OAS Assistant Secretary General Highlights Importance Of Reporting System On Labor Migration In The Americas

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador Albert Ramdin, opened on Wednesday the second day of an OAS-OECD sponsored meeting on the Creation of a Continuous Reporting System for Labor Migration in the Americas (SICREMI) stating that “the defining characteristic of contemporary migration is seen through its diversity, multifaceted nature and the complexity of the relationships that are forged as a result.”

The Seminar on SICREMI was inaugurated Tuesday by OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, who highlighted the importance for governments of having precise information to adopt appropriate migration policies.

While noting that several attempts had already been made to compile migration related information, Ambassador Ramdin pointed out that there was still an absence of systematized, dependable and current data on the subject and he urged greater effort to develop a reliable reporting system. Ambassador Albert Ramdin called also for greater understanding of the root causes of migration and for greater empirical analysis, recognizing that information gathering is key to this process.

In referring to OIM estimates for 2008 which indicate that there were 200 million migrants worldwide and of that total one in every seven migrants was born in either Latin America or the Caribbean, Ambassador Ramdin stressed that “migration will increasingly become a priority issue on the political, diplomatic and development agenda of Member States.” Ramdin also reminded participants of the need to develop holistic policies that allow member states to respond to national imperatives without ignoring that “many societies in the Western Hemisphere were built on and continue to benefit from the meaningful contribution of migrants.”