July 10, 2007

Representatives of African, European and Middle Eastern churches, church-related organisations and ecumenical bodies working on migration issues and associated with the World Council of Churches (WCC) said they are "pleased to contribute to the Global Forum on Migration and Development" that will meet for the first time today and tomorrow in Brussels, Belgium.

According to the church representatives who met in Brussels from 6-9 July 2007 the Global Forum on International Migration and Development (GFMD) "signals an end to overall restrictive migration policies in the North" while "replacing them by a debate on the positive impact of migration." They also made a number of recommendations for the GFMD to be successful, including the need to develop a "coherent and binding body of international rights of migrants."

Labelled as an informal, voluntary and state-led global forum, the GFMD comprises two interrelated parts: a meeting of civil society actors and a discussion by government representatives. The Global Forum is not a decision-making process but a platform for policymakers to share information, good practices and policies regarding migration and development, and to explore new initiatives for international cooperation and partnerships.

The full text of the church representatives comments addressed to the GFMD is available at: http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3827.

A pdf version is available at: http://www.oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/documents/p4/GFMD_Christian_comments.pdf.

Global Forum on Migration and Development website: http://www.gfmd-fmmd.org/.

World Council of Churches