UN chief calls for expanding safe channels for regular migration

Dhaka, (UNB) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for commitment to human rights-based responses guided by the international law for expanding safe channels for regular migration. “We must expand safe channels for regular migration, including for family reunification, labour mobility at all skill levels, greater resettlement opportunities, and education opportunities for children and adults,” he said. The UN Chief made the remark in a message marking the International Migrants Day that falls on December 18, according to the message received here from the UN. “On International Migrants Day, let us commit to coherent, comprehensive and human-rights-based responses guided by international law and standards and a shared resolve to leave no one behind,” he said. The UN Secretary General also urged all countries to sign and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; only one fourth of United Nations Member States have done so. Ban said the world urgently needs to build upon these efforts with a new global compact on human mobility based on better cooperation among countries of origin, transit and destination, with enhanced responsibility sharing, and full respect of the human rights of migrants, regardless of their status. He said the year 2015 will be remembered as a year of human suffering and migrant tragedies. “Over the past 12 months, more than 5,000 women, men and children lost their lives in search of protection and a better life,” he said. The UN Chief said tens of thousands more have been exploited and abused by human traffickers. “And millions have been made into scapegoats and become the targets of xenophobic policies and alarmist rhetoric.” With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, world leaders vowed to protect the labour rights of migrant workers, combat transnational criminal human trafficking networks, and promote well-regulated migration and mobility, he said.