South America
Plans To Unify
Migration Policy
Quito - Latin American
countries will try to unify a regional
migratory policy during the 9th South
American Conference on Migration, to be held
here on Sept. 21-22, Ecuadorian Migration
Minister Lorena Escudero said Thursday.
The conference, a regional mechanism of
dialogue and agreement on migration founded
in 1999, will group together delegates of
the "highest level" from the 12 South
American countries.
Escudero said the conference is aimed at
advancing the unification of a regional
migratory policy "to consolidate
possibilities of free move in the region."
Escudero said, at the end of the conference,
the countries will sign a common
declaration, which will be taken to the 3rd
Global Forum on Migration and Development in
Athens, Greece, later this year.
He said other topics to be mentioned in the
conference include a plan of human
development for migrations, the rights and
dignity of migrants, and their contributions
to the origin and destination countries.
But challenges such as the current global
financial crisis are ahead for the countries
to come up with a common regional agenda on
issues concerning migration, Escudero added.
Hit hard by the worst financial crisis in
the country's history, a large number of
Ecuadorians emigrated to Europe, mainly
Spain and Italy, and U.S., in 1999, and
migration management became a state policy
in 2007.
Representatives from social institutions,
observers from international and regional
organizations like the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees and the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean will also attend the conference.
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