Welcome to this edition of IDM. I'm pleased to open this edition of the International Migration Dialogue, inspired and informed on discussions in the run-up to the International Migration Review Forum, taking place in May. I assume that as it is at IOM, the IMRF will be a central topic of discussion in your workplaces, households and daydreams for the next few months. It is thus a particular pleasure this morning to welcome with us the President of the General Assembly to hear his thoughts and expectations for the IMRF as well as the permanent representatives of Bangladesh, one of the two co-facilitators for the Intergovernmental Consultations leading to the IMRF Progress Declaration. I would also like to welcome the Ambassador of Costa Rica to the United Nations here in Geneva and Chair of IOM Council. Colleagues, the International Migration Review Forum presents a unique and important opportunity to reflect on the progress towards the implementation of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. It is not just a moment for states to come together. Migrant associations, civil society, private sector, trade unions and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to join a stakeholder consultation immediately preceding the IMRF and then participate in all aspects of the forum itself. But we also have the opportunity to set out some issues and concerns over the next three days. Some timely, some urgent, but also matters which risk being left behind in both domestic and multilateral discussions. And there are many to discuss. Since the adoption of the global compact in 2018, progress has indeed been made, but much has also changed in the world. First, we must continue to explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for migrants and ensure that people on the move are not left behind as the world seeks to overcome the pandemic and recover. We have an urgent need to work together across borders, across economies and across sectors to enhance the predictability and the certainty of cross-border mobility while fully integrating public health and protection concerns and build capacity to manage admission and stay safely and equitably. At the IOM Council in December, I heard a call from many of governments during the iLevel segment that we should address the re-establishment of coordinated and predictable global mobility and continue to support those migrants altered in transit or stranded as a result of the measures taken to deal with the pandemic. The future of mobility cannot become precarious or the preserve of the few. We must work to ensure that it is equitable for all, that is what is required to relaunch the world economy. And we must continue to include migrants in all aspects of the pandemic recovery itself. IOM's existing data and research suggests that migrants quickly become one of the hardest eat groups during an economic downturn, particularly women and young people, and are more likely to become unemployed or find precarious work which does not guarantee sufficient income. During times of increasing economic pressure, discrimination towards migrants may also become more prevalent. The economic impacts of the pandemic have already been felt by many migrants, with overseas workers returning in large numbers to their home countries, while others choose to undertake dangerous irregular journeys to find work. Recovery efforts will need to be fully inclusive, including vaccine distribution and programming, providing migrants with access to basic services from health to education. These actions become particularly important if we are to recoup lost ground in the pursuit of the sustainable development goals. But we must also deliver on the opportunities of migration as well as the challenges. IOM is exploring the different ways in which the pandemic has shifted patterns of movement and the interlinkages with other sectors, from employment to cross-border trade. We must also re-examine systems for skilled migration to fill persistent labor shortages even despite the pandemic. Once empowered, I believe that migrants can and do make significant contributions to their communities, whether host or at-home, and become a vector for sustainable development. IOM will continue to explore the various impacts that the pandemic has had on patterns of mobility, signal concerns, flag opportunities to work together, and adapt our programming accordingly. Some issues remain tragically persistent. More than 45,000 people have died during migration journeys worldwide since 2014. The IMRF is also an opportunity to discuss the effective provision of life-saving humanitarian assistance for these victims, all those in situations of vulnerability, as we shall explore in our session later today. We must also address the bottlenecks related to combating the crimes of smuggling and trafficking, search and rescue operations, and related capacity development initiatives. We must prevent as well as protect. We must also prepare for the future. The adverse effects of climate change and environmental degradation are profoundly reshaping contemporary migration patterns worldwide in different ways. IOM does not only provide humanitarian response, but is also supporting communities, including indigenous communities, local and national governments, to better prepare in the depth to both slow onset processes and disasters. Our efforts to avert and minimize displacement induced by these climate hazards is aligned with the global compact objectives. As we look towards COP 27, working in the UN system and with other bilateral and regional partners to ensure that human mobility induced by climate change is fully accounted for and addressed in global negotiations, we have an opportunity to prepare the groundwork for that discussion during the IMRF. Finally, we must address the fundamentals. Every person has the right to be recognized as a person before the law, as a human being, and to enjoy their human rights without discrimination. While the right to a legal identity is universally recognized, access to proof of legal identity remains a challenge in several regions across the globe, as noted by the Secretary General's report on the implementation of the global compact launched the week before the last. Ladies and gentlemen, this IDM discussion and indeed the IMRF itself constitutes an important stop along the way to the long-term goal of realizing the 23 objectives of the global compact, benefiting from its 360 degree view. Our commitments are not periodic, but they are continuous. In this regard, the network is driving a pledging initiative in the lead up to the IMRF, allowing member states to pledge actionable commitments to further the implementation of the GCM. The Secretary General's report on the GCM offers balanced recommendations focusing on inclusivity, strengthening regular pathways, greater efforts to save lives and track missing migrants, and last but not least, capacity building. This can fall, I believe, a good basis for member states to develop more concrete pledges, as well as our discussions here today. We are delighted to have already received confirmation that most member states will be represented at least ministerial level with several contemplating Adolf State representation. I strongly encourage all of you to engage at the highest level at the IMRF, not just on the issues I've highlighted, but on all 23 objectives integrating to the compact guiding principles, sending a strong signal of committed multilateralism on international migration. I look forward to our discussions ahead this week and in the coming months. It is your commitment and your ambition that will drive success in May, setting a tone of consolidation, ambition and cooperation. Thank you. And after these opening remarks, I am delighted to welcome His Excellency Abdullah Shahid, the President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, and invite the President his keynote remarks. Please. Excellencies distinguished delegates, I thank you for inviting me to participate in this timely event to help prepare for and set the tone for the first International Migration Review Forum. It will take place from 17th to 20th May 2022 under the auspices of the UN General Assembly. As anticipated in the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, during this dialogue, we will exchange views and reflect on our success and failures in implementing its provisions. By doing so, we will also fulfill our responsibility outlined in the modalities resolution of the forum. This resolution invites the International Dialogue for Migration to and I Court contribute to the International Migration Review Forum by providing relevant data, evidence, best practices, innovative approaches and recommendations as they relate to the implementation of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. Throughout our conversation, let us recall that the adoption of the compact was a historic opportunity to shape a new global framework for migration. That choice stemmed for our common conviction that through the international cooperation, we can manage global migration in a manner that is effective, just human and beneficial to migrant communities and host countries alike. To that end, we have made commendable strides in the past three years despite the challenges of COVID-19. Yet our successes remain fragile and we must solidify and build upon them. Much work remains to be done and our concerted action is needed. The tasks before us are plenty addressing unregulated migration, building inclusive societies, rescuing lives and protecting the most vulnerable, and expanding social protections to cover migrants, including by providing them access to healthcare and vaccination, just to name a few. As we prepare to engage on these topics, I acknowledge and applaud that this international migration dialogue is aligned with the priorities set by the United Nations Secretary General in his report on the progress on the implementation of the global compact. I will be eager to receive the outcomes of this dialogue. Dear colleagues, migration is a key feature of a more interconnected world. Despite significant concerns about its economic and social implications, the movement of people across the world's borders boosts global productivity. It's often been seen that the countries that prioritize integration stand to make the most of this potential, improving outcomes for their own economies and societies as well as for immigrants themselves. Today, we will discuss some of the most pressing issues pertinent to migrants and migration, including combating the rapid growth of migrant smuggling and human trafficking networks, the new challenges in addressing inclusion, and the positive role of remittances in alleviating financial burdens. I urge the participants to build on this dialogue and to use the intervening time between now and the IMRF to listen and prepare. Through robust communication policies, we must set a positive narrative and combat the increasing stigmatization, racism and xenophobia that increase in numbers of migrants endure. We must urge countries to move beyond words and implement comprehensive, effective, and humane migrant policies in practice. These policies must be aligned with our broader vision of facilitating planned, safe, and regular pathways for migration while offering protection to those who need it. We must call on policymakers to recognize and value the role migrants play in these countries. They are entitled to compensation for their work, to protection without discrimination, and to key social services in countries of origin and destination. And we must call on states and stakeholders to act with trust and solidarity to implement migration policies that are aligned with the global compact as part of our efforts to recover better, meet the sustainable development goals, and usher in a brighter, safer future for everyone. I thank you and wish you all a very productive discussion. I want to reiterate my thanks to his excellency, the president of the General Assembly, for having addressed this IDM. And now I want to welcome her excellency, Rabab Fatima, ambassador, permanent representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, and one of the co-facilitators of the IMRF Progress Declaration. A big task, Madam Ambassador. You have the floor. Thank you. Thank you very much, Director General Viterino.  Thank you. President of the General Assembly, Director General Antonio Viterino, chair of IMRC, Ambassador Catalina Aguilar, Excellencies Distinguished Delegates. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of Ambassador Olivia Meis, permanent representative of Luxembourg to the United Nations, and on my own behalf in our role as co-facilitators to conduct the consultations on the Progress Declaration to be adopted at the first International Migration Review Forum in May this year. We thank the president of the General Assembly for reposing his trust in us to undertake this important responsibility. We are committed to leading open, transparent, and inclusive intergovernmental consultations to agree on an evidence-based and action-oriented Progress Declaration as mandated by the UN General Assembly Resolution 73-326. We thank you, Mr. Director General, for inviting us to address the opening session of the first International Dialogue on Migration, session of 2022, and to share our views and plans with you. The theme of this IDM, Global Compact for Migration Implementation in Practice, Successes, Challenges, and Innovative Approaches, is very timely. We appreciate its dedicated focus on the first International Migration Review Forum. This will be helpful not only to identify the priorities of our stakeholders for the Progress Declaration, but also to have deeper understanding on the way forward to reach a common ground. Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, since its adoption in December 2018, member states have achieved significant progress in implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration. Earlier this month, the Secretary General, in presenting his report with the UN General Assembly, highlighted concrete steps that countries have taken to make migration more safe, more orderly, and more regular. Yet he also put the spotlight on the challenges ahead of us, which have often been exacerbated by the impacts by the COVID-19 pandemic. Against this backdrop, the first IMRF offers a timely opportunity to demonstrate international solidarity and partnership to overcome these challenges. We wish to seize the opportunity of this migration dialogue to ensure the right tone and level of admission in the Progress Declaration. Allow us to share a few specific thoughts in this regard. Firstly, we wish to table a zero draft by mid-March. Prior to that, we will convene a virtual informal briefing on the 3rd of March for member states and have a town hall briefing on the 7th of this month for other stakeholders. We have already circulated the concept note and some guiding questions to facilitate fruitful discussions at those two meetings. We are also working with the Network on Migration to launch an online discussion space for the Progress Declaration that will provide stakeholders with the opportunity to submit written comments and remain engaged with us throughout the process. Secondly, the zero draft will be informed by the Secretary General's report, the regional reviews undertaken, the migration dialogue series hosted by the Network on Migration, the discussions at this session of the IBM, as well as broad consultations with member states and other relevant stakeholders. Thirdly, in terms of the focus of the Declaration, we wish to highlight not only on the overall evaluation of progress in implementing the Global Compact and its 23 objectives, but also the GCM's 360-degree approach and the guiding principles. We shall seek to include lessons from our responses to the COVID-19 pandemic for strengthening international cooperation, and we aim to reinforce the linkages between the Global Compact and the 23rd agenda for sustainable development. Fourthly, the Secretary General's report identified four priority areas that member states may wish to focus on to achieve future progress, namely inclusivity, strengthening regular pathways, doing more to save lives and track missing migrants, and reinforcing capacity building. We envisage a forward-looking document to guide action in areas that require further progress during the next four years. We would encourage member states and other stakeholders to guide us with specific ideas and inputs to strengthen our collective action to achieve the Global Compact's commitments. Finally, we recognize and appreciate the important role of the UN Network on Migration and that of the Director General of IUM as its coordinator to advance our collective efforts in the Compact's implementation. We hope that the first IMRF will lead to strong pledges to advance the implementation of the GCM. Let me conclude by reiterating that Ambassador Olivia Maes and I look forward to staring an open, transparent, inclusive and participatory process. We will soon share with you a concrete roadmap to guide the consultations in the coming weeks. It will be important distinguished delegates, excellencies, important for all stakeholders to engage constructively, to identify the key priority areas, to bridge gaps and to forge consensus. And we will count on your constructive engagement and collaboration for a meaningful and consensual outcome. I thank you all. Thank you so much, Madam Co-Facilitator and I wish you all the luck. Thank you so much. Now I will turn to His Excellency Ambassador Catalina Devandas, who is the Permanent Representative of Costa Rica here in Geneva, and Chair of IUM Council. Madam Ambassador, you have the floor. Thank you very much, President and Secretary-General and Robert Fatima, Permanent Representative for Bangladesh and Co-Facilitator of the Progress Declaration of the IMRF and Steam Colleagues. We start this first international dialogue on migration of this year in a very complex context with a conflict in the middle of Europe that has already forced more than 400,000 people to be displaced. This very serious humanitarian crisis requires once more a solid response from the international community in order to guarantee the security of the people, reduce the risks to their lives and integrity, and to protect them from situations that increases their vulnerability while they're on the move. The crisis is once again making it evident how important it is to strengthen cooperation. They need to have better and stronger humanitarian responses based on international human rights law. They need to strengthen the international governments of migration so that we can rise to the occasion. I celebrate this dialogue for several reasons. First, I'd like to congratulate you for choosing the topics that the sessions will work against, reducing the risks and vulnerabilities for migrants, the importance to facilitate regular migration, and the need to advance social and economic inclusion of migrants. It's impossible not to focus on how to save lives and protect those who are already in a vulnerable position of situations such as the human trafficking. How can we avoid talking about securing basic rights through regularization and how to tackle the structural inequalities and also on the need to advance towards inclusive social protection systems, hopefully universal ones, so we can be better prepared to face crises such as that that we have faced in the pandemic, and also to recover better from those crises and to be better prepared for those who may face in the future. All of these areas are relevant as we have said for member states in our efforts to prepare towards the International Migration Review Forum. This dialogue becomes more relevant because it's so close to the review period. Our discussions can inform in a significant and pertinent way the IMRF, but they're also important due to its inclusivity and its transparency, so giving opportunity to the different stakeholders to share their views, their knowledge, and their experience in the search for better practices to find issues to resolve, and also in order to take the necessary measures when starting the second implementation period for the global compact. As the general director said, we have huge challenges in order to recover the lost ground, both from the global compact and also on the sustainable development goals, but also due to the higher inequalities to the challenges that we have to face due to climate change, to the need to reduce the risks against disasters and emergencies, and protecting those displaced communities. The huge challenge of combating discrimination and xenophobia against all populations and migrant peoples. We have to increase our technical ability in a coordinated manner with integral actions and also with actions where the role of multilateral discussions such as today's will be fundamental. The level of the panelists that have been invited to this discussion is also a guarantee that the conversations will be highly productive and the outcomes very necessary. I would like to end alerting all member states asking them to take part in this dialogue today to review all the efforts that have been carried out so far, both by the general secretary and by the organization, and to use the results that we have consolidated so far in order to prepare all our responses and efforts towards the IMRF. Thank you very much and I wish you the best for the success of today's debate. Many thanks, esteemed president. I recognize my thanks to all who have participated and now I ask the deputy director general of IOM Ugochi Daniels to moderate the first panel of this afternoon. Ugochi, you have the floor. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much DG and good afternoon your Excellencies, colleagues from IOM. It's a pleasure for me to be moderating this panel with such an esteemed guest of panelists. More than 47,000 people have died during migration journeys worldwide since 2014, according to IOM's missing migrants project. Many more migrants deaths remain undocumented, both those who die on irregular pathways and in destination countries. Beyond this, migrant bodies, even when documented, are only rarely identified, meaning that countless families face the ambiguous loss of not knowing what happened to their relatives after they left home. Many of those affected by such a loss are women and girls who have lost a husband, father or brother, who beyond the terrible grief of losing a loved one face legal, social, economic and administrative barriers linked to the loss of a head of household or breadwinner. It's very unfortunate. Scenes involving dozens and sometimes hundreds of migrant lives lost at sea or on land have become all too frequent. Some of the images like that of two-year-old Alan Curdie or Valeria Martinez Ramirez will forever haunt us. Scenes involving dozens and sometimes hundreds of migrant lives lost at sea need to become a thing of the past. The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted efforts to make migration safer and prevent deaths and disappearances. There's evidence that pandemic-related border closures have reduced already limited opportunities for regular migration, pushing more people to take unsafe, irregular routes that put them at greater risk of disappearance and death. The global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration evokes a moral and humanitarian imperative to prevent the loss of life and other tragedies during migration. Objective eight of the compact includes commitments and a range of actions for governments and stakeholders to save lives and to establish coordinated international efforts on missing migrants. However, as highlighted in the report of the Secretary General, objective eight of the compact has received too little attention from governments, with very few examples of concrete actions provided in the 2021 regional reviews. As such, the IMRF will be an opportunity to reinvigorate this commitment. And we hope that today's panel will feed into this process. We have three really outstanding speakers. As I started off, it's a privilege for me to be moderating this panel, and they will present good practices as well as challenges faced on the ground when trying to prevent the loss of life during migration, assisting the families of those left behind and protecting migrants in vulnerable situations. On the panel, I'm very pleased we have Miriam Yasin Haki-Yusuf, the Special Envoy for Children's and Migrants Rights, Office of the Prime Minister, the federal public of Somalia, who will share Somalia's experience in protecting migrants, including migrants in countries in crises, and those who have returned from a treacherous journey across the Sea of Aden. We're also joined by Florian Van Koenig, Deputy Head Missing Persons Project at the ICRC, who will focus on identification and the impacts of migrant deaths on the families left behind. Spelling out steps that are required when a missing person is reported by a family identification of remains and international information sharing. And we're also joined by Lala Arabian, the Executive Manager and Project Coordinator for INSAN Association Cross Regional Center for Refugees and Migrants. He will speak on the protection of migrants in vulnerable situations with a focus on migrant children, women and young girls. Dear panelists, you're very welcome. And let me start with Ambassador Yasin. In your current role as Special Envoy, you've been at the frontline, saving lives and rescuing stranded migrants in Somalia and abroad. Could you share with us your thoughts on how migrant deaths could be prevented and any examples you have of innovative practices that have contributed to saving the lives of migrants? Do you have any suggestions as to how we can achieve greater focus and results on Objective 8 of the GCN? Ambassador, you have the floor. Thank you very much for giving me the floor. I am very pleased to be here today and represent the Somali government. And on behalf of the Somali government, I wish to extend our greetings to the IOM colleagues, to the President of the UN General Assembly and to his Excellency Viterino and all the colleagues of IOM and the Member State as well. As you are aware, Somalia is a country of origin and is a country of destination and transit of mixed migration flows in the Horn of Africa, but also coming from Yemen. We have been in front line in rescue missions when it comes to stranded Somali migrants across the globe and we've been closely working with IOM with the support of the European Union. And when we say that since 2014, we had 14,000 people that lost their life during migration journeys. What really struck my mind is that those thousand and thousand out there who lost their lives and they have not get the chance to even be documented. Most of the numbers of the missing migrants are being told to us by the survivors of this very risky and dangerous journey. Somalia is committed to the implementation of the GCM and we live in a situation of really a complexity of migration reality, which is further complicated by different factors of the country, including the instability posed by al-Shawab, the conflicts, the climate change, the drought and other vulnerabilities that are faced by migrants crossing the country, but also the host community that are also forced to migrate. It is a sad reality and I say that really with, as somebody who has been in front line with colleagues from the government in rescue operations, many of our youth are still embarking in risky and an irregular journey. And sometimes we really ask ourselves, what is the way out? And according to IOM data, in a short period of time, in 2021, 7,000 Somali youth crossed the country irregularly. And they go also of human rights violation and lawful detention and kidnapping. I came to know yesterday from a family that has contacted my team through our embassy in New York that there's one particular migrant who is now held kidnapped by human traffickers and the brother and the family paid so far a ransom of $30,000. This is the highest amount I hear since I've been appointed in this position in 2016. So we see that unfortunately more human rights are violated and more these networks of criminals are more and more connected and they're reaching out to our youth more before us. So we would like to bring as an example the diaspora commitment when it comes to the Somali diaspora. But before that, I also would like to highlight that as our commitment to the GCN, but also commitment to the people of Somalia, the government of Somalia is committed to address the root causes of the various organized ways of irregular migration and also tackling insecurity, poverty, so on and so forth. The diaspora has been really in front line in development in Somalia, in the political participation, but also bringing, coming back home and starting off businesses involving the youth and giving a lot of job opportunities. I am myself a person from the diaspora and so many of us have returned home voluntarily to contribute to the development of the country on the different phases and especially in the business. Somali diaspora have been bringing back their expectations as a migration also an expert, but also really understanding the root causes that forced so many of our people to migrate irregularly. And as we talk, we have also working closely with the Somali diaspora and the Somali business community to make sure that job opportunities are given to the survivors of human trafficking in Somalia. I don't know if you have further questions for me or I can go on. I don't know if you want to bring in others on board or you want me to continue. Thank you very much Ambassador, why don't we do a round and finish with all the panelists. We also have statements that will be that will come from the floor and then if we have any time after that then I will certainly come back to you. And so right now I would and thank you very much again. And now I move on to Florian and thank you once again for joining us. Of course the ICRC has been a long-standing international actor helping to resolve missing persons cases through the missing persons project. So in this context can you tell us more about how deaths and disappearances in the context of migration pose unique challenges and how objective aid of the global compact on migration can help to address these? And what about the guidance on missing migrants that ICRC has developed with civil society actors? Could you please also share with us the details regarding this guidance? So over to you Florian. Thank you very much Morgocchi for the invitation to participate in this very important discussions. I hope you can hear me well. Loud and clear. Go ahead. Okay well yeah greetings from Geneva from the Central Tracing Agency which is the part of the ICRC that I work for and while the missing persons project that you have just mentioned has been doing its work for four years now the Central Tracing Agency has been looking for missing persons for about 150 years and missing migrants is becoming a more and more important part of that. And so I'd like to focus on four challenges. The first one the first challenge that I see is and you already mentioned it in your introduction is the challenge of scope. You mentioned 47,000 people that have gone missing since 2014. We know this is an undercount because many deaths are simply not reported. There's also the thousands of migrants who go missing alive because they're in detention because in a situation where they cannot communicate with their family they might be stuck in a conflict zone they might be unaccompanied children. There's also the question of scope geographically. So what we observe is that often the question of missing migrants is perceived as one of death at sea and that is simply not the case. There are so many other situations in which migrants go missing all along migration routes. You have people going missing in in deserts in the jungle in the Darien Gap. You have a lot of migrants go missing actually in countries of destination. So that means all these countries of transit and destination they're affected by this problem and they need to be part of the solution and that also counts for countries of origin because this is where a lot of the families are and it's the families that start the search. It's the families that actually report in most cases that somebody has gone missing. So there is a very important role for countries of origin as well. The second issue I'd like to mention is perhaps the most important one to me is invisibility or that's how I would call it and we know if something is not visible then you don't feel particularly compelled to do something about it and that is a big problem when we talk about missing migrants because irregular migration is often clandestine and it happens out of you. That is for example a problem when it comes to prevention. There's examples of migratory policies and practices pushbacks for examples that contribute directly to people going missing and dying and the less visibility these practices receive the less visible they are the more the easier it is simply to continue these practices and that fits into the broader issue of rights and protection. I think it's important to reiterate that even though irregular migration might be taking place out of sight that does not mean it's taking place in a legal vacuum and migrants like everyone else are protected by international law by international human rights law and states have corresponding obligations including as regards search and rescue, the prohibition of enforced disappearance and many other principles and rules and standards. The third issue the third challenge I want to focus on is the impact of families and you've already mentioned some of the key points the fact that families really find themselves in a state of limbo not knowing what happened to their loved one the economic impact which you just mentioned the legal impact of a husband who disappears the wife might not even have control of a property guardianship of children until the situation is resolved there's also often a case of stigma of an of a failed migratory project and where families are themselves migrants their integration into host countries might actually be affected because such families tend to invest everything they have into searching for their missing relative and how do you search if your relative has gone missing thousands of miles away possibly on a different continent and that brings me to the fourth point which is the complexity of the response so if you look at the search process you need to know who is actually missing and for this families and others need to be able to record to register cases in countries of origin in countries of transit and in countries of destination because that's where families are and this inflammation includes basic personal data on the sort person their physical appearance the migration route that they have taken and anything else that could help their location and identification then on the other hand you have information on unidentified human remains on people who have died in an accident or persons who are alive but unable to reestablish contact with their families and it's these two sets of information that you need to compare and and and match to ultimately find or identified someone and this effort needs to start it needs to start at the national level to ensure that unidentified human remains for example are recorded managed in a dignified manner and that information on missing persons is similarly recorded and that both are centralized at national level and then of course all this information needs to be shared transnationally and for this you need to have mechanisms in place that allow states of origin of transit and destination but also families and different organizations that hold information to cooperate in the search and to exchange information and linked to this really is a need to protect data because the migratory context is so sensitive families may simply not provide information on missing persons if they fear that it's going to be used for immigration control or other purposes so is it complicated yes it is very complicated when can it be done absolutely and there is a there is a growing number of examples that show how it can be done maybe a word that on on objective eight the part of the which is a part of the gcm that we at the icrc have really pushed for in 2018 to make sure states include it and it really is perhaps the most comprehensive international commitment we have on this issue and that makes it very precious so it's all the more unfortunate that as you mentioned implementation has really fallen short of what we hope for and some of the things I just mentioned probably account for this and that includes a lack of know-how on what actually to do so we see for the way forward for the imif the goal really has to be to move from what is today a global commitment to tangible action on the ground along migratory routes and there's a clear role here to play for regional actors for regional migration dialogues and conferences and many others including perhaps the regional networks of the of the gcm and so we're really hopeful that the imif will give new impetus to that and now to to finish perhaps you mentioned a project that we've been working on for four years and cooperated on with a lot of people including the iom missing migrants project and many others and this is based on the practices that I just mentioned there are actually a growing number of examples that show how missing migrants can be found and identified and I'll just give you very few example you may remember in in in Europe there was a truck in austria in 2015 with 1770 migrants on on it who were all deceased there was a boat that sank in the english channel last november killing 28 migrants and in both cases in fact every single person with two exceptions was identified within a matter of weeks and so it is possible we have examples today where in tunisia the countries regularly identifying victims of shipwrecks using information that is supplied amongst others from authorities in ivory coast we have south africa and zimbabwe who have set up a cross-border commission committee to to deal with missing migrants from zimbabwe in south africa we have in the americas a projecto frontera which is a joint project of civil society and government authorities in el salvador Honduras and Guatemala that has created a network system of databases that contain thousands of dna profiles of families looking for missing loved ones who who went missing in migration and they have actually identified 250 more than 250 migrants who went missing in mexico and in the united states and there's an effort underway in the americas among the regional conference on migration there to adopt a set of recommendations on regional information exchange and cooperation in the search for missing migrants so over the past three years we have worked with practitioners experts from around the world to look at these practices and to draw lessons and best practices from them and the outcome of this and this was published a couple of weeks ago is three publications the first one is a set of guidelines on the creation of search mechanisms along migration routes which sets out the requirements at the national level and then the prerequisites for successful transnational cooperation on the basis of a multi stakeholder model the second is a set of guiding principles on the interaction with families of missing migrants who are absolutely central to the search process and who face very specific challenges in a migratory context and the third one is a data set for the search a core data set that is intended to help set up and harmonize data collection efforts along a route and so these documents are part of a much broader effort that the icrc is involved in to mobilize states and others to cooperate on missing migrants and to provide technical advice and tools to that purpose and and we hope they'll be useful and thank you for letting me present it thank you thank you very much florian um for really outlining the complexity of the issue but also um examples of how it's done and and sharing the effort um by icrc over the years to provide guidance and tools on how to on how to do this um even in the even with all the all the complexity so thank you very much for sharing and now um lala arabian i'd like to thank you for joining us and to bring the perspective of insan association on the protection and promotion of the rights of the most marginalized individual families and children living in lebanon such as refugees migrant workers and the asylum seekers we're also grateful to hear about the effort at the cross regional at the level of the cross regional network initiated by insan in 2017 called the cross regional center for refugees and migrants that brings together local and national organizations across the regions of the middle east north africa the gulf and the mediterranean so can you tell us about the work carried out at the level of insan and the cross regional center to advance the provision of lifesaving humanitarian assistance and the safeguarding of human rights along migratory routes we would be really keen to hear about your work in the area of protection of migrant women and children and what do you think are the priorities of the action committee members for the i mrf regarding objective seven and eight of the gcm miss arabian you have the floor thank you so much thank you so much first for having me on this very important panel insan association established in 1998 works to protect and promote the rights of the most vulnerable individuals and communities living in lebanon which are most notably migrants refugees and asylum seekers who arrive to lebanon through different routes seeking for a better life for asylum seekers and refugees lebanon is a country of transition and not a country of destination so they hope to be able to be resettled in a third country to rebuild their lives and to be protected however with all the economic political and health crisis escalating very rapidly in lebanon in the past few years we have witnessed more and more migrants refugees and also lebanese nationals who are trying to leave the country using what we call the death votes through the mediterranean sea we have seen many incidents where many lives were lost especially those of women and children who are the most vulnerable in these situations as well while at the open sea and before reaching any borders because of the overloading of the boats and not taking any security measures into consideration with the sole aim for smugglers to gain as much money as they can in the expense of lives of people there are others who survived and told their stories they have sold everything they own their homes their furniture their gold everything in order to secure a place for them and their families on these boats and now that the the attempt has failed they had nothing left and no means to survive in their own country these are very tragic incidents and even after all these stories are told people are still willing to take the risk and they risk everything including their lives and the lives of their loved ones since life in the country they are in has become undignified and unbearable in migration women and children are the most vulnerable as they are often subjected to all kinds of abuse especially women migrants in domestic work we see like they are the most weakest link and then children who are born in the region and when i say like i'm not talking only in lebanon like in the whole in the in our region children who are born from migrant women who are in domestic work have also additional risks as they become undocumented in many times because it is usually not allowed for migrant domestic workers to have any family life or to have children in the countries where they work in and by that these children lose all prospect of accessing any of their rights so as a person we do work with all these categories of women and children and these communities and we try as much as we can using legal paths using the courts to try to secure some of the like for children for example who are undocumented we try to secure any documentation that can help them to register them or to to have access to schools and to healthcare and it's really really hard for women as well so we have established shelters where we where children and women are welcome in these situations and all the time we are trying to work while they are in the shelter trying to work for their you know like to find solutions basically for them and now if i pass to the on the cross regional level so at the cross regional center for refugees and migrants as we are a cross regional network we have member organizations from as as you said from Middle East North Africa but specifically we have in from Lebanon from Syria Jordan Egypt Bahrain Kuwait UAE Morocco Tunisia Italy Spain Cyprus and Turkey so we cover around the Mediterranean basin our members in the different region are trying to build bridges so what we are trying to do in this network we are trying to build bridges around the Mediterranean to unify efforts as civil society in assisting migrants on both sides of the basin so between the Arab countries and Europe as civil society and as stated in the global civil society priorities for the international migration review forum we believe that it is essential to incorporate transnational mechanisms and interstate cooperation to search for disappeared migrants whether alive or deceased this should include cooperation between states of origin transit and destination to share genetic data and also relevant information and other relevant information sorry with strict parameters of confidentiality privacy safeguards and firewalls effective against any other use of data in order to facilitate access to justice for families of disappeared persons and victims of massacres or extrajudicial executions and other and other crimes it is also essential for states to seek the assistance of civil society and organizations who are working to protect the rights of migrants and refugees and to have open coordination and cooperation with them in order to have best results in saving migrant lives and investigating for missing migrants civil society and its diversity as regards to services approaches and strategies constitutes the natural environment where all segments of society can trust and benefit from therefore it should also be considered as an natural partner for governments and UN agencies who are seeking to uphold rights of people civil society should be recognized as an essential partner and actor for both governments and UN agencies to cooperate with and not to be regarded only as a threat without cooperation between these parties no effective solution and protection for migrants can be achieved moreover organizations working on the ground in assisting migrants should be granted protection and not fought by governments thank you thank you very much miss arabian for your for your remarks i think what we're clearly seeing is the need for a transnational approach transnational mechanisms cooperation and the role for various actors in coming up with solutions um uh on this particular issue around around rights around um missing migrants around the conditions um migrants have to deal with so so thank you very much for that we have quite a few requests um from the floor to for people who would like to speak so i'm going to have to ask um everyone not to exceed two minutes and i do need to go back to the panelists so that they can give their concluding remarks and and we um hopefully we'll finish within the next 45 minutes so we don't go over time so thank you very much once again to the panelists i'll now go to the floor before i come back to each of you for your concluding remarks and i start first with oh i'm going to hand over to my colleague date and who is going to manage the requests that from the floor so thank you very much date and over to you thank you dg now the first we have the representative of beliedrian republic of Venezuela wise minister from multilateral affairs of the bolivian republic wincella ruben de rio molina it's a video recorded message please excellency we would like to thank you for this important dialogue on uh migration which allowed us to evaluate the current situation and topic which is very important and which evolution and progress has been affected by the covet 19 epidemic pandemic the bolivian republic of Venezuela has been historically a welcoming land with solidarity to all the migrants of everywhere in the world we have um hosted them with any kind of request of monetary resource we haven't monetized on migration migrants with their own offer efforts they had profits but they've had access to health care education and well-being within our people managing to have in our country a nondiscriminatory homeland this tradition which has been broken despite the cruel and the inhumane lateral measures that the united states of america had applied together with its EU allies the induced migration product of the aggression to the independent economic and sovereign development of Venezuela affects all the population without distinction and it is hosted in a use of force human rights flag we would like to condemn this aggression which is basically an aggression of xenophobia and workforce exploitation trafficking of people with criminal purposes the gender violence and social exclusion the victim as always are the most vulnerable people in the society we would like to denounce also the market-based use of our migrants countries organizations programs and agencies which had requested them millions of dollars uh conducting international campaigns offering to our national citizens some kind of well-being those will be held accountable for this from Venezuela we believe that the migrants are an important engine of um ordered concerted and comparative means of progress when they come to these countries and they they can also have and enjoy well-being and they have the guarantee return when they want to do so we support the road of map stated by the global compact for a safe and ordered and regular migration which will get the objectives to reach a peaceful world and which progress we will assess during the may community mr director the state of Venezuela has always showed its willingness to the dialogue and cooperation with its neighbors and with all the counters in favor of regularizing the processes with regards to the regularization and the migration of its citizens and also with dignity Venezuela has an increasing a very close relationship of technical assistance with the system of the united nations based in the respect to the charter of the united nations it is a willingness that we would like to renew here today finally we would like to reiterate our commitment and we would like to upload the efforts done by the united states to tackle this phenomenon which is not new but today it is a great global challenge that which forces us to go forward the multilateral consensus in favor of the prosperity of our peoples in this spirit we will carry on contributing to the strengthening of the global compact thank you very much thank you our next speaker on our list is representative of people in the public of china changie director general of the department of policy and regulation national immigration administration you are muted sir sir you're muted so we cannot hear you okay now yes thank you yeah okay thank you thank you chair as i said this distinguished uh delegate i would like to share some of our regulations and practices on safeguarding legitimate rights and interests of vulnerable immigrants first china's laws and regulations clearly stipulate that under five specific circumstances irregular foreign migrants are not subject to detention for investigation other foreign nationals under immigration detention or investigation may apply for administrative reconsideration in accordance with law second china immigration has always properly and kindly processed illegal immigrants especially women and minors in accordance with domestic and international laws and principles of humanitarianism in the pilot program a v r r with iom vulnerable groups have always been its first priority and has successfully helped 44 people voluntarily return to their countries of origin so far third during this pandemic china's epidemic prevention departments have carried out undifferentiated medical observation and treatment for foreign nationals china's immigration agencies have provided immigrants with timely guidance facilitated their stay and residence and taken measures to help entry of foreign nationals with emergencies and humanitarian reasons we call for a relatively cracking down on racial discrimination hate crimes stigmatization against immigrants politicization of health issues and work together to create a fair and favorable environment for immigrants ladies and gentlemen since the adoption of the gcm china has conscientiously fulfilled the compass requirement promoting normal personnel exchanges and safeguarded legitimate rights and interests of immigrants we will continue to uphold the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind actively participate in global cooperation on migration governance and support the role of the un and iom as the main channels in particular iom's active role as the coordinator as the secretariat of the un network on migration china immigration is ready to work with our counterparts to create a favorable environment for normal migration roles and i thank you all thank you now the next on our list is a representative of shi langka from the permanent representation of shi langka in un please go ahead thank you the shi langka delegation thanks the panel for the insightful thoughts on the issues affecting the rights and the vulnerabilities of migrants as outlined in the objective seven of the global compact in a spirit of sharing our experiences shi langka would like to brief the panel of the procedures that we have adopted nationally in this regard in the context of ensuring safe orderly and regular migration shi langka which is important to protect migrant workers from exposure to vulnerable situations shi langka conducts awareness programs among migrant workers on the benefits of using regular channels for migration and the dangers of using irregular channels we have even taken steps to screen migrant workers at the airport with a view to detecting the individuals using regular channels and to sensitize them on the risks associated several statutory and law enforcement measures are being taken against both licensed and unlicensed foreign employment agencies engaged in irregular migration to discourage such occurrences with the view making migrant workers aware of the work related risks shi langka provides a pre-departure training program for all first-time migrant workers particularly in the domestic household sector regular capacity building measures are undertaken to enhance the competencies in our network of foreign missions to deal with the problem of vulnerability of migrant workers the shi langka bureau of foreign employment has appointed officers to 15 employment and welfare sections maintaining 13 labor receiving countries to provide assistance to migrant workers for employment related issues and to address other connected grievances as an added measure preliminary arrangements are being made to launch mobile app for shi langka migrant workers providing them with a facility to lodge complaints directly to the app and also provide details related to their current employer and whereabouts to locate them in case of emergency these measures have contributed significantly to meet objective 7 and 8 of the GCM which commits to save life and establish coordinated international efforts I thank you thank you sir we have on our list three four more one more representative shi langka this time Mr Ruben Herrera regional coordinator of the child immigration project in Central America and Mexico SOS Children's Village please go ahead Thank you very much first of all I'd like to introduce myself and Ruben Herrera and would like to say hello from Aldeas Infantiles and would like to share the experience of the project of the improvement of the life of teenagers within the context of Central America in Mexico within the cooperation department between 2017 and 2021 with the goal of improving the lives of these children and teenagers for those in irregular migration in Mexico Honduras and El Salvador the first objective was addressing more than 8,000 boys girls and empowering their rights and informing them on the rights also pathways were established and an early attention in the case of Honduras amongst other experiences the second one was to strengthen the protection services for teenagers so they promoted information and the different initiatives were carried out in the government of five countries the emotional recovery this was also taken shape in a project which was provided in El Salvador and also agreements were provided the education and migration departments in each of the countries and finally political advocacy was carried out to promote their rights especially the work carried out by civil society organizations in Mexico and implemented in this country for the harmonization of the services for teenagers but also the approval of public policies for children and teenagers and the prevention and attention for teenage migrants the most important aspect is the coordinated and joint work between the different actors and the way to protect the protection services so migration is informed and the rights of the most vulnerable people are respected I would like to thank you again for allowing us to have this space thank you thank you sir we still have three requests for intervention the first one on our list that is coming now it's a laurel townhead friends world committee for consultation followed by representative council of europe and then followed by Spain laurel please go ahead thank you very much thank you ddg thank you chair and thanks to the panelists and other speakers who shared both their concern and the the continued loss of life and the efforts to respond to it we welcome this focus in the idm especially in light of the shocking but sadly not surprising analysis that objective eight has received too little attention the discussions today last week in the human rights council intersessional panel and next week in the irf dialogue are all welcome especially as new and escalating crises add to the numbers of people trying to cross borders to seek protection and dignity collectively we need to ensure that this increased attention leads to lasting impact having taken this time to look more closely at this issue and to hear from those dedicated to responding to loss of life we must simply we must not simply look away again in the new york declaration state said we are determined to save lives our challenge is above all moral and humanitarian preparatory discussions like today can be used to help translate this determination into political will at the i am rf in the progress declaration and beyond just as action on mitigation and response needs to be stepped up concrete action on prevention of loss of life is also needed and as the secretary general's report says efforts must be extended to preventing deaths and suffering through systemic and policy changes that address the risks inherent in migration frameworks ahead of the i am rf thought should be given to what mechanisms can bring continued attention and inform and support the policy assessment and revision recommended we ask is it time to consider what role a high level panel on deaths in transit could play in ensuring sustained attention bringing expert analysis and convening corridor specific dialogues for the prevention of loss of life as we've heard throughout this panel the human cost of the status quo requires us to find new responses the i am rf in the progress declaration should be leveraged to turn intention into effective action prevention of loss of life thank you thank you never have to give the full representative of the council of europe and our translators ask us to speak slow as as that they can also translate properly thank you um do you hear me i don't know if you're yes okay um so distinguished director general moderator distinguished panelists and colleagues last may the council of europe adopted its five year action plan on protecting vulnerable persons in the context of migration and asylum in europe this action plan was endorsed by all 47 member states of our committee of ministers the special representative of the secretary general migration and refugees is coordinating its implementation the action plan the new one aims at addressing main challenges and opportunities identified since the previous action plan which was focusing on children was completed in 2019 the lessons learned along with discussions with member states and within the council of europe revealed the need for further action and coordination in a wider space the european court of human rights as well as our steering committees and monitoring bodies have emphasized the special protection that states need to provide the vulnerable persons in the context of asylum and migration in the new action plan in the new action plan vulnerable persons in the context of migration and asylum are persons found to have special needs after individual evaluation of the situation and are entitled to call on states obligation to provide special protection and assistance the proposed definition of vulnerability draws on the existing legal standards of the council of europe and reflects the same meaning as the one used in european law like in the eu directive on reception actions undertaken in the framework of this new action plan are structured around the three pillars of the council of europe mandate that is on human rights it aims to support member states in strengthening the safeguards and systems in place to prevent them to respond to abuse neglect exploitation harm and violence against migrants and refugees in vulnerable situations on the rule of law it aims at improving member states justice system to be adapted to vulnerable migrants including children legal aid and procedures concerning migrants and refugees in vulnerable situations without discrimination and with the appropriate procedural safeguards in line with relevant council of europe standards on democracy it aims at supporting member states to enhance inclusion and foster democratic participation through enabling exercise of the right to education in line with relevant council of europe standards legal professionals working with migrants and refugees in member states become familiar with european standards on topics such as hate crime hate speech harassment and races are homophobic grounds in addition the fourth pillar focuses on support for transversal cooperation through the existing council of europe network of focal points on migration this latter is composed of our member states representatives dealing with migration management in their respective countries the objectives of the proposed actions are one to provide practical guidance to member states on how to identify and address vulnerabilities through their asylum and immigration procedures including reception procedures then to promote and good practices in embedding pertinent procedural safeguards for those identified as vulnerable in the migration context support intercultural integration and social inclusion as well as education and to facilitate direct dialogue with migration and asylum authorities and enable intersectional and cross border exchanges this activities to be carried out in the five years time frame under this action plan are translated in concrete projects to be implemented in the member states shortly wish to take advantage of those last but not least let me emphasize that by implementing this overarching action plan on protecting vulnerable persons in the context of migration and asylum in europe the council of europe contributes further to the implementation of many important objectives of the global compact for migration i thank you very much thank you we actually now have two requests from the floor one is came from Spain and other on holly see if time permitting spain please go ahead thank you very much i'll be very brief to fight for goal eight we need an articulated action and joint action in four phases of the migrant person who has to be at the center of our interest and first of all prevention prevention of those deep grounds that take a person to be so desperate as to risk their own life secondly protection protection of migrants which is fighting against smuggling and trafficking networks which which violate human rights of migrants it has been very interesting the reference that the Somalia ambassador about then the news for someone who for whom 30 000 dollars were asked to liberate we must not forget that the those networks are the basis for violation of the rights of migrants the third stage is rescuing and all states are obliged to do to do so whether it's because they put their lives at risk at sea or the desert it's our we are obliged to do so even if the means are limited we do not have the objectives that should be desirable my country is very much involved in rescuing and unfortunately we've seen in this years in in the sea and the Atlantic ocean etc we see there is a completely inadmissible number of people who lose their lives and finally the fourth phase is to honor those who have disappeared those migrants looking for a better life have either lost their lives or have gone missing we can do it in many different ways obviously is to identify the remains of those people who have lost their lives and contacting their families and to move those remains to the more to the closer communities where the families are located and thirdly it's another way to honor those who have disappeared or lost their lives so that that loss has not been in vain is to carry on fighting against this impunity and also giving families and relatives and friends of those disappeared access to justice so they can fight against those irregular migration networks who who are ultimately responsible for the loss and disappearance of those relatives husbands wives so children who lost their lives trying to reach to have find a better future many tax excellency the last but not least on our request list is the holy sea thank you mr chair and good morning everyone and thank you also to the distinguished panel is to for their very helpful presentation the holy sea welcome study is the first session of the 2022 international dialogue on migration in preparation for the international migration review forum today states and other stakeholders can renew our shared commitment to addressing the manifold challenges of migration and prepare to assess the progress made in advancing the fulfillment of the objectives of the gcm migration is a global phenomenon with differentiated impacts and to be effective a global response to migration must be the fruit of a common effort to develop a form of global governance that accounts for the repercussions of migration movements at all levels and for every country in this regard that the holy sea considers is crucial for the international community to continue working towards the adoption of a coherent and comprehensive system for coordinating policies on migration with the view of sharing responsibility for the reception and protection of migrants their eventual relocation and full integration in a society in particular greater attention should be given to the effective implementation of objective eight of the gcm as the secretary general highlighted in his recent report the commitment to saving lives and establishing coordinating international efforts on missing migrants as a yet to be translated into meaningful action thousands of migrant deaths continue to occur globally both along regular and irregular migration routes in light of these it is essential that the states strengthen procedures and agreements on the search and rescue of migrants with the primary objective of protecting migrants right to life and comply with their international obligations at borders and along the migratory routes states must find a right balance between their two-fold moral responsibility to protect their citizens and their rights and to provide assistance to migrants and assure their integration within a society in conclusion the holy sea reiterates the importance of developing and implementing a holistic and integrated approach to migration that centers on the inherent dignity of migrants promotes their integral human development and ensures effective protection of and respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants regardless of their migration status thank you very much thank you Julia I would like to return back to floor to our deputy director general please thank you Dejan and thank you very much and so excellencies distinguished participants for your statements and now I go back to our distinguished panelists you have about three minutes each to give concluding remarks and may I start with you ambassador Miriam thank you very much madam I'd like to be brief as much as I can government officials are well known for you know speaking a lot but I'll try to be concise first of all allow me to just and express my gratitude to the council of Europe and and and just greet the representative from the council of Europe I mean back in in Italy in the 90s I was trained by the council of Europe programs for young migrants leaders and I've been working closely with the council of Europe so it's quite you know an an important event also today because this shows when migrants are given the opportunities they can reach far and the council of Europe gave me that opportunity and I started my youth activism in in the centers in Strasbourg and Budapest so thank you very much I would like to highlight three major points return the return of migrants in crisis situation the return of migrants is a right every right every migrant has the right to return home but also the return also becomes prevention even if it's at the latest stage when I went to thank to the IOM and EU when we went to Libya in 2018 was to give us to give a strong message to our stranded migrant there and tell them the country is here to receive you back home and that was a prevention since then we have risked over 2500 young men and women who return back home so at least and with reintegration packages the return is not just the final destination the rate the reintegration of the migrants back in the society is the aim we are looking for okay for sure in a very safe dignified and voluntarily manner I wish to highlight here the presence of women in this extreme situation Libya and other countries women yet are having issues in returning because of the double and the vulnerability of women and children in these dangerous crossing has been highlighted and women suffered the stigma when I was in Libya I young Somali women told me my mother spent over 18 000 dollars in ransom I don't have the courage to face her back with nothing so women will try will be exploited will be more prone to cross into the Mediterranean because of this stigma of returning back home and this is the challenge we have and we need to face the other issue that I would briefly would like to highlight is coordination and partnership partnership is essential in this partnership in IOM IOM Somalia and IOM globally it's working over with over 20 Somali embassies and across the globe for return programs and also for rescue and um collaboration is also important at the very regional level because of the Somalia and having ethnic Somali communities in Kenya in Ethiopia uh and and other countries we are we are definitely in front line in coordination but also coordination at the regional level and eager level it's essential to make sure that our efforts are towards the implementation of the GCM and especially I would like to um again highlight in rescue operation we need to collaborate at capital level we need to collaborate at embassy level um last point is IOM and the UN migration network it is more than ever needed today we need to work together with you we need as um as government we need also to enhance our collaboration with civil society um my co-panelist from Lebanon has highlighted how important that is I always say that the civil society can reach where we can't and vice versa we can reach maybe where the civil society cannot reach so that is very important and the UN migration network that and I wish to commend IOM Somalia for the leading successfully the UN migration network in um Mogadishu coordinating um all um for all Somalia ladies and gentlemen let me just highlight this human traffickers today are more co- are more coordinate coordinating than us they are reaching out to our youth faster than us through so many channels they are outside the schools they're outside the university we are always the last one to receive the information this is the challenge today we need to make sure that we are coordinated and we need to believe that we are better than them and the GCM is the only way out GCM now and the implementation and full commitment is needed more than ever and thank you for IOM and looking forward to me thank you madam thank you very much ambassador that was a bit more than the time that you are making such important points I couldn't couldn't stop you in the middle um okay so thank you very much for that very important points indeed um Florian can I now give you the opportunity for your concluding remarks thank you Goti and um I'll I'll make it shorter than um catch up um the first one I just really um want to echo and in particular the representative of the of the Holy See I think this question of the right balance between um justified perfectly justified policies to control borders to control migration on the one side and uh and providing protection for migrants is is really critical and and what we observe often is that even well-meaning policies to to limit smuggling for example can have um the unintended impact of actually pushing more and more migrants on ever more risky and dangerous migration routes so some of these policies actually have the potential to aggravate the problem rather than to be in a solution in themselves and and link to that is the second point it's really about the preservation of the humanitarian space that is something very concerning it's it's a space that has been shrinking in recent years that makes the work of organizations like the ICRC and the many members of the ICRC of the Red Crescent and Red Cross movement around the world more difficult in in some regions when rescue for example is being criminalized it is becoming very difficult um to work so this is really a call to preserve that space and to allow allow humanitarian organizations to to do life-saving to do to provide life-saving assistance to migrants in need and the third one is just a bit of promotion what Laura Townhead has already mentioned next week on the 9th as part of the IMRF online dialogues we're co-organizing with IOM's missing migrants project a dialogue that is dedicated to the topic of missing migrants missing solutions question mark and we hope all of you who are interested in this topic to see you there thank you very much thank you very much Florian um yes you did help us catch up a bit but more importantly you raised very relevant points in concluding and now um Ms Arabian may I call on you for your concluding remarks sure I will be brief as well so uh I just want to say in conclusion that as civil society we would like to see concrete changes and further efforts done by states in protecting migrants especially women and children and as I mentioned we would just like to stress the importance of cooperation and collaboration among the different actors for ensuring better protection as no actor on its own can achieve the needed results and as a network we are looking forward to cooperating with UN agencies and states who are willing to uphold and enhance human rights and in particular rights of migrants finally we would like to see states giving more attention to the objective eight of the GCM as this has not been the case until today thank you thank you very much Ms Arabian and thank you distinguished panelists um excellencies and distinguished participants for an extremely interesting discussion but more importantly for the very concrete actions that have been identified that require all of us to be well coordinated and to cooperate on solutions for upholding the rights of of migrants and sharing their dignity and and safety and most important of all saving lives in line with objectives seven and eight of the GCM thank you and bye bye a lot to thank you to DDG and panelists for an excellent panel that we had as a first one now we slowly and not but that slowly actually quickly transiting to panel two combat immigration smuggling and trafficking in person that will be moderated by my friend and colleague Federico Federico Flores is yours please go ahead thank you very much thank you very much Dejan and uh excellencies distinguished uh guests uh participants panelists uh good uh good morning and uh good evening it's an honor for me to moderate uh this panel with uh two very distinguished uh speakers we'll be talking about combating smuggling uh and uh trafficking um we've touched on a lot of these issues uh already in the uh first uh session uh of course what we started to get into is uh striking this balance between uh enabling human mobility protecting the rights of migrants and people on the move and uh now we're going to probably get into a little bit also the criminality side and cracking down on the criminal elements involving smugglers and traffickers uh of course all of this work is at the core of IOM's mandate and activities on the ground but also very much through our participation of different international fora such as the interagency coordination uh system for counter trafficking the ICAT the global action plan against trafficking in persons alliance 8.7 and of course all linked to the 2030 agenda as well the global compacts play a critical role in this and we're going to get into a little bit more uh this this specific issue during this session and of course it's an issue uh that is regularly taken up and discussed at the various regional processes around the world so uh we're honored to be uh to remain a key partner in this uh in this very important area of work uh it's an area that involves an extremely wide range of stakeholders uh not just the obvious ones of governments and civil society but also it's one that has uh increasingly interested the private sector which is a very very welcome uh stakeholder to uh to this uh to this table and uh to an issue where indeed uh they have a very important uh interest uh and role in in contributing to combating and eradicating uh trafficking and uh and smuggling now in relation to the GCM the global compact on migration uh there are two objectives that uh really touch on the issue of uh of today's session objective nine which which calls for the strengthening of international cooperation among countries of origins transit and destination for transnational and effective responses to smuggling of migrants and a key action to advance this objective is uh legal pathways so um on one hand uh we have the criminality and some of the um let's say law enforcement and security related concerns and then on the other hand uh we have this need for greater legal pathways to help mitigate uh and reduce uh the likelihood and the need for people to turn to um smugglers and and uh and traffickers the second uh objective is objective 10 and uh this objective uh focuses uh much more on the trafficking side and it aims to prevent combat and eradicate trafficking in persons in the context of international migration and here uh undocumented migrants are of particular uh concern uh migrants in irregular situations migrants without properly legal status uh while legal status then does not in of itself guarantee protection we know that people that don't have uh proper legal status are much much easier prey uh for for for traffickers so um according to the latest uh un odc uh data uh 45 percent of all identified victims of trafficking or traffic to cross borders so the international aspect is uh extremely uh relevant uh the collaboration is uh extremely important and uh today's panel is going to look at these challenges and exploring opportunities for facilitating pathways for safe orderly and regular migration also regularization options to get people out of that uh status uh of limbo without proper documents and uh basically working towards achieving objectives nine and ten of the global compact on uh migration now i am very happy to introduce uh our two speakers uh the our first speakers miss uh silk albert project coordinator for uh un odc uh who is going to speak uh about um uh un un odc's work in the context of these two objectives and uh and then i'm very happy to also introduce miss bandana uh patinak uh the international coordinator of the global alliance against trafficking against traffic in women g a at w she is a cso representative and i think that while she's going to acknowledge some of the progress that's been made maybe uh she can also uh focus on some of the uh remaining gaps uh with this uh introduction i thank you both very much uh panelists and uh uh over to you miss albert thank you thank you very much uh and uh thank you for convening this uh open discussion on challenges and responses in what are core mandate areas for un odc uh apologies again that ilias can't be with you who you have probably expected um but needless to say we are closely working with him and in the same team um so as per the global compact on migration itself a lot of what we see in the agenda description of this session concerns a realization of the need for multifaceted multi stakeholder responses informed by dialogue learning and coordination you you probably know that un odc is the guardian of the fundamental international leading instrument on trafficking in persons and migrants smuggling uh that is the organized crime convention and the un uh trafficking and smuggling protocols which over 20 years have become an internationally agreed basis for preventing these crimes as imperfect as they may be prosecuting perpetrators and protecting victims and promoting cooperation these instruments as they near universal ratification remain incredibly relevant with their effective implementation currently being reviewed and promoted through a process that will last until 2030 the protocols mature and the maturing use of the protocols is also reflected in the intergovernmental working groups on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants uh treaty bodies that uh have been created by the conventions conference of the parties in which every year discuss emerging and critical sub issues related relating to the implementation of the protocols and producing forward-looking recommendations to state to keep pace with the merging uh best practice soft law so to say my organization un odc plays a key role not only as a un entity with the clear and direct mandate on crime prevention and criminal justice but also as one that prioritizes advancing the rule of law and protecting the rights of migrants in line with the international instruments of what we are the guardians of and incorporation of human rights considerations in our very guest secretariat of key UN processes and fora on organized crimes we have to remember that both trafficking and smuggling are profit-driven and that criminals treat trafficking victims and smuggled migrants as commodities and subject them to unimaginable suffering and risks according to a study we have done provided the observatory sorry on the smuggling of migrants the demand for smuggling services is largely determined and that doesn't come as a surprise from the discussions we have had by both limited available availability of legal channels and the complexity and cost of legal migration which some might migrants simply cannot afford those who pay smugglers are not protected by state authorities they put their lives and money into the hands of smugglers who often lock them into an exploitative cycle UN odc data shows that smuggled migrants are regularly subjected to extreme violence torture rape and kidnapping at all stages of the migration cycle despite clearly related needs on the one hand the need of people to leave their home countries for a better future and on the other hand the need of countries of destination to address specific labor shortages regular channels of migrating can be very restricted this means that many migrants in need have no option but to cross borders by resorting to smuggling services the added value of regular rising such migration flows for governments is that beyond preventing crime and criminal abuse and exploitation they can better manage their borders and access to their territory the striking death toll among migrants many of which moving irregularly in 2021 and first month of 2022 is a reminder that states should not only combat the crime of migrant smuggling but also offer legitimate alternatives to illegal services for people on the move ensuring that irregular movement is not categorically penalized is a common element to many key anti trafficking and smuggling responses noting that criminalization of smuggling smuggled migrants sadly continues to be a reality in many countries i'd like to remind that the smuggling protocol an international treaty that has been negotiated by member states and is being ratified by by states so that they are partisan bound says states that migrants shall not become liable to criminal prosecution for having been smuggled and also something that has not been as clearly stated in the trafficking in persons protocol that but that has emerged as as best practice is the principle of non-punishment of trafficking victims for illicit conduct as a result of their being trafficked is is this principle is in line with the with the core purposes of the trafficking in persons protocol saying that it one of its aim is to protect and assist victims of trafficking with full respect for their human rights i check time i may have to skip some of the lines that i that i still have you can go ahead miss albert thank you thank you so um member states continue to demonstrate a grand a great interest in applying this non-punishment principle in practice ensuring that penalties are not imposed on victims of trafficking with the support of the international community and and and maybe i can also mention that in 2020 icat has launched a policy brief which not only summarizes the parameters of the non-punishment principle but also most importantly also identifies a number of concrete areas where the non-punishment principle could be better implemented at national level also humanitarian actors are often criminalized for rescuing migrants in distress on grounds of facilitation of illegal entry and in fact just before i i joined this panel discussion i've been at a debate at the european parliament where european parliamentarians could could could could join in with questions live and and of course the question of of criminal acts of NGOs that amount to smuggling and trafficking and how this is being being treated by the european member states so it well it's it's interesting because the the smuggling protocol really does require an illicit financial or other material benefit and we should not forget that especially the migrants smuggling protocol it is supplementing the organized crime convention so this is where this is to put things into perspective and not to punish humanitarian humanitarian aid organizations so it these are examples that demonstrated too frequently criminal justice action is misdirectly misdirected and inadequately implemented at at the harder but core talk is to both of these issues so organized criminal networks especially their kingpins that perpetuate these these practices and those responsible for aggravated or worst forms of migrants smuggling involving extreme abuse sorry extreme abuse and death of migrants and the illicit income generated by these by these industries i think i would still come to an end here and then maybe some of the other issues i noted also examples of our work if if if if an interest could then be shared at a at a later stage and i'm looking forward to the next presentation very much thank you thank you very much thank you for for highlighting uh some so many important issues the the importance of legal pathways the the the the relationship between irregular migration and high costs of of legal migration and of course the reminder of the international standard on the non-criminalization of smuggled and trafficked persons let me now go over to uh miss uh uh pat uh pataniak um the floor is yours thank you very much thank you um good evening everybody and it's indeed an honor to be here and to share the panels with silke after it's good to see you after such a long time even on screen so um um i was asked to speak a little bit on the progress made on uh these two issues which have uh attracted a lot of attention over the years what we at the outset what we need to remember as we are going uh to towards imrf uh and particularly in this session when we are looking at objective nine and ten that uh the on talk the convention on transnational organized crime uh is actually more than 20 years old now so while we are reviewing the gcm uh looking back at four years we actually need to look at these uh as the convention and particularly these two instruments uh for the progress that has been made over the last 20 more than 20 years so um i think it requires i think the first panel was really sobering and gave us a very clear picture of the tragic things that are happening and uh and the points that uh the uh that silke uh already mentioned need to be kept in mind so i think it needs to be it is important to reiterate to remind ourselves that certain rights are inalienable and apply to everyone regardless of their migration status so under the smuggling of migrants protocol state parties have agreed to ensure those that those rights arising from human rights refugee and humanitarian law are not compromised in any way in the implementation of measures to counter the smuggling of migrants uh and in the in the protocol also has some specific rights now if those rights were being implemented if those rights were being protected we would not have heard what we heard in the first panel today and the last two years actually have brought in an exceptional exceptional challenges for everyone and those challenges have not ended yet and they have held a mirror to the kind of societies we are what kind of internationalism and multilateral multilateralism we are practicing and to what extent states are abiding by international protection frameworks so millions of people have lost their jobs many countries have not been able to provide social support and security to their citizens while countries which were already experiencing political conflict have not reduced new ones have joined the list borders have been closed and regular pathways for migration and asylum have been reduced in other words human security has reached an all-time low applications for regularization have not been processed research carried out by Europol mixed migration center and UNODC show that smugglers and traffickers have started taking new more dangerous routes and started charging higher fees so all this has clearly increased risk of aggravated forms of smuggling in 2020 a formal mechanism for the review of the organized crime convention and the protocols there too was launched under which state parties to those instruments will over the course of the next decade review their implementation at the national level and identify gaps and good practices let me start with a few positive things that have happened during this time most countries have actually included irregular migrants in health and other basic services and social assistance measures some have created firewalls to provide a clear boundary between law enforcement immigration and public services so that all migrants irrespective of their migration status could access healthcare education and other social services and justice without fear of detection detention and deportation renewal and extension of residents and work permits have happened temporary though they are migrants including irregular ones have responded by taking a frontline jobs on the minus side however we also know that states have refused to allow people in externalization and militarization of borders criminalization of migrants and their supporters have continued if we just use our common sense we will know that aggravated vulnerabilities with aggravated vulnerabilities people will take more risks and risks of aggravated smuggling is bound to continue increase there's plenty of evidence to show that there is no real solution to the problem of smuggling other than increasing regular pathways and regularization doing a proper assessment of the labor market would be the first step towards that rather than closing eyes to large chunks of the economy and at the origin end employment guarantee by states need to be ensured if certain temporary positive steps could be taken by some states during this crisis the question is why can't those be done as long term solutions are the second question that I was asked to respond to was that what are the important evidence gaps to be addressed to inform anti-trafficking efforts I'll be brief here sitting where we are and looking at the bulk of researchers that have been done over the last two decades on the issue of human trafficking I don't think that there are any evidence gaps there is no area of anti-trafficking that has not been researched now a good body of evidence exists to show that a predominantly punitive approach is not working that exploitation has become so endemic to so many work situations that rather than looking to assist victims and punish perpetrators states actually need to take proactive steps to create and guarantee jobs and protect labor rights to make decent work and norm rather than just an aspiration there is also a need to look into the development paradigms that has prioritized profit over people I don't have to remind this evening's audience about the rising inequality within and between countries we all know about the vaccine apartheid we also know who is making money huge amounts of it during this pandemic there are other social issues that's discrimination and gender based violence as well just to name just the two to be addressed so my answer would be that there is no lack of evidence that anti-trafficking initiatives are not being able to deal with the escalating degrees of vulnerabilities abuses that people are facing which is not to say that nothing has been done or no progress has been made it's just that the problem is such that the progress that we have made is not matching up to it a more technical answer would be that if we really want to primarily use the criminal justice approach we have to be very astute we can't keep on broadening the framework and call everything trafficking or modern slavery and then use a very narrow crime control approach we need to look at anti-trafficking measures as tools to be used in exceptional situations for timely but limited purposes and we need to combine other measures which fall outside the anti-trafficking framework I think I would stop here thank you very much thank you for for highlighting the links between this panel and the previous panel and also for noting the very profound impact that the pandemic has had on on migration and indeed on the way that people are moving now and how smugglers have adapted I think we can now maybe open the floor for questions and comments I would like to invite the all the participants also to consider the question that our third panelist would have helped us reflect on which is what support would assist governments to cooperate with other governments to monitor irregular migration routes which can be exploited by traffickers and smugglers so how can we how can we the other stakeholders support governments in in monitoring these high-risk routes in order to respond to combat and reduce the smuggling and trafficking along the floor is open there is actually already two request intervention the first one is coming from Moldova, Sergei Rusu, Chief Prosecutor of Prosecutor's Office of Commuting Organized Crime and Special Cases. Please go ahead. Distinguished guests dear Director General Mr. Bitorino thank you for your invitation to the IOM International Dialogue on Immigration 2022 I consider this session of combating migrant smuggling and trafficking in person a very much needed one it is honor for me to attend this session and I am grateful to the other participants who are sharing the here they experience from which we all can learn since 2005 when the counter trafficking law was adopted the Moldova government has been doing considerable effort to prevent and combating trafficking in person each year considerable progress is achieved against the recommendation provided by different international bodies in order to protect victims and hold criminals accountable please allow me now to share with you the latest best practices that Moldova has deployed in this field in 2019 and 2020 I will start with the specialization of judges in combating human trafficking in related crimes aiming to have this implemented the prosecutor general address the superior counsel of magistrate which agreed to examine the issues subsequently since 2020 Moldova has judges specialized in human trafficking and related crimes such as forced labor organization of illegal migration trafficking of organs later upon the request of the judges themselves this decision was of the council was amended aiming and ensuring that a victim centered approach is mainstreamed in the action of prosecutors in view of the extreme protection needs faced by victim of trafficking that the second positive achievement that I would like to share is related to combating online sexual exploitation Moldova developed a guide on international and national legal norms and instruments in the field of combating child abuse and sexual exploitation using the information and communication technologies the guide imposes a unitary approach of cases on online sexual exploitation and described the best practices in the field it is mandatory for prosecutors and criminal investigation officers to follow the guide during their activity moreover the guide has the merit of being development in cooperation with the international NGO Lastrada another key achievement in the development on official approval of the guide to conducting parallel financial investigation the guide was approved by the prosecutor general's order of 2019 and is a long awaited instrument of mandatory nature to prosecutor and criminal investigation officers the guide was developed with the IOM support despite good results I have described so far some key challenges for us still remain the broad use of the internet and communication technologies which open up to new venues for traffickers to exploit the victims poses continuous challenges to legal frameworks investigation and prosecution prosecutions increasing economical inequality between different social strata between people from different regions of the same countries as well as between citizens of countries of destination and origin social or economical inquiries continue to fuel the offer and the demand of trafficking specialized prosecutors will stay committed to fight the crime of trafficking in person and will continue active cooperation with all national and international stakeholders to ensure not only prosecution but also victim centered approach and respect of the right of the victims we consider the only strong partnership and dialogue at all levels will contribute to eradicate this phenomenon which should be one of the priorities for each country this being said thank you for your attention thank you the next one we have on our list is a representative of Argentina do we have them promoting the panelists it's online yes see can you hear me yeah loud and clear gracias thank you in your in its by annual report the secretary general highlighted the progress in our country of the trafficking of persons and the protection assistance of victims in fact the republic of argentina has been working for many years in a active policy of fighting against migrant smuggling and human trafficking it has a specific act incorporated into the penal code which led to the generation of structures areas programs and practices in the different spheres of the states at local provincial and national level and on its hand the migration law establishes the migration regulation for those people who've been victims of trafficking or illicit migrant smuggling simplifying and making administration easier from the joint work of the executive committee and the federal committee on combating human trafficking and the protection and assistance of victims public policies have been implemented for access to jobs housing therapy and reparation of victims within a bi annual framework has that has been agreed in that the different levels this national plan 2022 includes a hundred actions assistance to victims prosecution of bands and etc one of the policies carried out in order to progress this objective has been the creation of regional offices of the national program of red to rescue and help of victims of trafficking the strategic place is the border with the goal of preventing this crime and also to accompany and provide assistance psychological medical and legal assistance to those victims up to the point in which the they provide testimony to judges and finally and to conclude I'd like to mention that Argentina proposed in the South American conference of migration the creation of six working networks of which I highlight the network against or the further fight against trafficking which whose goal is to create consensus on this topic in the South American region two meetings took place for this network exchanging of best practices and progress amongst the parties and they talked about regulatory innovations strengthening of information substances training awareness racing and publication and protocol generation thank you very much thank you mr castella now next should be venezuela but I don't know have some problem with the connection are they still online their audio is not connecting to the conference properly okay can we get okay then can we go to the representative of japan please thank you chief of the mission in libya mr federico for giving you a floor and sharing sobering experiences on the ground I'm also grateful to the prominent speakers of the panel for your insight for inputs on challenges of migration governance the three exposed to migrants by smuggling and trafficking are immense they deprive migrants not only of their survival and livelihoods but also of the dignity the situation requires a holistic approach putting people at the center and advancing the human security nexus which can make coordinated efforts based on solidarity among international communities as a concrete effort to address the situation japan has been working proactively in these fields in cooperation with international organizations on objectives nine and ten firstly on objective nine japan in cooperation with unodc has contributed to strengthening countermeasures against smuggling of my immigrants and migrants across the borders of the asem member states these include to establish border liaison offices and enhance the communication mechanisms among the offices in addition the project also helps all relevant law enforcement authorities of each member state of asem to work for making agreements on border control and enhance information exchange mechanisms secondly on objective 10 japan has been active in providing relevant organizations with training and awareness raising against trafficking in persons especially in asian countries through multiple organizations such as jaika unafi unodc and unwomen moreover japan has long provided repatriation and integration support including vocational services and legal and medical assistance to foreign victims of trafficking in persons identified in japan through iom in 2021 approximately 142 000 us dollars were provided to iom in this field to conclude japan remains an active partner with the un system including iom to combat trafficking in persons i thank you thank you japan we have still three requests for interventions uh we have Venezuela we have eritrea and madagascar now i would like actually to check one more time is Venezuela resolved the problem with the sound no okay can we again go to eritrea please thank you very much can you hear me yes loud and clear the iom and the distinguished uh finalists uh i would like to thank the panelists and also welcome the convenience of this first session of international uh dialogue and migration we believe that the interlet crimes of migrants smuggling and humanitarian being continue to pose serious danger to millions around the world especially in horn paprika impact social economic progress undermine the rule of law and the governance and threatened regional security the government of eritrea is committed to fighting trafficking in person all its manifestation for the past decade it has implemented a four wronged strategy to combat eradicate trafficking in person and mitigate the impacts on victims first is to in sense intensify its efforts to achieve rapid people centered and balancing social economic development in order to create opportunities for citizens to live and thrive in their own country second deterring into combating trafficking in person in this context all relevant law enforcement bodies have been working with a needed coordination in combating trafficking there is a sale within the ministry of justice to do that eritrea also uh acceded to the convention the palermo convention on trafficking in person and uh we have uh made some efforts to enhance our legal institutional and technological capacity we have also signed a comprehensive partnership agreement actually with the yen odc to strengthen the crime prevention and criminal justice capacity including the ability to combat transnational organizer crimes third supporting victim victims of human trafficking and smuggling of migrants eritrea upholded any systematic magnetization of victims of human trafficking provided them with all the possible assistance uh for the strengthening regional and international cooperation eritrea view combating and eradicating transnational organized crimes such as trafficking in person is an integral part of its struggle for peace and security in the whole of africa and the racing let me conclude eritrea also continues to advocate for in all international for us for the importance of addressing and eradicating all causes of human trafficking extreme poverty global inequality the vulnerability of irregular migrants conflict is a war of war is sexual exploitation chimp ever in order to let me conclude uh by saying that we have actively participated in the global compact on migration and we do believe that the gcm uh is um a tool that was created or a platform that was created for by member states to uh foster cooperation at international level and we believe that the i mrf will be an opportunity to learn from each other and re-energize our international cooperation to make migration safe orderly and regular thank you very much thank you eritrea and i would like to give the floor to madagascar thank you very much ladies and gentlemen good evening in terms of migration madagascar doesn't have a national migration policy but we're still fully committed uh in in favor of a better governments on the national level on the regional level on the local level and are we facing several um challenges when it comes to protecting uh these migrants especially during the health crisis we faced several hurdles um because we wanted to support some of our migrant workers uh we were stuck in some countries where we don't have an embassy so it was very difficult to to help these people on top of the very low number of uh embassies in madagascar we're also facing the threat of human trafficking so in this context some other countries in the indian arson are used by recruitment agencies as relays for traffickers so it's necessary to have an enhanced collaboration and cooperation in order to to tackle this issue in order to fight uh human trafficking so this is why madagascar supporting any effort to uh tackle uh the traffic of migrant forced labor and to stop forced recruitment and in order to have a fair recruitment of workers in the framework of all the norms the regional norms so this is why we've just released uh a manual guidelines for migrants and workers who will go abroad to work so we have a list of all the the most important guidelines in order to take the awareness of all the uh trafficking generally speaking a better understanding of uh trafficking and human trafficking and is still important this is why we need to have a holistic approach of governance so in order to have a good implementation of the global compact and to conclude so we would like to reiterate our support to uh the migration in compliance with human rights and this is why we need to have a good coordination on the regional level and on the international level and this is why we need to have a good and efficient tools like for example exchange of data and a better follow-up on trafficking but we need to be able to be at our capacities and thank you for your attention many thank you Mrs. Carr I think it is all the issue with the Venezuela now I would like to give the floor to the Republic of Venezuela Director General of Consulate Relations Marco McIvanes please go ahead hello good afternoon can you hear me loud and clear I apologize for the technical difficulties we had the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela thanks the opportunity to participate in the second panel of today talking about the combating migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons I want to in name of the president of the republic want to thank all of you for this invitation and a warm salutation for the director general of the IOM dialogue spaces such as these are extremely important given that the pandemic has affected the vulnerabilities of the people in movement these traffickers seem to be also evolving the techniques and we cannot talk about these issues if we ignore the root causes that force people to migrate we need to look at how much this is the result of actions taken by countries that are overlooking the country's sovereignty the migration policies are also criminalizing the migrants and the criminal strategies of these traffickers should also be analyzed the national state participates in a voluntary fashion to achieve a safe orderly and regular migration and the GCM objective 9 and 10 which guides our work on this topic we're also part of the United Nations Convention against organized criminality and our commitment to these is obvious we have also created a task force that works very hard dealing with survivors of trafficking and of terrorism the president Nicolas Maduro has also created a plan against the trafficking of people from 2021 and 2025 we want to highlight the Venezuelan support to the non-criminalization of victims and we have created a roadmap a roadmap for this end and you can find it on the website of our office to conclude the dividing lines between migrant smuggling and people trafficking is very thin on the one hand the migrant smugglers can be victims of people trafficking these should be understood but we need to work together with the countries of origin transit and destination to exchange information about the networks that work on these criminal issues thank you for your attention thank you Venezuela that the list of countries or participants that express interest for intervention exhausted and I would like to give the floor back to Mr. Federico Sode please Federico thanks very much Dan I'd like to maybe give the opportunity to our panelists for any final remarks that they may have or comments on the interventions that have been made maybe we'll start with with you miss Patanik thank you as we heard from several representatives indeed a lot of work has been done by states and I remember you know the biannual conference of state parties that happens countries after countries do talk about the steps that they have taken so what today and and as we all know the UN transnational organized time convention is what is one of the most widely ratified instruments so and there is I think it would be very hard to point out any single country which doesn't have or hasn't done anything on this particular thing so a lot of efforts have been made different mechanisms and all those there is no lack of that so the question today in front of us is why we are still at this this thing so therefore so why why are in why are we in such a situation that we're still thinking that we haven't reached the goals or haven't reached the human rights goals if you like so therefore if we want to use anti-trafficking language then I think there is need to be more focused on prevention and prevention not in the way that we have been doing for so many years not as awareness generation not as telling people I think people do have a lot of knowledge of what is going on so therefore prevention in the sense of increasing human security and creating jobs addressing discriminatory practices in our society and in our other thing so I think those are the steps that would actually aid the criminal justice approach criminal justice approach alone is not going to be able to solve the problem because the problem is not only in the arena of crime we called it a crime looked at this as a kind of you know an extreme form of vulnerability extreme form of human rights violation and that has its place so the other side of the work other groups of people or other departments or other sort of bodies within the states would have to take up I think that would that's what I would like to thank thank you very much yes Albert over to you thank you thank you and I would of course echo what Pandana said and I also see it as a as a great sign actually that there are so many states that that really wish to report what they've done and no doubt a lot of good work has been done and awareness has increased among states of what needs to be done even though probably in the in the daily struggle that's a challenge to implement I mean what what what I take from that also for for ourselves in looking at things I'd be happy we see also among among us the different mandates a strengthened collaboration and and UNODC for example is a member of and coordinator of ICAT interagency coordination group against trafficking in persons with with with members that have all sorts of different mandates and and also that we are member of the UN migration network and and and I think it would be great also if we could start strengthening collaboration between these groups to to to strengthen the efforts and to really take the best of in the strongest part of the make the most of the mandates that exist in the international area community so that we meaningfully can support steps of member states in in in addressing trafficking and smuggling and and really going beyond a criminal justice angle to these things I call them crimes and they are crimes and at the same time we we we do know very much and we see that through these groups that the one perspective on things is on these issues is really not enough thank you very much thank you very much to to both of you and indeed thank you very much to all of the participants that intervened but also a lot of a lot of the comments in the chat by by other by other participants in governments that did not take the floor indeed what is clear is how complicated this is and we've talked about maybe two faces of the issue the criminal and the and the rights one but probably there are several more certainly the collaboration between the agencies can be strengthened I think this idea of strengthening the work of the icat and the migration network is is is a very interesting one and we have to basically facilitate the possibility of working in a whole of society whole of government kind of way on these on these issues I mean from the criminal perspective we're talking about organized organized crime and a very very lucrative activity along some of the corridors so there is no way that we can simply tackle these issues and address address some of the some of the problems simply with a a singular approach once again thanks to everybody who intervened thanks to everybody that has been participating and attending this session we have several hundred participants online still so it's it's very very nice to have you with us and thanks again I wish you all a good afternoon or evening bye bye thank you