Arab Migration Issues
2. FRANCE - Trafficking in Unaccompanied Minors in the EU
3. KENYA - Cultural Orientation for Australia-bound Migrants

DUBAI - DG Addresses Bankers on Arab Migration Issues - IOM Director General Brunson McKinley yesterday told an audience of international bankers and policy makers that international dialogue on migration management was now essential in a world increasingly focused on security.

He was speaking at a conference organized by the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies and hosted by UAE Finance Minister Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, timed to coincide with this weekend's IMF and World Bank meetings in Dubai.

Describing migration as "one of the major policy concerns of the 21st Century" he said that "in our shrinking world, more and more people will look to migration, temporary or permanent, as a path to employment, education, freedom, or other opportunities."

The Middle East hosts 10% of the world's migrants and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have the highest percentage of foreign workers anywhere in the world - sometimes accounting for up to 75% of the workforce.

McKinley told his audience that the Arab world is unique in migration terms, comprising countries that rely heavily on foreign workers; countries which export labour and depend on remittances; countries that have special relationships with other receiving countries and countries which serve as transit routes for irregular migrants from outside the region.

Saudi Arabia is host to some six million migrant workers - over a quarter of its total workforce. In Kuwait and the UAE, migrant workers account for nearly three-quarters of the workforce.

Remittances sent to home by migrant workers from the GCC countries make a huge contribution to the economies of developing countries. In 2002 Egyptians working in the GCC sent home US 1.28 billion in remittances, while Pakistani workers sent home some $470 million from the UAE and US$63 million from Oman.

Faced with population growth and rising levels of unemployment at home, receiving countries in the Arab world are reviewing the role of migrant workers, resulting in a growing need for "dialogue between sending and receiving countries, capacity building in migration management, and outreach to help migrant workers contribute to the development of their home countries," said McKinley.

While in Dubai, McKinley also signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai Aid City, a UAE initiative that plans to offer a logistics hub for humanitarian agencies to respond to emergencies worldwide.

FRANCE - Trafficking in Unaccompanied Minors in the EU - IOM Paris is organizing a two-day international conference on trafficking in Unaccompanied Minors (UAMs) in EU Member States.

The conference, which will take place in Paris on 25 and 26 September, will bring together representatives and policy makers from the European Commission, International Organizations, NGOs, government authorities, and various public institutions working on children, migration and refugee issues.

The first day of the conference will focus on research carried out in Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom and an overview of trafficking in UAMs in 10 EU Member States.

The second day will focus on the dynamics of trafficking, on UAMs living conditions and on efforts to provide protection and assistance to victims of trafficking. The issues of prevention and actions taken to combat trafficking in human beings will also be discussed.

Despite a lack of comprehensive data, there has been a marked increase in the number of unaccompanied minors trafficked to the EU for sexual and/or economic exploitation such as begging, pick pocketing and forced labour.

This increase can be partly explained by requirements from the informal sector or sex trade. For instance, the increased demand for young women and girls can be linked to a growing demand for unsafe sex; the assumption being that young people are less likely to be infected with sexually transmitted diseases or HIV/AIDS.

Victims usually come from countries facing severe socio-economic crisis or from broken homes. In some cases, minors have reported that their parents readily accepted and actively encouraged their migration as a form of subsistence for the entire family.

The main regions of origin of the victims are Central and Eastern Europe (Moldova, Romania and Ukraine), Africa (Nigeria and Sierra Leone) and Asia (China, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka).

This Conference is part of the European Commission's STOP Programme, aims to improve and strengthen the exchange of information among those responsible for preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, as well as those responsible for caring and providing assistance to unaccompanied minors and victims of trafficking.

For more information, contact Jean Philippe Chauzy Tel: 41.79.285.4366. Information is available at the following address: www.belgium.iom.int/STOPParis/

KENYA - Cultural Orientation for Australia-bound Migrants - The IOM Office in Nairobi is providing cultural orientation classes for Australia-bound migrants.

Following an announcement from the Australian Government to provide pre-departure cultural orientation classes for refugee and other humanitarian entrants from the East Africa region, IOM and DIMIA (the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) signed an agreement last month to begin a twelve-month pilot programme in the region.

IOM expects to assist some 1,000 prospective refugee and humanitarian entrants ages between 12 and 60. The pre-departure orientation sessions will be offered Nairobi as well as Kakuma and Dadaab, refugee camps in northern Kenya, and in Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

The Australian High Commissioner to Kenya, His Excellency, Mr. Paul Comfort, recently told a group of migrants who had graduated form the class, "This is a major step that you are about to embark on. We are well aware of the difficulties that you have all faced in the past and that you have been forced to flee your home country. Australia is proud to be able to offer you a chance to resettle in a country where you can build a future free from fear and persecution."

IOM has provided migrant-training programmes for 500,000 participants in over 25 countries. Cultural orientation classes are regularly conducted for US-bound refugees all over the continent; over 60,000 refugees have benefited from attending these courses. The project also coordinates pre-departure classes for Canada-bound refugees. Some 5,000 persons have participated in those classes since June 1999. IOM also conducts orientation sessions for Norway and Finland-bound refugees in Africa.