A new independent Commission will examine possible ways of managing migration flows and protecting migrants’ rights. Launched on 9 December in Geneva, the Swiss-Swedish initiative will
investigate gaps in current approaches to migration, including institutional arrangements and present a report to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in mid-2005.

The Commission will be headed by Mamphela Ramphele, a South African who is a Managing Director at the World Bank and Jan Karlsson, the former Swedish Minister for Migration and Development. According to the In ternational Organization for Migration quoted by U.N. Wire (10 De cem ber), 175 million people live outside the country in which they were born and the figure could rise to 230 million by 2050.

“Migration is as old as humanity, and it is a vital part of our future. And while migration policy is made at the national level, it has obvious international impact”, stated Mr. Annan, unveiling the Commission.
Migration provides enormous potential benefits to receiving as well as sending countries. “Migrant
remittances are a vital factor in development. The sums transferred to developing countries are large –and they are growing fast. And in developed countries, migrant labour is increasingly important, particularly in view of current demographic trends”, he said.

Mr. Annan said that migration was not just an economic issue, but one of human rights as well, pointing out that greater international cooperation was needed to fight smuggling and trafficking and to build “more comprehensive regimes to protect the human rights of migrants”.

Mr. Annan said the new, non-UN panel would help promote greater public understanding about migration – a debate which has “generated more heat than light” in some countries. “I am convinced that win-win out comes are possible, if we approach this issue rationally, creatively, compassionately and cooperatively”, he added.
(Sources: U.N. Wire, 10 December; UN News Service, 9 December)