Parliamentarians at the first global parliamentary conference on refugees and migration have raised concerns about the huge challenges faced by countries receiving refugees.
Countries with the fewest resources, they said, are often the ones hosting the most refugees; nonetheless, they are far more generous in providing refugee protection and assistance than developed countries.
Many of the participants emphasized a rightful expectation that developed countries of the West particularly Europe need to assume an equitable share of responsibility for both providing protection to refugees and assisting countries elsewhere.
Such fair and equitable responsibility-sharing, they said, will enhance international cooperation.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees office counted 27.1 million refugees and 45 million asylum seekers at the end of 2021, a considerable rise in the last several years as well as an estimated 532 million internally displaced persons.
2nd Deputy Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu, disclosed this in a paper he presented at the conference that took place in Turkey from 20-21 June 2022.
The Conference, on the theme ‘How to bring about stronger international cooperation and national implementation’ was jointly organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
It was the first global parliamentary conference focusing on refugees and forced migration, with participation from Africa, Asia, Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East, and North and South America.
According to the Deputy Speaker, the urgency for a Parliamentary engagement and action was reiterated throughout the conference and stressed there is an imperative now for further international parliamentary dialogue and cooperation on addressing causes of forced migration; regulating international migration; further implementing recommendations in the global compacts, and realizing the sustainable development agenda.
The root causes and drivers of compelled or forced migration, he said are an important element of the Global Compact on Refugees agenda.
“Nonetheless, parliamentarians emphasized that implementing the targets and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will be the definitive means to resolving and indeed preventing the root causes of forced human displacement.”
Parliamentarians, he said, from most of the countries represented in the course of the conference shared experience and views on factors compelling migration.
“Own-initiative parliamentary action on refugee protection and assistance and on governing migration are imperative in every country- on adoption and domestication of standards, national legislative frameworks for migration human rights, refugee protection, economic sustainability; social cohesion; stronger collective international, bilateral and national action; cooperation in regulating migration, borders and enhancing regular pathways, and freer movement, particularly within regional communities of countries.”
Hon. Osei Owusu stressed there is an imperative now for further international parliamentary dialogue and cooperation on addressing causes of forced migration; regulating international migration; further implementing recommendations in the global compacts, and realizing the sustainable development agenda.
