This edition of Window on the World presents a selected number of organizations, networks and research centres working either on the migration and development nexus or on related issues of security, human rights protection and social integration. The selection is divided into two parts: the first covers advocacy groups and social movements and the second covers research centres and networks of experts and activists. Most of them operate at the non-governmental level, while some are part of a regional or an international inter-governmental dialogue process.
December 18
The name refers to the date of the approval of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, by the UN General Assembly on 18 December 1990.
It is an on-line organization designed for the promotion and protection of migrants by offering space for advocacy, networking and knowledge dissemination.
Focused mainly on UN human rights protection mechanisms and legal frameworks, it also supports non-government organization (NGO) campaigns on migrant issues and covers regional initiatives in Europe, Americas, Asia and Africa. The portal represents an important resource centre for human and migrant rights activists. Among the others, it provides data and relevant documentation, an up-to-date calendar of international events, an archive and reviews of the latest books and movies on the subject.
The organization seeks basically to support and monitor non-governmental organizations and associations extending and completing governments' capacity to guarantee human and migrants' rights protection.
Humantrafficking
Human trafficking is a web resource that brings together governments and NGOs of East Africa and Pacific committed to combat human trafficking. The website represents a space for dialogue and information sharing in order to facilitate cooperation and promote joint efforts in the fight of human trafficking. Based on information and experience sharing, the website provides country-based information on national initiatives, legal frameworks and general provisions as well as descriptions of NGO activities and their contact information. The web resources are catalogued according to different fields of action (such as prevention, protection, rehabilitation, reintegration, etc.), each of them comprising recent news, latest publications and web links.
ICMC – International catholic migration commission
ICMC was founded in 1949 by the Catholic Church in the aftermath of the Second World War and following the great displacement of peoples.
ICMC's expertise and core activities consist of refugee resettlement, return, reintegration and local integration. The organization works with extremely vulnerable individuals, and has assisted displaced and disadvantaged people by war, natural disaster and economic transition, since its beginning. It has developed programmes of counter-trafficking and rescue, as well as programmes for NGO capacity-building and government institution-building and emergency response and advocacy. The organization counts on a worldwide network of 172 member organizations in more than 30 countries.
International NGO platform on the migrant workers' convention (IPMWC)
The platform consists of a civil society initiative aimed at monitoring and at the same time advocating for the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
The convention indeed came into force in 2003 with the last ratification of Guatemala. The number of signatory countries, however, is very marginal and no Western receiving country has ratified the convention yet. The platform represents an alliance of civil society organizations, intergovernmental agencies and migrants, human rights and women organizations, aimed at raising awareness and offering information and support with regard to the convention. The platform also works to facilitate information flows within the NGO community and to encourage input from national NGOs and other civil society organizations to the work of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers. Moreover, the platform aims at promoting cooperation among states, in particular receiving countries, as they are considered in the convention as the main responsible for the enhancement of human rights protection mechanisms for women and migrant workers. All relevant information is available at the following page: http://www.december18.net/web/general/page.php?pageID=530&menuID=36&lang=EN
Migrant care
http://www.buruhmigranberdaulat.blogspot.com/
Migrants Care – Association for Migrant Workers Sovereignty – is an Indonesian NGO, member of Migrant Forum in Asia and International NGO Platform on Migrant Workers' Convention. Through its project and activities, it seeks to empower migrant workers and local organization capacity, advocate with regional organization to insert migration and human rights protection in their political agenda, facilitate discussion on migrants' labour conditions as well as protection measurements in the political and academic fora, and advocate against exploitation and injustice throughout the Southeast region. It facilitates exchanging ideas and sharing experiences through events, fora, workshops and documentation in order to huddle together migrants, activists and policy makers in their struggle for human rights and social justice.
Migrant forum in Asia
http://www.mfasia.org/mfaAbout/AboutMFA.html
Created in 1994 during a forum of migrant workers advocates in Taiwan, MFA is a regional network of NGOs, associations and trade unions of migrant workers and activists in Asia who are committed to protecting and promoting the rights and welfare of migrant workers. MFA plays the role of facilitator and reference point for member organizations and advocates in the region interested and committed to address discriminatory laws and policies, violence against women migrants, unjust living conditions, unemployment in the homeland and other related issues. The forum claims the need of an alternative world system that challenges the distortions of globalization and is based on respect for human rights, social justice and gender equity. It coordinates and supports popular movements and advocacy initiatives at the regional and/or the international level addressing migrants' needs.
National network for immigrant and refugee rights
NNIRR is a national organization based in Oakland (USA) including local coalitions, immigrant associations, civil rights, and labour organizations and activists. It serves as a forum to share information and analysis, to raise awareness within the public and communities and to propose and coordinate strategies of action furthering the welfare of immigrants and refugees. It undertakes several initiatives and services such as providing legal assistance, stimulating dialogue among immigrants on critical issues, supporting immigrant communities during political campaigns and elections, strengthening immigrants' advocacy capacity, help them address their needs and demands within the hosting society, and organizing women migrants' working groups and delegations to relevant international summit. It is worth mentioning that the recommended links of the website also includes some 'anti-immigration' organizations in order to enable people to familiarize and contrast anti-immigration standpoint.
No one is illegal
A group of activists and campaigners standing for migrant's rights and equitable life conditions. Together with other activist groups, it might be defined as the critical soul of northern societies struggling for the fundamental values of equality, plurality, social justice, human rights and solidarity. Through campaigns and various initiatives, the movement condemns borders controls and advocate for fairer migration laws. Stemming from the idea that borders controls cannot be by definition 'fair', 'just', 'reasonable' or 'non racist', all kind of distinctions and categories for people on the move (such as economic migrants, refugees, legal and illegal migrants) are rejected and opposed as labels that potentially hamper civil liberties and restrict the people's individual decision capacity.
RSDwatch.org (a project by Asylum access)
Launched originally in February 2005, the project is promoted and carried out by Asylum Access, a US non-profit organization dealing with and promoting legal aid for refugees seeking protection in the global South (www.asylumaccess.org).
It was created thanks to the initiative of some grassroots legal aid and refugee rights organizations promoting reform of the way UNHCR conducts refugee status determination.
RSDWatch works in loose collaboration with several legal aid and refugee rights organizations in countries where UNHCR is involved in refugee status determination. The aim is to collect and present credible information on the way the UN High Commissioner for Refugees conducts refugee status determination (RSD), to promote fairness, transparency and accountability in refugee status determination and to provide a forum in which to discuss the protection challenges that UNHCR-RSD poses. It is not funded by, nor directly connected to, the United Nations.
Sin fronteras – I.A.P.
http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/sf.htm
Sin Fronteras was created in 1995 by a group of activists and academics. It works with migrants and refugees in order to contribute to their empowerment and to the improvement of their family life conditions. It provides migrants with legal and social support and promotes the development of legal frameworks and political programmes that are right and participatory based.
Its activities and programmes are built on an approach that is inclusive, comprehensive and multidisciplinary.
Sin Fronteras also publishes electronic bulletins addressed to the migrants themselves, NGOs, research centres, community groups, self-help groups and other associations and public institutions working in Mexico and Central America. It believes in and thus establishes synergies with all the organizations dealing with migration/refugees issues and contributes to strengthen all groups of migrants being shaped during the years.
Statewatch – monitoring the state and civil liberties in Europe
Statewatch is a non-profit voluntary group founded in 1991 that draws together lawyers, academics, journalists and social activists from 15 countries. The group undertakes investigative journalism and critical research in the field of justice, civil liberties, political accountability, within the frame of EU home affairs and external relations, also including asylum, migration and borders policy.
Information and publication are diffused mainly through the website, which works as a gateway of news, features, analyses constantly collected and made available to the public with the aim of encouraging debates and facilitating access to information and full-text documentation that thus enables people to access for themselves primary sources and develop their own reflections and conclusions. The website offers: (a) the bulletin Statewatch European Monitor (launched in 1991) and the review European Monitor that collects news, monitors policies and measures, inform on their state of implementation and report from the ground on their effects on the territory; (b) the Statewatch European Monitoring and Documentation Centre (SEMDOC), launched in 1998, which collects documents from the Council of the European Union, the EC and the European Parliament; and (c) several 'Observatories' on civil liberties and openness in the EU, including asylum and immigration policy.
II. Research centres and knowledge networks
AMA African migration alliance
African Migration Alliance was launched in March 2005 at an international workshop held in Pretoria/Tshwane with the sponsorship of South Africa's Department of Social Development. It is a network initiative attended by scholars and researchers working on migration across Africa.
AMA is conceived as a forum that contributes to gather more complete and high-quality data on migration in Africa and develop a more comprehensive research initiative. A steering committee of representatives from the four major African sub-regions has been established to oversee the proceedings and to plan and raise funds for extending the network. The alliance is based in South Africa at Human Science Research Council. The homepage in not yet available. Further information is available at the following address: www.hrsc.ac.za
Asian migrant centre
http://www.asian-migrants.org/
Based in Hong Kong, the Asian Migrant Centre is a member-based organization, gathering foundations, associations and NGOs dealing with human rights, migration issues, gender equity, social justice and sustainability.
It engages in research, publication and training in support of the empowerment of migrant workers and their families throughout the Asian region.
The AMC is also a useful source of information of latest issues and resources in the region as well as campaigns and advocacy initiatives.
CARIM – Euro-Mediterranean consortium for applied research on international migration
Launched in 2004 in the frame of the EU MEDA cooperation programme on migration, social integration of immigrants and traffic of people, as a consequence of the Barcelona process (2002), CARIM is coordinated by a research unit based at the Robert Shuman Centre for Advanced Studies of the European University Institute (Florence, Italy). The consortium, composed of a network of experts from European and Mediterranean partners' countries, is committed to observe and forecast migratory movements and analyse the causes, consequences and dynamics for sending, transit and receiving countries, within the Euro-African relations for development cooperation. CARIM offers research, training and data collection covering simultaneously different facets of migration, providing an inclusive approach that looks at the North and South migratory dynamics as a whole process. The geographic scope includes European Union and Mediterranean countries of Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Forced migration on line
http://www.forcedmigration.org/
FMO is a website designed for students, researchers and practitioners, and provides access to relevant information on forced migration and displacement. Initially funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the European Commission, it is currently supported by DFID.
The resources offered are organized by geographic and thematic categories. Apart from this, the value added of the webpage consists of a digital library with a list of journals available on-line and a directory of a wide range of worldwide organizations and research centres working in the field.
FMO is hosted by the Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University.
Global forum on migration and development
GFMD has been launched on the occasion of its first meeting held in Brussels in July 2007, meant to be the start of a new global process of dialogue between governments of developing and developed countries on migration issues. As its main challenge, the forum is intended to facilitate the participation of civil society in the intergovernmental dialogue process on migration, following the UN High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development.
The forum is aimed to enhance the positive impact of migration on development (and vice versa) by adopting a more consistent policy approach, exchanging know-how and experience about innovative approaches and methods, establishing cooperative links between the various actors involved. It is conceived as an 'informal, government led but multi-stakeholder process' that looks at how to better incorporate migration into development policies, also taking account of the achievement of the MDGs. The next meeting will be held in 2008 in Manila.
IMI – International migration institute
Based at University of Oxford, the International Migration Institute is a research centre committed to a better and more comprehensive understanding of international migration dynamics in order to fill the existing gaps in research and policy. The research methodology tries to: match micro-level facts and macro-level trends; and take into account historical patterns to understand the current trends; develop future scenarios of migratory flows, taking account of political, economic and demographic change. The approach is based on the view that migration is naturally part of global transformation processes rather than a problem to be solved.
The research agenda focuses on three main research interests: migration at the level of individual, households and communities; migration and its evolving patterns along the times; and migration and the resulting social, economic and political transformations for countries and territories.
The institute is currently carrying out a research programme on African migration aimed at supporting African institutions to develop research and analysis capacity on migration issues.
IMI has been jointly implemented in 2006 by the Refugee Studies Centre and the ESRC Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS).
Migration and development
Migration and Development is a portal jointly established by IOM and the Government of Belgium. In the midst of growing reflections on migration in relation to development and aid policy, the website holds the merit of shedding light on this controversial and challenging theme within the international community. It presents an up-to-date list of resources and links to different national and international actors dealing with the issue. It also presents a wide choice of research and policy papers, including the GCIM research series, and gives the possibility to post relevant papers and information on policy and project initiatives on migration and development.
Migration dialogue
Migration dialogue is an information gateway on migration and integration issues. It is aimed at promoting dialogue and informed discussion by providing punctual, accurate and non-partisan information and analysis. The resources are structured around four main activities: Migration News; Rural Migration News; Changing Face; and Research&Seminars. The first sections summarizes and analyses the most important immigration and integration developments taking place in North America, Europe, Asia and other regions, while the other sections are more focused on the USA. The project is based at the University of California.
Migration information source
Set up by the Migration Policy Institute, it is a very useful and up-to-date source of information, authoritative data and selective articles and papers on migration and other related issues. In the form of a monthly bulletin, the webpage features stories, spotlights major events and political initiatives, and accounts data on migration trends and tendencies. A specific section is dedicated to refugees' issues while a list of country resource page catalogues and contextualizes migration facts and trends of many countries around the world.
Migrants right international
MRI is a membership organization gathering experts and practitioners in the field of migration and human rights. It was launched in 1994 during the UN Conference on Population and Development, under the previous name of International Migrants Watch Committee.
MRI relies on the support of a large network of migrant associations, workers' unions and NGOs, dealing worldwide with migration issues. It works to promote the recognition and respect for the rights of all migrants and members of their families; it strongly supports the universal ratification and effective implementation of the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; MRI also runs out capacity-building activities for migrants workers and works to build consensus on policy recommendations against racial discriminations and xenophobia. MRI holds a special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Migreurop
Migreurop is a network association, formed in the midst of the European Social Forum held in Florence in 2002, as a response to the need of activists and scholars to share and gather opinions and experiences about the reality of undocumented foreigners in Europe and the political responses of EU. The group holds a sharp position on the European Union approach, deploring and attacking camps and retention policies. Migreurop is aimed at disseminating information and knowledge in order to facilitate the access to information and combat any stigma and prejudices towards migrants and undocumented people within European society. Migreurop initiatives are mostly committed to documenting the dramatic conditions of documented and undocumented people in the Mediterranean and monitoring the European policies. The group has an important catalyst role in terms of critical thinking and autonomous field-based information, for those dealing with the issue at the political as well as at the societal level.
The network is composed of nine associations working with migrants and asylum seekers at the forefront of Euro-Mediterranean borders.
Remittances.eu
Created in September 2006, Remittances.eu was jointly designed and implemented by economists and migration experts from the Inter American Dialogue, The World Bank and Oxfam-Novib. The website is managed by the Foundation for International Migration and Development (FIMD), recently created in The Hague (2006), with the aim of bringing together experts, academics and migrant organizations to share knowledge and experiences on migration and development.
The portal serves as a gateway of information on remittances. Although not fully completed, the website provides country overviews (targeted on Latin America), links to statistical institutes, collection of relevant news drawn from selected newspapers, magazines and media services, and an electronic library on remittances providing the latest publications of development banks and institutions.
TERRA
Terra (acronym for Travaux, Etudes, Recherches sur les Réfugiés et l'Asile) is a scientific network devoted to deeper analyse and debate the political conditions and legal framework for forced migrants, refugees, expatriate/exiled people and asylum seekers. Born in 2003 with the support of the University la Sorbonne and the Institute of Political Studies (CERI), Terra holds a socio-anthropological approach and represents an important forum for debate, research and books' publications, which gather more than 1500 participants. It is structured on four main research axes such as detention camp, asylum, exile in Mediterranean and Europe, women discriminations, frontiers.
Through a forum of researchers and experts, an electronic editorial and periodical meetings and workshops, it tries to promote and facilitate dissemination and exchange of information. Terra is currently carrying out multiyear research programmes mainly focused on the impact of mobility (in its various forms of migration, refugee, displacement, etc.) in the receiving countries with a focus on racial discriminations and problems of integration, definition of national frontiers, humanitarian response and political capacity, the interaction of individuals with the surrounding space (camps, transit areas, ghettos, etc.) and its determinants for decision/choosing capacity.
Compiled by Angela Zarro
