18-19th October 2022, Geneva – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean attended the fourth annual meeting of the UN Network on Migration, held at the Palais de Nations in Geneva. PAM was represented by Hon. Joana Lima, President of the Women Parliamentary Forum, and Hon. Maria da Luz Rosinha (Portugal).
The meeting was divided into three main sessions, aimed at discussing the work plan of activities for 2022-2024, reviewing the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), and looking toward the next steps.
Hon. Joana Lima addressed the second session of the meeting, which focused on country and regional support for GCM implementation, including through Networks and other partnerships.
Hon. Lima expressed her concerns about the increasing number of missing migrants worldwide, with a focus on the Mediterranean Sea, the world’s deadliest migration route, as witnessed in the recent shipwreck of a Lebanese boat off the coast of Syria, which caused hundreds of deaths.
Hon. Joana Lima recalled PAM’s commitment to the fight against transnational organized crime, with a focus on human trafficking, as a high priority of the Assembly. At the same time, she indicated that PAM believes that the Global Compact is an essential instrument to guarantee that migratory flows are managed in a more safe, orderly, and regular manner. Regarding the GCM topic, Hon. Lima mentioned Egypt, Morocco and Portugal as “Champion countries” for the implementation of the Global Compact.
Hon. Lima also shared her concerns about climate change and the current energy and food crises, as two more causes of the migration of millions of people. The Mediterranean and Gulf areas are especially vulnerable to this situation. For these reasons, PAM believes that freedom to move must be facilitated in regular pathways to contribute to climate change adaptation. PAM has demonstrated its commitment to the issue by calling for the recognition of the status of “environmental refugee” in international law.
To conclude her speech, Hon. Lima mentioned the tragedy resulting from the Russian aggression against Ukraine, as an example of relative effective management of mass flows, and thanked all the countries that are hosting Ukrainian refugees.
PAM strongly supports the implementation of the Global Compact and its 23 objectives, and it is committed to supporting the United Nations and its Member States for the new work plan until 2024 and beyond.//