 This day of our work of our 108th Council, as I announced yesterday, it's a real honor to welcome and introduce Hassan Omar Mohammed Burhan, Minister of the Interior of Djibouti, who will speak on behalf of Mr. Ismail Omar Gala, the President of Djibouti. So I give the floor to you, Mr. Minister, informed me that before the Minister speaks to us, there will be a video. Young men, Ethiopians under the age of 20, are wearing shorts and t-shirts covered in dust and blood. Their things are contained in a plastic bag with just a few things and a bottle of water, which is practically empty. The drivers are in the cars going past, are sad but not surprised. These young people are just a tiny part of the thousands of Ethiopians going towards Saudi Arabia where they hope to find work. They go to Djibouti on foot and then to Yemen by boat. In Yemen, migrants pay smugglers in the hope of getting to Saudi Arabia, but very few actually get there. Djibouti is a very small desert country and has seen a huge increase in migratory flows towards the Gulf of Eden. We have also seen an increase in the number of migrants dying or in very poor health during the trip. We are in Obek, a very small port to the north of Djibouti, which has become a crossroads for people going towards or fleeing Yemen, which is a country being destroyed by war. Over the days and weeks before their dangerous crossing, migrants are looking for drinking water and beg from the local people, who are less welcoming because of the uninterrupted flow of migrants. While Ethiopians want to travel to Yemen, thousands of Yemeni refugees are fleeing the conflict in their country and going in the other direction. Yemeni refugees who see migrants going through their camps don't understand why some people would willingly go towards the nightmare that they are trying to escape from. The fighting in Yemen has been violent in many regions of the country, many cities have been destroyed by bombings and by rocket attacks as well. Ismail and a dozen other young men from their village are sleeping under the trees on the outskirts of the city, waiting for smugglers to take them across the sea. Most of these migrants don't know that there is a war going on in Yemen. Those who do hope that the conflict in Yemen will make their trip easier, but the journey has never been more dangerous for migrants and they face abuses and violence. Migrants pay about 12,000 B, that's $130, going across inflatable boats or overcrowded wooden boats. Most of them don't know how to swim and this is a very rough sea. About 3,500 people have lost their lives during the crossing over the past 10 years. You can't compare the dangers at sea to the dangers that they will face in Yemen. The smugglers take a ransom for the family members who are left in their country because they have to get this money together very quickly in order to free their children from the smugglers. In Yemen, the smugglers were waiting, they stopped the car next to our boat and once we were on land, they forced us into the car. They asked for the numbers of our parents in Saudi Arabia. Many of us said we didn't have one. We didn't have parents in Saudi Arabia, only in Ethiopia and those who had the numbers of their relatives in Saudi Arabia were freed without being tortured, but those who had to call our parents in Ethiopia to transfer money. I said to my family, well I said my family didn't have money so the smugglers tortured me for 15 days. They asked me to call my family again and ask them for more money to save my life by sending the money that they were asking for. My family transferred 2,000 Riyals through some friends, my parents had given 10,000 beer. The boat stopped and we after two hours got out of the sea, smugglers captured me, arrested me, pushed me to the ground. He beat me, he took 7,000 beer from me and he left me there. A Yemeni man took us into the house of a smuggler. We were imprisoned for two weeks and our family members were asked to send money and those who got the money weren't tortured. Those who didn't receive the money were tortured in as many ways as possible. There was no food or water, we couldn't sleep. They just did whatever they liked with us. Those who survived the abduction are just left without any money. Most of them are detained and can spend up to a year in prison in human conditions. Since the beginning of the war the IOM has repatriated thousands of Ethiopians, many of whom were in detention centres. They come back with gunshot wounds, dehydrated, undernourished and in a very depressed and distressing state. Most migrants leave in order to try to find work because their friends or family members tell them of their successes abroad, minors, many of them under the age of 11, don't talk about their plans with their parents before they leave. I think that those who have already left the Horn of Africa have set up abroad and got jobs which is false in many cases, as well as their friends, the smugglers manipulate young people and elderly people trying to encourage them to migrate. They go to rural areas and small towns and recruit people by applying this policy. They say leave now and you can pay later. Young people can leave without having paid anything. In Ethiopia the young women who come back from the Gulf to their villages for just more short visits bring other girls with them. Women and children can voluntarily go to Yemen with the hope of working in other countries in the Gulf, but they may be abandoned in Yemen and exploited, particularly if they aren't old enough to work. They've crossed the border illegally, they don't speak the language of the country of destination. Many women who helped said that they were sold as sexual slaves in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Some injuries, infectious diseases, which could easily be treated or avoided by medicine or improved hygiene, can become, can kill them. Having been expelled from Yemen after six months of detention in distressing conditions, hundreds of migrants arrive every month to the welcome center in Obok, the IOM center, and say that they want to go home. The situation of the country's transit and destination is such that there are few possibilities for them. Voluntary assisted programs supported by IOM can help migrants who need help to go back to their countries. In 2016 IOM evacuated more than 3,000 Ethiopian migrants by ship from Djibouti and more than 500 by plane. Migrants were identified and registered by the IOM teams and had medical support and psychosocial and psychological support. They also received hygiene kits, including clean clothes and hygiene products, and received daily warm meals. Migrants were provided with awareness raising meetings, workshops, they were alerted to the risks of clandestine illegal migration and alerted to the importance of personal hygiene. IOM continues to support the assisted voluntary return of migrants to their home countries and awareness raising programs with regard to the risks of illegal migration. To our brothers and sisters coming from neighboring countries to try to get to the Middle East or elsewhere, ask your brothers and sisters who have left. Ask them how many people have died crossing the sea. Don't rush into this. It's not paradise where you think you're going. Mr. Director General of the IOM, distinguished delegates, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the President of the Republic of Djibouti, His Excellency Ismail Omar Gele and on my own behalf, at the outset, it's an honor for me to address my sincere thanks to the Director General of the IOM for this invitation to the President of Djibouti to take part in the 108th Council of the IOM. Originally, His Excellency was unable to free himself up for this event because of a very busy schedule. He asked me to represent him and to personally deliver the following message to this important meeting of the IOM given the magnitude of the migration issue for our country. Ladies and gentlemen, the 108th IOM Council, as well as consultations which were held in 2017 and are continuing into 2018, are an important turning point for Djibouti, which is one of the pilot countries of the Conference of Refugee Resource Framework and participated with a great deal of interest in the preparation for the global compact on migration and refugees, which will be adopted in September 2018. As you all know, managing migration flows has become, over time, a phenomenon which is on a planetary scale and involves all countries throughout the world, either directly or indirectly. The population of Africa now is more than 1.2 billion inhabitants, and among the 10 first nationalities of migrants arriving in Europe, eight are from the African continent. Among these populations, thousands of young Africans, often minors, are attempting to illegally reach the countries of the Gulf or the Mediterranean, seeking a better life with all, of course, the risks involved. Despite this awareness, we must recognize that initiatives that are international, continental or regional are well below expectations. It's commonly admitted in Africa that the death and exploitation of thousands of young Africans on migration routes is not a fatality. I am certain that concerted global migration management would be a great asset. My country endorses the statement made at the summit of the African Union on the need to develop a common African agenda on migration, given the magnitude of the challenges experienced by Africa in managing migration internally, inter-regionally and internationally. Furthermore, I'd like to also thank the Director General of the International Organization of Migration for his preliminary statement, as well as the vision which he's described as to the efforts to take up these challenges. And I'd like to take this opportunity to state our entire readiness and support to accomplish this mandate at the head of this very noble institution. Ladies and gentlemen, my country, the Republic of Djibouti, since its accession to independence and national sovereignty in 1977, has hosted a large number of refugees from neighboring countries, but also irregular migrants in a situation of vulnerability. These irregular migrants today represent 13 percent of the national population of Djibouti, with 23,700 square kilometers, and a population estimated about 900,000 inhabitants. Its geographic location at the crossroads of roots in Horn of Africa, which is prey to chronic instability, very quickly became a transit country as well as a destination one. It's estimated that more than 250 migrants daily cross Djibouti, thinking blindly that they'll find a better life in other countries. And this, despite the crisis in Yemen, furthermore, Djibouti has more than 120,000 migrants who live today who are irregular migrants and essentially come from border countries. Our country is today on the path of accelerated growth and development, despite the many pitfalls of all kinds, particularly security problems. Our country in the region of the Horn of Africa and in the role is playing now a predominant role in consolidating stability and peace. Ladies and gentlemen, despite the challenges being faced by our country with these irregular movements of persons and the impact on our public structures, particularly health and our law and order forces, Djibouti will continue on behalf of its moral commitment to adopt a humane and empathetic approach towards these many individuals who are in distress and seeking a better life for themselves and their families. Our dearest wish is that member states participating in preparing the global compact on migration become familiar with these major challenges, particular on the African continent, and can agree on frameworks for basic protection of the most vulnerable individuals, such as children, women, migrants living with both physical and psychological disabilities and all migrants exposed to major abuse, because on the migration routes there are such abuses, sometimes extremely serious and criminal in nature. It is imperative that our response to this challenge of migration be a collective one, it be sustainable and based on solid partnerships, shared responsibility, and shared burdens, and increased inter-regional cooperation. The recent CNN broadcast which shocked citizens throughout the world justifiably on human trafficking and human exploitation in 2017 showed the world these practices of another era which constitute a crime against humanity. It's therefore our collective responsibility to find solutions, to find alternatives which respect human rights and which would avoid these migrants being exposed to criminal practices of human trafficking which exploits all their vulnerabilities. Mr. Director General, I share your view on the fact and I quote, the global compact is a historic opportunity to achieve the objective of a world where migrants move by choice rather than by necessity, a world of migration which is safe, orderly and regular, and a world in which migration is properly managed and represents a positive force for individuals, societies, and states. Director General, in fact the phenomenon of migration which in itself is not new should not be simply looked at in a negative way but should also be perceived as an opportunity for all countries during this process of negotiation on the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. That is to protect human rights and particularly the human rights of migrants by combating human trafficking, migrant trafficking, racism, and xenophobia, secondly to multiply collective efforts at the regional and international level so that the root causes of migration such as extreme poverty, humanitarian crisis, conflicts, or climate change can be combated. Three, increase international cooperation and set up regional and international migration governance mechanisms. And four, emphasize the contribution of migrants to sustainable development of their countries of origin. Since our last meeting, Mr. Director General, the Republic of Djibouti has undertaken a series of measures aimed at strengthening and consolidating its strategy to manage the migration issue as a whole. Among these measures, I would like to recall a national consultation on the global compact on migration which was held last September with the support of IOM in Djibouti. The appointment of the Minister of the Interior as a national coordinator for migration issues. An interministerial committee which was set up through a participative and inclusive approach will very soon lead to the adoption of a national migration policy. Important measures taken for migrants access to health through mobile health patrols but also assistance to migrants with much greater attention through the government, through the national office for refugees, for assistance to refugees and victims of disasters. Mr. Director General, ladies and gentlemen, before concluding my remarks, I'd like to take this opportunity to once again state our entire readiness to collaborate and support with you which demonstrate the will of the government and the Republic of Djibouti for safer, more orderly and regular migration. Djibouti remains committed to seek solutions for the challenges of managing migration to this end. Our country has already announced its will to welcome the next Pan-African forum on migration in 2018. I'd also like to conclude my comments by informing you that just 30 minutes ago I was called from Djibouti and told that there were a hundred migrants thrown onto the coast who were sent back from Yemen. As you saw in the film, I just received a message from home just before making the speech. In other words, a hundred migrants were sent back from Yemen and they were found on the coast of the Republic of Djibouti. Every time there's a problem of irregular migrants and refugees, watch out Djibouti. You're probably going to have security problems because of these migrants and refugees. No, this is what we're told. No, to date, since 1978 and all the way to today, the Republic of Djibouti has always refused refugees and migrants. We've never had security issues because of these migrants. Djibouti, I can promise you, Director-General, will always keep its borders open for any person fleeing their country. We are going to welcome them and you're here to help us, right? We're going to continue, despite, of course, the risk of the threat that it might represent for some countries. Just to tell you the whole truth, we've never had problems of security that caused by migrants and refugees. These are poor people that are fleeing their country. These are vulnerable people, women, elderly, young children to close the borders to these people. We think would be criminal. Djibouti leaves its borders open and welcomes all persons who flee them. And we've always received them with dignity and will continue to do so. Thank you very much for your kind attention. Thank you very much. Excellent, see, and many thanks for your emotional and very realistic testimony and description of the situation in Djibouti, as well as Djibouti's migration policy. So we'll now continue with the general debate. I'd like to remind speakers that the speech time allotted is five minutes each. And I would please ask you to speak at a reasonable pace in order to allow the interpreters to work. My first speaker on the list of speakers today is Excellency Ferenc Dainz. National Corporation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary. You have the floor, sir. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. First, let me congratulate the new member of the organization, Q-Band Cook Islands, for the accession. Let me thank the Director General for his report on the work of the organization for 2016. Hungary welcomes the entering of IOM into the UN system and launching of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. We support IOM as a global lead agency of migration and invite it to give its indispensable co-values also as a related agency of the United Nations and remain responsive, efficient, cost-effective, non-normative and independent agency. Regarding the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, as the experience of recent years shows, it has to be acknowledged that regular migration flows are representing major challenges for both the countries of origin, transit and destination. We therefore welcome that the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants recognize that states have the rights and responsibilities to manage and control their borders and to implement border control procedures as well as the sovereign right to determine whom to admit to their territory, subject that states international obligations. At the same time, it also emphasized the obligation of all states as enshrined in international law to accept without condition the return and readmission of the nationals who do not have the right to stay on other states territory. We remain convinced that the future global compact on migration shall also be based on this core approach, emphasizing that securing control over extended borders and stemming the continuous flow of irregular migration must become priority in finding a solution to the migration crisis, as well establishing a balance between the security aspects of migration and the rights to asylum. We recognizing that international migration is a multi-dimensional reality of major relevance and with the aim of reducing the incidence and impact of irregular migration, we propose that global governance of migration should focus on tackling the root causes of migration with special regard to poverty eradication, conflict prevention and resolution, bringing help to people closest to their homes, while facilitating return and readmission of persons not in clear need of international protection. In line with this approach, the Hungarian government has put forward a unique effort in its Global Human Terrain Initiative, Hungarian Health Program. It helped to rebuild a war-torn Christian community near Mosul and reconstruct a Christian School in Erbil. The country provided 500,000 euros for a pharmaceutical aid, finance and construction of 200 houses in Tarskow, supported the renovation of 32 Christian churches in Lebanon and launched a scholarship program to help young Christian and Muslim students who were suffering from conflicts in the Middle East. Madam Chair, let me express the appreciation of my government for the excellent cooperation between IOM and the Hungarian government during the last two decades. Hungary has taken part in the voluntary return European network platform and has been implementing assistant voluntary return and reintegration programs coordinated by the Budapest Office of the IOM that has been running for more than a decade. Hungary has also been cooperating with IOM in the framework of the Budapest process since its inception. In that respect, let me thank IOM staff members for their commitments and selfless work. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Deputy State Secretary. Let me turn now to His Excellency Mr George Casulides, permanent representative from Cyprus. You have the floor, Ambassador. Thank you, Madam Chair. Firstly, like all the others, let me join in congratulating the Bureau, the Council for their election and assuring them of our full support. Cyprus aligns itself with the statement made by the European Union earlier this week and wishes to add some remarks of its own. The 108th session of the Council marks a successful year for the development of a global and comprehensive approach regarding the management of migration with respect to safeguarding human rights in a dignified manner. It has become now, more than ever, evident that the multiple challenges of migratory crisis in different areas of the globe can only be addressed through global cooperation, solidarity and responsibility sharing. The objectives identified in the New York Declaration and the 2030 sustainable agenda clearly characterize the contemporary global migration as unprecedented to which particular characteristics derive from the underlying causes of migration, from environmental to serious violations of human rights and organized crime making efforts to combat the maltreatment of people, urgent and imperative. IOM with its valuable expertise contributes significantly to the process leading towards the global combat on migration. As the global agency on migration and from last year, a member of the UN family, IOM's role should be strengthened in the follow-up of the review process of the global combat of safe, orderly and legal migration. To this end, my delegation welcomes the adoption of the resolution on the first anniversary of IOM within the UN system and thanks the bureau for this initiative. Global discussions of migration should be followed with targeted actions at global, regional and national level. Thus, we strongly believe that an effective migration management should include close cooperation with IOM in particular through its regional and country offices. It is within this framework that the Cyprus government actively supports the IOM office in Cyprus including through voluntary financial contributions, a substantial assistance and cooperation in cases of voluntary returns and re-indigration. We stand ready to continue and enhance this collaboration. Due to our own painful past experience in forced displacement and migration, Cyprus is always advocating for a comprehensive approach that will address the root causes while at the same time keeping the focus very much on the urgent need to save lives and alleviate the pain and suffering of people on the move. In this regard, Cyprus responded on the emerging migratory flows at sea with timely and effective rescues within its geographical limitations and with the reception of all in need in a dignified manner. Allow me, Madam Chair, to conclude by expressing our sincere gratitude and appreciation to those Director General Ambassador William Lacey Swing for his leadership of IOM and for his tireless work and guidance in addressing the current challenges in a comprehensive and sustainable manner for the benefit of migrants. His wisdom, dedication and personal engagement have contributed in place migration at the top of the global political agenda. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Ambassador. I wish to give the floor now to her Excellency, the Permanent Representative of Greece, Mrs. Anna Kouka. Thank you, Madam Chair. Greece aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union on behalf of its member states. And this statement could not have been more relevant for Greece than any other EU country, given that we have been on the forefront of a migration refugee crisis for the past three years now. A crisis unprecedented for European standards in its recent history, which made it all the more complex to address and manage successfully. If we look back at Greece's own modern history, we will find that many Greeks themselves migrated mainly to the United States of America, to African countries and to Australia, in the aftermath of the two devastating world wars. Many Greeks traveled miles and miles in order to reach new lands, which held the promise of a better tomorrow, a better life to be achieved through hard work and successful integration. And work hard they did, and they did integrate, always keeping the flame of their homeland, their patrita, alive in their hearts. And thus Greece has not closed its borders and has not closed its heart to migrants. We understand the necessity and we understand the reasoning behind making such a difficult decision. And we have done the outmost possible to stand by the migrants that keep reaching our shores, despite various constraints and difficult hurdles to overcome. Although attention has been shifted from eastern to central Mediterranean, I regret to once more inform you that the number of mixed flows arriving in Greece is still quite significant. As we continue the process leading to the adoption of a global compact on migration, we should all keep in mind that migrants are people like you and me, like all of us, who embark on a dangerous journey in order to find a better life and a better future in a faraway land. We should also keep in mind that the world today is a much more dangerous place if you are a migrant, especially an irregular one. Today the journey is much more hazardous, with smugglers and traffickers lurking around, with exploitation of man by his fellow men behind a harsh reality and an ever-increasing threat. It will take a large amount of open minds, open hearts and the necessity and the necessary political will to agree on a global compact on migration that will put women, children and men in the centre, that will take into consideration that deaths at sea and faraway lands, borders must stop, that will always remember that children are children and they hold the future in their hands. That smuggling and trafficking networks must be dismantled and that criminals must be prosecuted, that basic human rights are universal and that countries must adhere to international law and that successful integration is pivotal. At the same time we should also bear in mind that job opportunities are not in abundance, that financial constraints do exist and that unemployment is a phenomenon affecting all countries, that states laws and regulations must be respected, that legally staying migrants are indeed entitled to rights and these rights must be recognised. The only way to find a mutually beneficial and balanced solution to modern migration is through cooperation. This is what we aspire the global compact on migration to be, a global opportunity to discuss exchange views, cooperate and reach a common understanding on how better to tackle this global challenge. Based on the experience of the informal thematic procedure just recently concluded we are hopeful that the same interest and awareness of the need for shared responsibility amongst countries of origin transit and destination will be maintained. Deciding on a global compact on migration should take into account all the parameters mentioned above and should find innovative ways of moving the discussion forward. Part of this discussion must be returns, readmissions, responsibility sharing and not finger pointing. It is not going to be easy, I think we are all very well aware of that. However, this is an exercise in human solidarity, in global understanding, in global governance and thus far many global governance initiatives have proven effective as being result oriented. We believe this can be true for the global compact on migration as well. In this framework we believe that IOM can and should play a constructive role given its expertise on policy issues and their implementation on the ground. At this point we should like to express our support to IOM's leading role in the UN system regarding migration and our appreciation to Director General Swing and his competent staff for demonstrating the capacity and ability of the organization. Director General Swing's commitment and dedication to advancing IOM's cause has been exemplary and it is proof that only through cooperation and commitment to a higher goal we can yield positive results. It is exactly the same commitment which is needed in order to bring our discussions on a global compact on migration to fruition. We are confident that we will be able to reach this goal together through dialogue and understanding each other's positions and perspectives, constraints and limitations. Each country has its own. What we need to do is pull together and find ways to move forward together. No money is an island, no country is strong on its own, but together we can move things forward. Let's focus on that. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much, Ambassador. I'd like to give the floor at this point to Ms. Harivola Ravokotra Solofo, Anateche from Marigasca. You have the floor. Thank you very much indeed, Madam Chair. The Marigasca delegation wishes to congratulate you on your well-deserved election to chair the Council. I can assure you of our full support. I'd also like to welcome the Republic of Cuba and the Cook Islands, who've recently joined the organization and we'd like to congratulate the new observers, including Kuwait and various organizations. We'd like to extend our gratitude to the Director-General for his objective report and useful advice and recommendations. And we'd like to pay tribute to all of the IOM staff for their effectiveness. Madam Chair, for the first time in its history, the Marigascan government convened a diaspora forum in October of this year. Many Marigaskans living abroad attended this event. It was possible to discuss and make recommendations for specific projects. The conclusions of the forum will be a basis for a number of future meetings and consultations in which we will be drawing up a policy for engaging the diaspora in national development. Of course, the active participation of IOM as an institutional and technical partner for this launch event was well received by the Marigascan delegation and we wish to extend our gratitude to the IOM here today. Madam Chair, like many other countries, Marigasca is facing the consequences of climate change, natural disasters and environmental degradation. The government of Marigasca is paying particular attention to the fate of migrants linked to these phenomena, particularly temporary displacement following cyclones or people on the move as a result of the El Niño phenomenon which affected the south of the island. With the valuable support of IOM, the government of Marigasca has been implementing the displacement tracking matrix as a result of drought in the south of the country in order to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon and improved data so that we can find more appropriate and lasting solutions. As a member of the steering committee on the platform on disaster displacement, Marigasca is well aware that climate change affects all continents. Therefore, the displacement linked to climate change must be dealt with given that it is an important challenge that we are going to have to face as it grows in importance. UN member states are currently engaged in the process of developing the global compact for safe orderly and regular migration. We need to see flexibility and adaptability in adopting that document and it must be a useful framework coordinated with the sustainable development objectives and fundamental human rights including efforts to combat human trafficking. This cross cutting approach must find solutions that take into account social, cultural and economic aspects in each individual situation. Thank you for your attention. I'd like to thank the speaker and I give the floor now to Mr Lupto Rodginski, Charger de Ferre from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Thank you Madam Chair and allow me to congratulate you upon your appointment and allow me to thank you for your wisdom in guiding us in this very important matter. The IOM has demonstrated its leadership now and over the past few years. The movement of humans across our planet is one of the key distinctions of our species. Like our ability to speak, our ability to move from places of want to places of plenty, from abundance of youth to demographic scarcity, from need to possibility, from dreams to reality. In short, our drive to move constitutes the core of who we are. Human mobility is among the key aspects that defines us as a species. And the organization that has proved its worth over the most astonishing half century of human manifestation, the period from the mid 20th century to the present, is the International Organization for Migration. The legacy or the leadership of Director General Swing will surely be remembered as critical as such an important crossroads. Madam Chair, we celebrate the IOM's first birthday as a UN related organization, but that would short change its value. Certainly, last year's newly established relationship of the IOM with the UN family is a momentous occasion. But to think of it as a first anniversary is akin to buying a first toy train set for a prize-winning seasoned engineer. Should we not thus celebrate its 65th birthday, or perhaps its baptism to its current name in 1989? If we are to celebrate the entrance to the UN system it is possible to rethink where we appropriate value. Perhaps it is not that the IOM received value by becoming a member of the UN family, but that the UN family received value by welcoming IOM. The IOM has not only played the logistical role for migration for decades, but the thinking role, such as through the international dialogue on migration and as vividly evident yesterday, through the World Migration Report. The IOM has quietly but efficiently, dare I say humbly, highlighted migration issues the ripe for policy for decades. Macedonia commends the central role the IOM played during the consultation phase of the preparation of the GCM, successfully organizing the thematic consultations and bringing together many relevant stakeholders through the national and regional consultation processes. It also provided valuable support to the work of the special representative of the Secretary General for International Migration. These efforts allowed us to accumulate a solid base of knowledge and experience on which upon which the future global compact will be built. The Republic of Macedonia stands committed to contribute to the negotiations and the global compact of migration. The IOM should have a central role to play in the road ahead, including, if not especially, after the adoption of the GCM next year. This will ensure coherence with the outstanding progress we have achieved so far. With the understanding that we will create a global framework for migration governance through a non-binding document, we would however emphasize that our progress will only be complete if we manage to ensure a robust follow-up to the global compact once it is adopted. Macedonia is a transit country that provided safe passage for 1.1 million refugees and migrants, transiting through the so-called Eastern route, has a strong interest to support the development of a global framework for governance of migration that will contribute to meaningful improvements and will provide regular, safe, accessible, and affordable mobility solutions to migrants. If it is not evident to all, then let's work to make the following evident. Migration is a positive dynamic in human affairs. Contributing to making migration safe, orderly, and regular is good for all. The migrants as well as source, transit, and destination countries. Orderly migration is in everyone's interest. The challenge of the road ahead is not in the what or the why, but in the how. So let us use our creative powers to work how out. And in doing that, let us not forget the power of narrative. A voyage is a quintessential human story. From Odysseus de Chunghe to Marco Polo to our enchantment with statistics, of which the fact that almost a tenth of global economic productivity is a consequence of migration, the story of migration is an inspiring one. The migrants of the future may set the voyage afoot or take ships or cars or planes or spacecraft. We must now set the stage for those voyages to be safe, orderly, and regular. Gracias, señora presidenta. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much indeed. At this point, I'd like to ask the Director General to offer some comments. You have the floor, sir. Wish to thank the Deputy State Secretary of Hungary. Thank you very much, sir, for making the trip here. And to be with us. We are grateful for your annual voluntary contribution to IOM, which helps us with the flexibility of responding to various needs. Also for your co-funding of what we call the AMIF program, basically on silo migration and integration fund. I appreciate also and you commented on it very eloquently on the support you're giving in Erbil and Mosul in Lebanon and elsewhere. These are the kinds of contributions that are very helpful in emergencies. And I hope that you will also support us on the global compact as we go forward. And thank you for your comments on that. The Ambassador Castellides of Cyprus, thank you, sir, for your statement and your presence. I'd like to commend Cyprus efforts to put the priority on saving life and the good work you're doing to do that. And receiving and hosting so many migrants and refugees in recent years, given your key location where a lot of crossings are taking place, we're working well with you on voluntary returns. So I think also in sheltering unaccompanied minors and children, resettling those coming in from Lebanon and preparedness response. The integration of migrants through access to electronic medical records and continuity of care. I think our relationship can only grow in the future in these and other areas. I'd like to thank the distinguished representative of Greece who put the emphasis on the need for shared responsibility, human solidarity, exactly the sorts of commitments that we want in the global compact. I'd like to acknowledge the very key role, the central role you've played in dealing with the various migration movements through the Eastern Mediterranean since 2015, the brunt of which you have yourself had to bear. We want to continue working closely with you in that area. It's really expanded our relationship significantly because of the need for more personnel and more funding to support you there. It's never enough of course but we'll continue to work with you on that. Also in implementing, trying to help implement the EU relocation scheme and really hasn't perhaps yet fulfilled its full requirement but you've been very helpful along the way on that. We have been able working with you to assist about 22,500 asylum seekers to be relocated to other EU countries. This includes about 380 unaccompanied children between December 2015 and today over two years. We've assisted another 8,000 migrants to return voluntarily to their country of origin. Also like to stress our work in regard to Greece's other needs in dealing with the migrant flows there and thank you very much for your verbal support of our work in the global compact and beyond. I'd like to also respond to the distinguished representative of Madagascar, Ravocata Solofo. Long, a lot of work we're doing together on the diaspora and I'd like to commend you for your very first diaspora engagement forum. There's a lot more I think we can do with your diaspora to support you. Appreciate the support we're getting through our office in Antananarivo. Something that you will see expand further. Displacement caused by climate change which of course you know firsthand and we can learn a lot from you. Second area of course counter trafficking, diaspora mentioned, community stabilization. Work with you on the global compact of course and thank you for mentioning the Displacement Tracking Matrix which will help us to track those displaced not only by armed conflict and other causes but also by climate change. And then I would like to respond also to Mr. Georginsky and thank you for the very good bilateral that we had only a few days ago. I think something that we can build on. Appreciate your very positive remarks about a role for IOM and the global compact now and and after it's been concluded. We do recognize of course the large number of migrants and refugees who've gone through your country from between 2015 and March 2016 up to one million migrants passing through. We want to continue participating in all intergovernmental bodies on migration management that might be of assistance to you. Thank you for your migration policy resolution for the period 2015-2020 and your strategy on human trafficking and irregular migration for that same period and your integrated border management and the continued effort to build capacity to align your your migration management practices with EU practices and other activities on counter terrorism. Thank you. Thank you very much to the Director General, Mrs. Saja Majali, Permanent Representative of Jordan. How's the floor? Ambassador. Thank you very much, Madam Chairperson. Madam Chairperson, Director General Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. Firstly, I wish to join others in expressing my delegation's appreciation to our outgoing Chairperson, Ambassador John Quinn of Australia for all his efforts and to congratulate you, Madam Ambassador, on your newly elected post as Chairperson, as well as all other members of the Bureau, the two Vice Chairperson's Ambassadors of Ethiopia and Denmark and our Rapporteur Ambassador of the Philippines. We are confident that under the leadership and guidance of our Chairperson and the Bureau, we will achieve good results in our current and future work and undertakings. I would also like to welcome the admission of the Republic of Cuba and Cook Islands as members of the organization, as well as Kuwait and all other agencies and organizations that have been invited as observers. Madam Chairperson, my delegation has listened carefully to the Director General's presentation of what he had described as a personal status report to the 108th session of the IOM Council. His setting of the scene, as it is, and for the future and the global developments he described, with eight level three system-wide and internal humanitarian emergencies, only go to demonstrate how important and how much needed is the role of the IOM. My delegation thanks the Director General for his comprehensive report and for his wise leadership and salutes all 10,000 IOM staff scattered in 77 countries and in more than 440 places in the world, including those in our region. A particular thanks also goes to the IOM office in Amman. Madam Chairperson, Jordan took part in the thematic consultation that had taken place on the migration compact and is looking forward to the upcoming intergovernmental negotiating process. Jordan thanks IOM for its support for the process and reiterates its position on issues discussed as reflected in the national statements delivered during these meetings. On the follow-up to the global compact, it is important to note that the outcome and any mechanism that is arrived at remain voluntary and are only in line with Member States respective assumed international obligations. Hence, any role for IOM in this regard should really take this in mind, as well as IOM's constitution. Madam Chairperson, it is unfortunate that the humanitarian situation in our region continues to deteriorate as a result of crisis and conflicts engendering large displacements and with no solutions seeming to be near or on the horizon. This is why Jordan welcomes IOM's continued presence and role in the Middle East. Its assistance and activities and services to countries like Iraq, the Syrian Arab Republic, Libya and Yemen are not only welcomed but are also a required necessity. My delegation also welcomes IOM's renewed focus on the internally displaced before, during and after crisis, including IOM's large-scale community stabilizing and post-crisis transition and recovery programs in many countries, including in Iraq. And its assistance to the internally displaced persons, especially in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. Madam Chairperson, resettlement is vital for protection and durable solution. Therefore, IOM's continued support for countries in this area remains to be of high importance, including for my country. As for IOM's continued assistance for refugees and migrants with programs against tuberculosis and malaria, they also remain important. Madam Chairperson, IOM has been assisting Jordan for many years now, first to deal with the ramification of the Iraqi crisis and now with the Syrian crisis. It is important, its support, as well as that of the international community, has been instrumental in helping Jordan address the relating challenges of the influx and stay of Syrians. Jordan appreciates this assistance. For example, IOM has assisted in many important areas. It continues to help us in resettling refugees out of Jordan. It also continues to provide essential HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria services to Syrian refugees in Jordan. And its health assessment team in Amman has provided over 36,000 pre-deferred health assessments for refugees. IOM has also provided students in my country that is Syrian refugees with transportation to their schools. And IOM finally continues to assist in capacity building for Jordanian border authorities to support and contribute to the efforts of the government of Jordan to strengthen the border management assistance to enhance adequate humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees. It has also assisted the government in reinforcing the security of operations at borders and enhancing safe, orderly, and regular migration within the overall response to the Syrian refugee crisis. Finally, Madam Chairperson, we thank the IOM and His Excellency Director General Ambassador Swing for their support and look forward for continued partnership and collaboration. Thank you. Thank you very much. The Ambassador of Turkey, you have the floor. Chairperson, Mr. Director General, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, at the outset we congratulate you, Madam Chairperson, on your election and express our gratitude to your distinguished predecessor for his valuable guidance during the entire year. We are confident that we will also achieve substantial progress in our efforts under your leadership. We are also pleased to welcome Republic of Cuba and Cook Islands as new member states and state of Kuwait as new observer states of the organization. We congratulate IOM on the occasion of its first anniversary of entering the United Nations system as a related agency. Taking this opportunity, we would like to once again thank Director General Swing for all his efforts during the process of joining the UN system. Madam Chairperson, it is up to all of the stakeholders to work together to promote the mutual beneficial outcomes of migration. In this context, given her wide experience on hosting refugees and migrants, Turkey is ready to bring added value in the process leading to the adoption of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. By hosting more than 3.3 million Syrians and approximately 300,000 Iraqis and Afghans, Turkey assumes an important role in managing and containing mass influxes. As the previous Chair of the GFMD, the current Chair of the Budapest process, and the host of the World Humanitarian Summit, we will take part actively in the process. Madam Chairperson, we would like to thank the Director General for his comprehensive report and reiterate our support to the work and efforts of the IOM under his able leadership. Within this framework, we attach importance to the IOM's role in this process as the leading organization in the field of migration. We believe that IOM's achievements and operational responsiveness are very valuable. Furthermore, as the Chair of the Budapest process, we commend IOM's contribution to this platform as well as its efforts as an effective member of the global migration group with a view to creating synergy among different platforms and actors. We would also like to commend IOM's work in addressing natural or man-made disasters and its efforts in the fields of preparedness, response, and recovery. Moreover, we welcome IOM's engagement with private sector and diaspora. We reiterate our support to IOM's work on migrant health. Let me also underscore the close and effective cooperation between Turkey and the IOM on various areas spanning from migration management to countering trafficking and migrant smuggling from integration to humanitarian assistance. Madam Chairperson, human rights-based coherent and comprehensive migration policies as well as offering migrants and asylum seekers legal channels to enter and stay in destination countries and integration measures are also crucial. We should recall the enormous contributions that migrants and migration make to development. There is also a need for fighting more vigorously racism and xenophobia and consolidating the common human rights culture and embracing the diversity of culture and religions. It is also of great significance to prevent the negative discourse against migrants and asylum seekers that has the potential to feed radical tendencies. We should exert every effort to make the global compact process a success. Turkey will continue to constructively contribute in the preparations of the GCM. Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to his Excellency, the Deputy Representative has the floor from Portugal. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. We thank the Director General for presenting his report to the Council and while fully sharing the views that were expressed on behalf of the European Union and its member states we will make some additional comments in our national capacity. Portugal is glad to see that IOM is growing not only in membership and we warmly welcome Cuba and the Cook Islands but also in its visibility and communication within the UN system and to the world at large. We have you, Mr. Director General, to thank for the consolidation of the organization's role and increasing prestige in all its areas of involvement and we extend our sincere appreciation to all IOM staff and leadership. The organization has shown consistent capacity to deliver on its mandate as well as interest in exploring new issues at the speed of changing circumstances on the ground and also in capitals. Adaptability and pragmatism have become by words for IOM's role both in political processes and discussions regarding migration on the one side and in providing support to those in need on the other. As the Director General mentioned in his presentation the organization has 97% of its staff on the ground. IOM also plays the important role of keeping us, its members, grounded and focused on the fundamental issues of migration in our days and strongly attend to the needs of its member states. Migration as an issue but more importantly migrants as individual human beings have been hard pressed and assailed by intensifying anti-migrant and anti-refugee rhetoric. We join you, Mr. Director General, in condemning such political prefeaturing when lives and dignity are at stake. We commend the clarity with which IOM has proclaimed its commitment to safe, dignified and regular migration which is also our own commitment. Reality will not confirm itself to the material means and the skills that are at any given moment made available to IOM quite the opposite. That is why Portugal supports the Director General's assessment of how IOM can and should continue to develop in the coming years in particular regarding a stronger policy development component. We look forward to the ideas that will emerge in the future in that regard. In recent years Portugal's relationship with IOM has grown more solid and more ambitious with the organization assuming an increasingly important role in our initiatives on migration in particular those of a humanitarian character as well as those connected with solidarity with other member states of the European Union. Finally, Mr. Chairman, Madam Chair, a word of appreciation but not farewell to Ambassador William Swing. Your work, your words and your example will long outlast the years you have served IOM and its members and will continue to inspire us in the overcoming these troubled times. As the international community prepares for the difficult process of adopting the GCM and shaping the post-GCM period, the role of IOM and in particular of its new leadership will be more than ever important and decisive. This is why the election in June of a new Director General that will have the difficult mission of replacing the excellent work done by William Swing will be a decisive moment for the future of IOM. Portugal intends to give an important contribution for this debate and for the future of IOM. I thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you very much, Madam Ambassador. I'm now going to ask the Director General to offer us his comments to date. I must communicate to you that we've now finished the list of speakers of member states of the Council and after the Director General or this afternoon we'll begin with the observers of the Council who's asked for the floor. And with civil society organizations and with that we'll conclude the discussion. Thank you, Mr. Director General, please. Thank you, Madam Chair. It's interesting in this particular group of member states. Speaking, we have two of Syria's four neighbors and both doing a tremendous work in trying to support the Syrian refugees. First of all, Jordan, thank you very much Ambassador Majali. It's always good to have you here. Thank you. I think one can safely say that the people and the government of Jordan have for a long time generously hosted more than a million Syrian refugees, certainly for the last seven years. I've made a number of visits there and seen firsthand the heavy responsibility you're bearing there and supporting refugees and migrants in a country that has extremely limited water resources and is still providing, last count, more than 10 million liters of water a day to the refugee camps. You've opened up your schools and your hospitals and your public facilities to the refugees, which is highly commendable. Jordan has also played historically the same generous role in hosting millions of third country nationals and Iraqis since the Gulf crisis in 1990 and the war in Iraq in 2003. We have a long tradition, Madam Ambassador, working closely with your government on migration issues. We recently jointly organized a successful session of national consultations on the global compact. I would also note that our activities in Jordan try to respond to the needs and the priorities of the government, particularly on capacity building and border management and in migration and development. The refugee processing center in Amman is the largest refugee processing center for refugees going to the United States, the largest in the world. I hope to return to visit the kingdom in the near future, as I've done on many other occasions, including several major meetings at the Dead Sea. Very pleased to have you here this morning, Ambassador Kouros, an honor. Thank you very much for your presence and for your very good statement. We want to acknowledge your central role in dealing with the migrant and refugee inflows from Syria and other countries command you highly for the openness, generosity and hospitality you're showing to more than three million Syrian refugees now making you, by our count at least, the largest refugee hosting country in the world. Extremely important role you're playing there and we thank you for that. This has made us, IOM and in Turkey, one of the largest offices we have in the world with about 550 to 600 staff. We have not only our lead office in Ankara, the capital, but we are also in Istanbul, Gaziantep, Izmir and several other cities in your large country. As of this month, we have a portfolio of about $153 million, which is one of our larger portfolios in the world. Supporting four main activities, the refugee assistance program I just mentioned, we have a strong program on cross-border emergency operations to try to reach vulnerable populations in northern Syria, mostly displaced persons, which is our main activity there, migration management and then resettlement. We have done a lot in the area of refugee response programming, education, protection, health, livelihood, basic needs, food security, etc. We've provided services for more than 225,000 vulnerable in Turkey and for the coming year we're planning for a larger $59 million program under the Syria refugee response. So I think that's, as with Jordan, a very large program trying to respond to the Syrian crisis. I'm very pleased also to have Ereks and see Manuela Teixeira Pinto with us today. Thank you very much for your kind and frankly, very overly generous remarks in my direction. Thank you very much for that. We've enjoyed and benefited a lot from our relationship with Portugal. I was there not long ago and able to see how the whole integration process is going. One has a sense of calm and I think that you have a very strong political commitment on the part of your government to receive refugees through the resettlement and relocation scheme of the EU. I believe that you're targeting about 3,000 under that relocation scheme making you the fifth largest European Union country in terms of the relocation scheme. Also you signed a number of recent agreements that allow you to receive an additional 5,800 asylum seekers. So those numbers relative to your population size are significant and very much appreciated and appreciate your additional efforts to accept unaccompanied children coming from the numbers who've gone into Greece. And thank you also for your strong support for IOM's role in the global compact. Thank you very much, Director General. So before continuing with our list of observers and civil society organizations, I've just been told that the consultations on requests of admission of the van community of Dominica have reached consensus among members and therefore I would like to remind you that this issue was raised under item 6 of the agenda, 6A of the agenda, so we can now invite the council to adopt the draft resolution C slash 108 slash L slash 19 on the admission of Dominica as member of the organization. I'd like to ask member states if they have any additional comment on this request. With no additional comments, I think we can consider the draft resolution and the admission of the new member state by acclamation. We've thus, so we have 169 members today. Thank you very much. I now move on to the following on list of speakers and I give the floor to the representative of the Russian Federation. You have the floor. Thank you. Mr. Director General, Madam Chair, the Russian Federation is a destination country for massive flows of migrant workers and in recent years also refugees. In 2016, more than 16 million foreign citizens entered our territory. At the end of the year, there were over 9 million foreigners staying in Russia. Russian national migration legislation is constantly being improved on the principles of promotion and protection of human rights and freedoms of both Russian and foreign citizens residing in Russia. Special attention is paid to encouraging labor migration through legal channels, reception of refugees and forced migrants and of course to the adaptation and integration. However, facing current challenges, we believe that within mixed migration criminals and terrorists should not be welcomed and that illegal migration and human trafficking have to be systematically prevented. A very important area of Russian international efforts to help forced migrants and refugees is political mediation of conflicts and humanitarian aid. Russia actively cooperates on migration issues both bilaterally and multilaterally within the framework of the United Nations and many other international and regional organizations including of course the IOM. Madam Chair, Russia welcomes the active involvement of the IOM in the preparatory process of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration which is to be discussed and drafted during the inter-governmental negotiations in the framework of the United Nations. We do hope that this future agreement would make an important contribution to the irraculation of global migration and create bases for long term and comprehensive international cooperation in human mobility related issues. In order to achieve the same, the global compact is to take form of a political declaration adopted by a consensus and is not supposed to bear legally binding nature and formal monitoring mechanisms for this would seriously undermine its universality. Of course, it could envisage certain political commitments and the possibility of voluntary self-reporting by states on its implementation. The compact should not go beyond the issues directly related to its main subject. In our view, the compact itself should envisage the importance of the effective management of international migration processes with special attention to adaptation and integration of migrants, well-organized engagement of foreign labor, setting additional channels of legal migration, developing interstate legal cooperation and information exchange, emergency preparedness for mass migration influx. In particular, it is to generate a perception that in order to normalize migration, adequate control and management of migration flows should be ensured. Unlawful acts by migrants prevented, readmission mechanisms established. Every effort should be made to exclude any possibility for foreign terrorists to enter host countries alongside with people who really need help. Migrants must not become a tool of political manipulation by different forces that perform ethnic, religious and social hatred. Furthermore, the compact should reflect the idea that finding solutions to problems of massive mixed migration flows, including issues of safeguarding rights of refugees and migrants, could never contradict basic humanitarian principles. Any measures taken to this end must not impair sovereignty of states and should be implemented only with consent of relevant countries. Reacting to current migration challenges primarily demands prevention and peaceful settlement of conflicts being the key reason of forced displacement. It is equally important to contribute to sustainable conditions for peaceful life in the states of mass population exodus and people's return back home, as well as to promote human rights, maintain security and bring development aid with humanitarian assistance. Madam Chair, the Russian Federation not wishing to misuse time for a separate right to reply has nevertheless to point out that the statement made by the delegation of Ukraine yesterday contained groundless accusations against Russia. We very much appreciate the constructive, truly humanitarian and productive nature of discussion that is customary for the Council of the IOM. Regretfully, during the current session, the Ukrainian delegation turned out to be probably the only one that used the debate for fueling politicization and disseminating inaccurate information. I have to remind that the true root cause of Ukrainian IDPs and massive flows of Ukrainian refugees were criminal, covert crimes committed by Kiev authorities who have unleashed the internal armed conflict in the southeast of the Ukraine. The Russian Federation does not control territories of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. There are no Russian troops there. Ukrainian statements about aggression are false and represent attempts to justify the detrimental policy of Kiev authorities against their own people, which in particular caused massive forced migration. Russia continues to provide considerable humanitarian assistance to people at the southeast of the Ukraine and has received more than a million Ukrainian citizens who had to flee their own country. I thank you for your attention. Thank you. I see that the delegate of Ukraine would like the floor as the right to reply. I'd like to indicate that you have one minute. It's time to do that. And I will not allow any further exchange on this forum. We'll close immediately afterwards. We'll close this part of the session. The delegate of Ukraine, you have the floor. Well, thank you, Madam Chairperson, for giving me the floor. In your reply to Russian delegation's statement, I would like to reiterate there is an aggression, a hybrid war waged against Ukraine by the Russian Federation. And Russia's aggression is very well documented by satellite imagery, by reputable international organizations, including OSE, Amnesty International, etc. I would like to highlight that we are facing very cynical Russian behavior. On the one hand, it provoked and keeps fueling the conflict, and on the other hand, it speaks about humanitarian efforts, namely receiving refugees from Ukraine as well as sending Russian so-called humanitarian convoys to Ukraine. We urge the Russian Federation to stop its aggression, start implementing the Minsk agreements, which would allow quickly stabilize the situation and the Ukrainian IDPs to return home. I thank you. Thank you. I'd like to thank all the delegates who've taken the floor this morning. And we now conclude this part of the general debate to begin with item 16, the migrants voice. So we'll now give them the floor here at the podium. Thank you very much. So you've all been watching and listening to the news this week, and you know that you may know that this morning IOM has announced that we will be returning 15,000 migrants from detention in Libya. Young man beside me has been on a similar journey, so I think this will be a particularly enlightening conversation. We have plenty of time to discuss it, and we're going to be talking about their personal stories, but also learning a lot about the issue of irregular migration through West Africa. The role of the so-called connection men, the famous connection men who encourage people to take very dangerous journeys. The role of social media in encouraging these journeys to happen through instant communication between people and the connection men. And then the terrible things that can happen when you arrive somewhere. I'm not going to ruin the story, but just to let it unfold naturally. And on my left, I've got Fabiola, who's from Brazil, who spent many, many years in this country in Switzerland, and then due to economic conditions decided to return home, and had to figure out how to do that at a time of great personal stress and economic stress. My colleague on my right, Augustinus from Nigeria, he too was a victim of the economic circumstances, as so many people in the world today tend to be, and decided that nothing was happening in his career in Nigeria, and that it was time to move elsewhere. And he took a fateful decision to do that. So without further ado, I'm just going to turn to Fabiola first, and you just press the little button here. So Fabiola, tell us a little bit about your personal story. How did you end up in Switzerland? Because sometimes people have an image of what a migrant is, and they just, all they can think of is what they saw on Al Jazeera or CNN, people being rescued out of a rubber dinghy or not. But as we all know in this room, migration is a far more complex picture, and I think we're going to hear a little bit about that. Yes. Well, good morning to all the presents here. I'm so grateful for IOM for being here. Well, my history is making a long story short, is that I met my husband in Brazil. He is a Swiss man, and so I came here to Switzerland, and I lived in, for 17 years here, nine years in Freiburg, and nine years, eight years in Lausanne. But I divorced, we divorced after five years, and I had a job, but I lost the job I had. So I had to go back to Brazil, and I decided to implement a language school to share with people a little bit of the culture and the tongues that I acquired here while I lived here in Switzerland. So, I mean, what we're hearing about is a professional. So it's a completely different picture than you quite often hear about migrants. And of course, the eternal story of love is at the heart of it. And I think quite often when people talk or think about migration, they're simply thinking, economic migrants trying to get a job, moving across the borders, don't know why they're doing it, why are they breaking the rules, they should go home. That's kind of the popular narrative. But in fact, the truth is it's a much more complex picture. So tell us a little bit about what happened to you after you lost your job. Thank you. I lost my job in 2014. I worked in a private bank in Lausanne. It went into bankruptcy in 2014. And also I lost my dad. And I wanted to live again with my mom. My mom, she was aging. And I wanted to go back home and to enjoy this time with family. So what made me take the decision was going back home and living with my family again. So I think what we're touching on here is something that is often not considered in the big debate about migration is that personal decisions. People feel they're very far from their family. Their parents are getting old. In this case, Fabiola's dad passed away. Her mother was alone. And they're living irregularly or they can't continue. And they want to find a way home. So I think quite often the debate and the discussion about migrants is quite often a binary one. Send them home where they're taking our jobs. But in fact, it's not the case whatsoever. It's a personal request and decision to be reunited with family. So how did you end up moving? What was the next step in the journey? So I want to go home, but that I was 35 and I felt so old. I didn't get my college degree. And it's so difficult to find a job in Brazil without a college degree. So I started to have this idea to create a language school and to help people that couldn't afford a language school, a private language school in Brazil that's so expensive to come to my school that's three times lower the prices, three times lower than the other schools in the city. You're bringing your experience, the languages you've learned. You've learned beautiful English as we can hear. And obviously fluent French. And you're going to be teaching in this lovely school at different levels. You're going to start at a basic level. For English people, for English students, I just give it to the beginners to the three years till they can get the first certificate of Cambridge and French till the advanced level so they can get the DALF, the Diploma Advanced in the Longue Française. So your journey home began then with a meeting or hearing about IOM and tell us a little bit about how that happened? Well, as I lost my job and I couldn't find another job so easily here in Switzerland because I was working in Portuguese with a Portuguese bank. I went to the social service that indicated me IOM so they could help me if I had a project to go on. So what we're talking about is the IOM assisted voluntary return and reintegration program which has been really growing in strength and growing in understanding that it's a truly voluntary process that helps, I think it helps in the fluidity of migration because as we're hearing people get stuck, they get stuck in their lives and they want to go home to their family and they need a root home and quite often there's a misunderstanding of what AVR means in some cases, deliberate misunderstanding maybe but this is a very interesting case. So we're going to move across now to Augustine, we'll come back to you in a minute. So Augustine, you tell us a little bit about your story. So you also ran into hard economic times in Nigeria. Yeah, 2015 was a very, very, very difficult year for my country. After the change of power from one party to another, there was a problem of militancy. We are Nigeria major resources, Nigeria major revenue was blocked by the people from the Niger Delta. They were bombed in oil pipeline and everything. So there was economical struggle in my country. The country was not a sporting oil, so there was no money coming in. So it was very, very difficult for someone who has been having three me per day to even have one. So companies, we are retrenching workers, people, companies was up to 100, 200. We are now reducing the workers to maybe something like 50 to 20 just to keep on, you stand. So it is very difficult for when companies retrench is very difficult to get a new job. So people are losing their jobs. So when this happens, the migration begins. So when I lost my job, so for a couple of months, I could not get another job. So the best thing I have to think, okay, maybe I should go to a numbering country or maybe I should go to Europe. So at the end of the day, I decided to go to Europe through the desert. So from there, that was how my immigration journey began. So let me just interrupt. So I think the perception we often have is that those leaving for Europe are the poorest of the poor, the people with really no hope. But in fact, what you're telling us is that here you are a professional, you were a political activist, you were a journalist, you decided to go, I mean, is that typical? Were you typical of those who were taking this very risky journey? Yeah. Migration is a journey of hope, but ends in despair. So at the beginning, let me just say, last year or two years ago, Africans are not really informed about the dangers of irregular migrations. We don't really know what's going to swap on the other side. We only have the idea that, okay, we can easily cross to the other side and everything. So when I was going to Europe, so I took the desert and everything. So I never knew that it was going to end in despair. So you were maybe looking so far as you decided not to go to Libya, you decided to go to Algeria. Now, why did you not go to Libya? What were you learning along the way? So when I was on my way, I had different stories about what's happening in Libya, the modern day slavery, you'll be kidnapped, you'll be electrocuted, then you'll be given phone to call your family, your son and everything. So I decided, oh, maybe I should seek for another route. Then I find another route which is more safe, which is more secure and everything. So I migrated through the other routes. So communication is obviously a very important thing. What sources of information do migrants have as you travel along? Are you on Facebook, for example, or are you hearing it on the radio? Or is it just peer to peer, people talking to each other? Let me just say the social media plays a very vital role, an important role in migrating in the life of all migrants. We have been hegemonized. We pick things from the social media. So what we see on the social media, it is not what it is. So people begin to migrate from what they see on the social media. So let me just say, for example, I'm in Switzerland. I go to the streets of Switzerland. I take good pictures and post it on the internet. And nobody knows what I'm doing here in Switzerland. Maybe I'm working fine. Maybe I got a job. Maybe I do this or that. Nobody knows. So they only pick that if this person could be in Europe, I can also be in Europe. So no matter what you tell them, no matter what, even at the beginning of the journey, we still, 70% of people know the dangers of this journey. But due to what we've gotten on the social media, we have been hegemonized. So Africans do anything to get to the finite destination. So we need to know a little bit more about communication. But before we go deeper into that, we're going to give you a treat and show you, play two videos, which show the lives of these two fantastic young people. Let's start with Fabiola. I was very happy to be able to have access to another school. And besides, I was very happy to know that I was bringing to my country something that I had learned there. To bring a language that is French, that I learned in Switzerland. It was wonderful because they welcomed me with a huge affection. And they gave me a lot of security. So I see this school with many students, many graduates, many students with a degree in English or French. Contributing like this with my initial goal, which was to do something to improve our country, to do something, to feel useful to the Brazilian society, and contribute to the growth of this country that I love. The thousands of years, it seems that the thousands of years in my experience outside, all of this prepared me for my challenge now, for the moment I'm living in the other. Thank you so much. So let's see what's happening in Nigeria with Augustine. I just want to go. I just want to leave. I just want to find a greener pasture. There's something more better. Will you understand? Then I bought a boss to work at this. The way you're being smuggled was the hardest part of the journey. 30 people are the back of the illus vergo. 30 people. The river took my camera, took my money and everything, then dropped us to the desert. It was above 45 degrees. You understand? Something that is above 45 degrees, skin is burning. When I got to Algeria, then I began to see the reach of the journey, that even the one I've just passed through is just a preamble. Who can swim the Mediterranean sea? No one. Then I said no, I can't. I have a lovely mom who does not know me and me and mine. I just have to go back home and start a new life. Why internet radio? I got my inspiration during the journey when I was in Agades, during the IUM Center. When I met up to 5,000 people, people were coming, were going. People went to prisons. People, their brothers, their loved ones, was killed at their sites. 80% of people did not know the risk of their journey. They did not know the dangers of their journey. I then thought it is better for me to go back home to sensitize Nigeria than I'm happy that I have achieved something. Great. Well, thank you so much. I think these are terrific videos, which we're going to be spreading around. You'll be getting them in your inboxes any day now. As we try to explain to people the values and the incredible benefit that assisted voluntary return brings, Fabiola, tell us a little bit about what you think, what is the kind of message you would like to give to the world about your journey? A message. Leonard, it may seem naive, but in my case, if I have learned a lesson, it's that everywhere, almost everywhere, not everywhere, but almost everywhere, can be paradise. Of course, people are speaking to me all the time. I'm crazy to live in Switzerland. Switzerland is a rich country. It's developed, and you'll go back to Brazil. But I really think that everywhere can be paradise if you have the people you love and that you are loved in return. So for me, paradise now is in Brazil, where I am with my family and near relatives. But I will always keep Switzerland in my heart, and it will always be a second home for me. Wonderful. And in your society, when you go back home, do you hear a lot of negative conversations about migrants? Is there a lot of misunderstanding about what migration is? There are indeed a lot of misunderstandings. In my country, for example, the country is crossing a difficult period now, and everybody was asking to me the same question all the time. How could I go back to Brazil? Where did I get the courage to go back to Brazil? So tell us, what's the $5 million question? What's the answer to the $5 million question? What do you tell people when you get that question? That I need to go back. I need to live with my family. You need to live with your own society. Augustine, you're in the hot seat now, and as a seasoned journalist, I know I can ask you what your takeaways are. What is the takeaway for your extraordinary migration journey, and what you brought back, and what you're trying to do? Let me say, irregular migration. The journey does know what it is. Africa is a continent of hope. It's a continent of ad-working people. Instead of we migrating irregularly, we can stay back home and develop whatever we add. Look at the Europe. They develop whatever they add. With good, they hold their leaders accountable for everything. If we can do the same in Africa, in the next five years to 10 years, I believe even everybody in Europe will migrate to Africa. So let me say, Africa is the continent of hope. It is a continent of ad-working people. So we don't need to migrate irregularly. The journey does know what it is. It takes your life. It takes your happiness. It takes everything away from you. Let us stay back home and develop whatever we have. It is only we that can develop our country. Nobody will develop it for us. Africa is a very rich. Without Africa, the world won't be where it is today. We are talking of people, even the people who have changed the world. We are talking of people like the people who have changed the world. Whatever they used to change the world was developed from Africa. So let's just do these things together. Let's also develop Africa. I think we have a lot of work to do with you when you go back home. We'd have to be in touch. So the message really is that, contrary to many of the media tropes that are so easily thrown around about what Africa is, it's a far more complex picture and there's plenty of opportunity to make your life there. So how do you in practice tell your peers back home and are they listening to you? Are they still dazzled by the bright lights of El Dorado? Let me say, at the beginning of my journey, we were not informed about the dangers of irregular migrations. Let me say 70 to 80 percent of people cannot even differentiate between irregular and regular migrations. So the mentality we all had was that, if I can just get to my final destination, if I can get to Europe, life begins to change for me. That is why I said the social media plays a very vital role in these journeys of irregular migrations. That is why even though we are going to start sensitizing endurance and Africa and everybody all over the world, because it is a global issue. It is an issue that needs a global collaboration. Be it from wherever you are, be it from Europe, be it from Africa, be it from the Middle East or something. So we must come together. And that is what I have seen the IOM are doing, because migration with IOM going to one in a 66 country or 160 countries, in this migration jobs shows that there is a unity among countries. So the thing we have to do is to go back home and use this same social media that are using to deceive people, mostly the connection main, Houston, and also use it to sensitize Africans about the dangers of this journey. So I just wanted to ask you, at what point in your optimistic, because you are an optimistic fellow, we can see that, at what time in your optimistic journey to Europe, did you say, this is not a great idea? What was your darkest hour? When I got to a part of the journey and I heard different things about Libya, how people were sought for modern slavery, how people were beaten, how people were electrocuted, and I said, I have a better country. Even though things my country is facing, struggle, I can go back home and do something. So at that place, I said, no, the journey does not worth it. Let me go back home. One thing that's often said to us is that once migrants have committed to taking this journey, it's very hard for them to turn back because of a feeling of personal shame. Maybe they've borrowed money from their family. Maybe their mother has, you know, mortgage sold something. How do you, if not, how does that work for you? And how do you think it works for others going home? Let me, let me say, let me make an instance when I was at the IOM Center in Agades, when I met 5,000 people. IOM is doing a very good job to be sincere. When I met 5,000 people, even though when people know the risk of this journey, 10% to 20% we still want to go. Because when they look back home, there's nothing to go back to. Yes, and that is why if we must talk about the dangers of irregular migration, if we must sensitize Africans about the dangers of irregular migration, we also are going to talk about the solutions, which is youth empowerment, ski acquisitions. We must give them something to do. We must give them hope that, okay, once you go back home, there will be something you can do to assist yourself and your family. Yes. So, because, sorry, because once you are in the middle of this journey, and even when you are aware of these dangers, when you look back home, who are you going to meet? You spend, you borrowed money, you spent all your money on this journey. I think the best solution to this thing is we, as we talk about the dangers, we talk about the problem, we also talk about the solutions. Thank you. So, this has been a fascinating conversation of three people. We'd now like to bring in the audience a little bit more. And in particular, Director General Swing, could I invite you, would you like to ask any questions of our panelists? First of all, let me say thank you to both of you. It's a, we have a lot of admiration for you and the courage you've had to start out on a journey and then to return and to try to learn from that experience, which I, look, I think that we need to recognize that in this mobile interconnected world, we can both move and return and we can both be an active migrant abroad contributing there, but also contributing back home through remittances and skills transfer and other things. In other words, you can be fully integrated into the local society and still not forget where you come from and contribute back home. And that's the whole idea is that we live in a fluid world and we have many identities, we can have many nationalities, we can speak many languages, but I think what both of you are showing us is that you've made the effort, you've made the journey, you've benefited from that because you've learned something from it and what you've learned you've taken back home. Now, I was just in Obok in Djibouti and I interviewed a number of primarily Ethiopian migrants and I said to them, I said, look, you're going to cross the red sea, which is turbulent. You may lose your life by drowning. You're going to get to Yemen and you cannot get across the border to Saudi Arabia where you're heading for and you're going to get into trouble. We may have to bring you back. So why are you going? And they said very much what both of you have said, I'm going because it's worse back there than where I'm heading. In other words, the opportunities at home were not enough. So these are messages for countries of origin, countries of destination and organizations like IOM that we have to begin to address the drivers. What drives people to go out on what I would call forced migration? Regular migration, 90% of all the migration in the world is regular, it's safe, regular orderly, et cetera. But for that group that feel there's no hope, then we have to address those drivers of migration, including increasingly climate changes we learned yesterday. So and what bothers me every time I go, I was just in Agadez. I know exactly what you're talking about. It's a great center. We've returned 8,000 from Agadez. We've returned 13,600 from Libya, people who wanted to go home. But I think one needs to benefit from this, draw the experience and as you're doing both of your doing through your school, your language school and through your radio, you're giving people a chance to benefit from that. Now what scares me though, every time I go to some of the countries, particularly in Africa, is I see joblessness, no livelihood possibility for young people. The family has been working the same land for generations. The land has gotten poorer and poorer and less and less possibility to earn a living through agriculture, which should be the first possibility. And then I see that the median age in Niger, where Agadez is located, is 14. Average person, average mother is having six children. The median age 14, the median age in Europe is 47. So somewhere there has to be a connection between the demographic divide and migration. Now it's going to be Hannah. Well I think that's fascinating and it brings us on to the subject of circular migration really. And I think what a very powerful message that our two guests can bring to the world and we'll help them do that is that it's not necessarily a one-way street migration and that it's a big learning journey and you learn so much to bring back to your country of origin and to add to it. Of course it's not going to solve the problems of unemployment, which are horrendous in many parts of the world, but I think the perception of migrants can be changed. And two voices like this can certainly show to the world that the migrant in your head is not necessarily the actual migrant and maybe there's an opportunity to change the setting on what we consider migrants to be and that they are huge drivers of innovation if they're allowed to go back home. And we mentioned the diaspora remittances, but tell us a little bit of your reaction to that, to the Director General. What do you think, like you're a good example of bringing something back. Is that welcomed or are you seen as a no, you should have stayed in Switzerland? It's very welcomed and I'm so I'm so happy to have to be in Brazil now because people they are everybody that I speak about to the school and bringing this this culture to Brazil, they are so happy and they want so much to come to this school. So I'd like to encourage anybody who wishes to ask questions to please indicate with your with your sign. But tell us a little bit about your sense of what it's a tougher case in your case because you didn't spend that much, you didn't get to Europe, you didn't spend that much time here. But do you think there's something that migrants learn on the journey and bring back and do you tell us a little bit and pack a little bit about how you're going to be the driver of economic growth? Okay, I think a lot of things to learn from the journey, mostly taking the route I took, you're talking of the pain, you're talking of how you were smogged, you're talking of not are you a matric take, if you're not lucky you meet the bandits, you take everything you have, if you're a lady you may be raped and if you're not on the lucky side as a guy, you may be sued for slavery or you may be kidnapped. So and I just thank God that there's a huge awareness now going on about these dangers of irregular migration couples to what happens in what is happening in Libya now and everything. So there are much things to learn, the pain and the angonies and everything, you may go without returning, you may end up dying at the desert. So as for this we want, that is why we want everybody to stay back home and develop whatever they have and we want to empower as much we can empower. So we will not just be talking about the problem, we also create solutions to the problem that is empowering people, given those people who want to go to school will make sure they go to school with the support of local governments and NGOs. So you were telling me in the green room that in your journey when you finally reached Algeria things were not so easy, there wasn't a lot of acceptance of Sub-Saharan Africans, that seems to be the case in so many countries not just to pick on one country where there's resistance to the income. Maybe you could just talk a little bit about in general terms about what it's like to be not welcome and of course in your own country there are migrants coming from all over West Africa as well, do they feel welcome? In my own country everybody feels welcome. When I was in Algeria it is a good country, a very good country, a country of law. They have laws and we all respect that law but a migrant is still a migrant mostly once you migrate irregularly without papers and everything. So you know once an irregular migrant when you say you're not welcome is when you don't have necessary papers, you don't have jobs because if you migrate regularly there will be jobs there was a reason you migrated and you are going to get why you migrated. So because migration has the two sides the regular side and irregular side but fortunately I fell into the irregular side which whatever I pass through the journey the blame should be on me not in the country. So as for that I won't really be welcome into the country because I'll be running away from the police, I'll be running away from many things and everything but if I was irregular migrants I would just tender my paper or my card and I would be welcomed. Director-General spoke about the huge youth demographic in Africa. Looking forward what do you see happening? I mean does there have to be a change, a massive change in the economic growth in Africa or are we going to see more and more people making this irregular journey and getting into trouble? As Africa it is now African is growing politically when because you can't talk about Africa without adding policies to it what is happening all over the country the elections and everything. So these are also one of the causes of irregular migrations while you're talking of war you're talking of many things. So it's going to take a long way for us to solve this problem you stand and that is why we should always expect migrants from Africa on to when we get our economy right on to when we get our political system right because let me just say our politicians are selfish you stand this is one of the reasons why we're going to have because if you have a if apart from economy politically if you have a political war in the country people does not have choice than think of migrations. So as we are also solving the problem of economy in every country we should also please put things together and solve African political system. So I think you're saying that economic stability political stability are very important. It's very very very important. Because you can't talk about economy without talking about politics. You seem to be also saying that there needs to be an acceptance that there has to be some migration because inevitably people will want to move as you said in this video the grass is always greener. Fabiola going back to you you moved out of a more prop but many Brazilians come here and many Brazilians travel all over the world. What is the experience experience. It's very rich. It's a very rich experience. Now that I've lived here I lived here for 17 years. I know that I'm so grateful for this experience because I know that I look the world with complete new eyes. I would I wouldn't never look the world with the world with the eyes. I look today if I hadn't have this experience. So I think what we're talking about is the challenge of how do you how do you balance between the need for migration the huge enriching force that migration is as we can see from these two wonderful people and the and the lack of channels the lack of legal routes the lack of ability. I'm sure if you could have got a visa to Europe you would have jumped at it and made a big contribution here and maybe that's the big debate that has to happen is how do we open up the channel so that people can migrate regularly and indeed return because you migrated regularly at the beginning and you did not but nonetheless you both had a similar experience. Does anybody in the audience wish to comment at this point? Oh yes please representatives from Sudan you're very welcome. I'm just asking what what is the morale of the two stories because there are thousands of millions of migrants represent the other side of the story. They are integrated in the host destination still as Mr. Swing said they are still contributing to the stability and the development of their countries. So I just want to understand what is wrong if those two examples stay at the host destination and keep their life the same course still having contact and link with their societies. I just want to know that the very the very meaning and the very morale of the story you mean people never migrate or although you don't stay at host and go back what is the last the core value of these two examples. Well for me what I'm hearing is that there need to be legal channels of migration. People need want to move in this case because of love as I keep saying in this case because of a desire to get out of an economic difficulty and if you can't migrate regularly people will just do it but there needs to be a political shift and an acceptance that migrants will come and I think the wonderful moral of this story here from Fabiola is that people go home. The notion in the media I think and I'm from that originally is that it's a one-way street but it's of course not a one-way street it's a it's very much a two two-dimensional journey and an enriching one if it's allowed to happen. Anybody would you like to comment further? Anybody else? So I mean the challenge of course we have is that so many people for economic reasons we've got two outstanding examples here but so many people leave without much hope and without much information and end up in shocking difficulties and I think that's what we've seen seen this this last couple of weeks with the with the issue of Libya where it's become a global issue an issue of moral conscience around the globe that we cannot in this day and age tolerate slave markets if that's what's happening even if they're wherever they are happening anywhere in the world we we can't tolerate this happening in under our watch and so as a result of that we have a massive political coming together this week in Abidjan between at the initiative of the African Union with the European Union support with the UN Secretary General present with the Security Council backing it earlier in the week and with the with IOM very much at the initiative of the Director General excuse me to help take people out of a desperate situation because at the end of the day the conditions that people are living through in the detention centers are appalling have been there with the Director General and we are in the nicer part of it the pit that's organized by the government and is supported by aid from the European Union aid from the United States aid from all around the place this is the better part of it but the true story of what happens is very much hidden and we just get little glimpses of it and we really hope that the initiative to airlift between now and Christmas the end of to now in the beginning of the year 15 000 people this is an air bridge of historic proportions and it's high time we had maybe better processes so that people aren't lured into this journey maybe you'd like to address that issue Agostine you know we really have to find another way than to have people take the bus and be abused along the way jolly way is one thing the answers are hoping already what we did what the high wm did at the knee j he just let's look for the solutions let's talk less of the problem let's talk more on the solutions why are people migrating irregularly the causes the push factors and everything what i did a wonderful nice project in uh knee j you stand we couldn't expand this project around africans and the world you go to home to homes those people who does not have jobs you stand you tell them okay what are you doing come come to center those who wants to go to school they were giving scholarship those who don't have skills that wants to learn one or two things they were giving opportunity to acquire one or two skills at the end of the day they were giving one or two things to start up business and that was what high wm did at knee j that was what i saw at knee j so we couldn't expand these frontiers we are not saying we should reinvent the wheel we are saying whatever we have the ideas we have let's expand it around africa around the world because if people have job if you have what you're doing you want to migrate if you have a good family you give them three square me a day or two square me a day a lovely family you want to migrate because migration has to do irregular migration has to do with one factor is it is it either you're passing through a economical struggles you don't have jobs or you lose your jobs and it takes you a long way to get another jobs and then the next thing and if you don't want to involve in crime because if you're on an employer is that you go to crime or something next like people like we lost our jobs we don't want to involve in crime the next options is to migrate irregularly so the option has been is in place already we just need uh i went on how countries to expand it let's go to our society those people that want to acquire skills let them give them skills those people that want to go to school let us send them to school at the end of the day and let them power them thank you thank you we'll wrap up the discussion in a few minutes but i think you put your finger you know right on the point that it's basically about economic development for economic security for families and the opportunity to have projects well crafted projects and i know that there's a huge focus now not just on the airlift of people out of libya back home but and their reintegration into the capacity to have as you said businesses and for iom working with all its un partners to try and rebuild and help them reintegrate and and make a more sustainable economic picture out of it i think that's very much what we see with fabiola with her with her english school and french school hi thanks to ordinary so i mean i think the big challenge now is how do we not just it's always easier to to break something than it is to fix something and the real issue i suppose is how do we fix economies that are not functioning so well how do we give people hope how do we build apprenticeship schemes how do we bring those back those who are coming back make sure that the small assistance they give isn't wasted that they build something sustainable out of it maybe you have some ideas yeah well i will see repeat the same thing i just said now let me let me talk about let me just talk a little bit about my retrogression project just when uh i got back to nangira and i want to thank the director general for for you giving us this opportunity when we integrate back to our country we have something doing and remove the mentality of migrating again i am so grateful to the council for this uh let me talk about my retrogression project when i got back to nangira i was asked okay what do you want to do why do you migrate it's done okay give us a proposal what you could do uh if you are not well uh uh into such projects you will be trained for some time you will be coached for some time and you are going to uh they are going to blend you into the society you stand that's what that was what happened to me nangira it took me a month you stand to get coach okay if i was given so much of money how can i sustain the project okay at the end of the day if i need a little bank loan this is how to approach the bank this so it is sustainable and that is what i found out about you and whatever project they are uh giving to you they make sure they see that it is sustainable and they make sure you see that how far you can develop uh you can grow this project even employing those who does not have jobs so i i let me just say we just need to expand these frontiers the answers are there already it we don't need to look for the answers again it is there let's tap into it and expand it how well how well said there's nothing new under the sun so when you go back to to brazil are you left alone and how do you set about setting up a school all by yourself with that how did that work uh it was not easy to to know what i was going to do to in brazil when i when i get back there uh i went in 2016 now there is one year and a half that i'm back in brazil but it was the most difficult decision i think in my life to to go back to live switzerland and to go back to to brazil uh but the the help i had from iom it was essential because if i didn't have it i don't think that i would have the courage really to to go back i would maybe stay in switzerland because of the stable uh work situation that the the country has well i i find this as the person who's often speaks on behalf of the director general i find it really interesting to have these two cases we see media reports all the time which quite often mischaracterized the the role of avior or the role of iom and it projected as something that we're not hearing today i mean this is very much uh it seems to me to be a very holistic to use a overused word a very kind of organic uh people being allowed to continue their lives and to grow in their lives thanks to some discrete help at the end of the day which of course is a long chain of people behind iom there are government supporting this host government supporting it and there are many hardworking iom folk out in the field and of course many uh associate many other NGOs who work closely with iom and other agencies there's a big tapestry behind what seems to be a very simple fix but to make a simple fix work it takes a lot of coordination and i know that from seeing my iom colleagues working hard at making sure that their projects are very well regulated well well organized and well administered so at that unless there are more questions from the audience i'm going to allow you go to your lunch because you've all been waiting very patiently and thank you i want to really thank above all fabiola especially very much for your extraordinary story and no less thank agustine for telling us an amazing story from a different part of the world and thank you all for your great patience and listening and enjoying it thank you good afternoon we are now about to finalize the general debate to move on to the 18 the subject 18 various questions and i also have yes various questions various issues but before that let me offer the floor to the last observer country who asked for the floor and let me ask indonesia to address the council indonesia has the floor doesn't seem to be present let me now move then to international organizations and civil society organizations and i have the pleasure to start with the director of undp miss maria luisa silva you have the floor chair undp is very pleased to address the ioms council at moment when the united nations secretary general has embarked on a process of profound and systemic changes aiming to establish a reinvigorated and impactful united nations development system as stated by the director general of the iom during the presentation of his report this will have major implications for the iom as well as for all other un development agencies undp is fully committed to the transformations called for by the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the united nations secretary journals reforms and this includes a commitment to enhance inefficiency effectiveness coherence and partnerships to deliver better development outcomes including safe and orderly migration results a very important step was achieved last tuesday when member states approved undp's four-year strategic plan settings the directions future directions for the organization guided by the ambition to concretely improve the collective united nations support to countries engaged in delivering the 2030 agenda for sustainable development the plan includes a pivot towards strong and open partnerships as well as towards adding value to the work of the united nations family country support platforms will assist governments to design and implement integrated solutions providing space for the un and other partners to operate and undp looks forward to closely engage with the iom as we move forward on unds reform it will build on steps already undertaken to strengthen cooperation between both agencies and the lessons learned from some joint initiatives such as the work carried out mainstream in migration international or local development strategies both at interagency policy level and at country level madam chair undp is proud to have been the first un organization to establish a cooperation framework thio em out upon its entry into the united nations family which was signed in the margins of the un summit on refugees and migrants in recognition of the interconnections between development and migration whether on countries of origin transit or destination much has been said in this council about the need to bring together optimized un expertise in support of a robust implementation of the global compact for migration once it's adopted as well as of the leading role of the iom should play in this regard undp fully supports these views and looks forward to further develop the iom undp cooperation based on our comparative advantages for the purposes of implementing the global compact on migration i thank you much thank you very much mrs silva i now give the floor to her excellency mrs marita respite al tan thank you thank you madam chair director general excellencies distinguished delegates my delegation joins previous speakers in welcoming the new member states and observers that have been admitted i also wish to thank the director general for his inspiring report the sovereign order of malta is fully engaged in the preparatory process leading to the adoption of the global compact for safe orderly and regular migration we are contributing to the informal thematic sessions and are sending in our written contribution with the topics we would like to see reflected in the compact allow me to mention just four key elements first migrants need to be considered in the framework of all economic social and political approach and to be protected by relevant instruments of human rights and labor law second the family structure is of vital relevance to resilience and should be considered as such when establishing welcoming and integration policies third we should develop stronger cross-border regional and interregional anti-trafficking policies fourth we must increase cooperation between all actors and stakeholders through exchange of data publicly available information on migration flows and best practices as one of the initiators and as a signatory of the charter for faith-based humanitarian action endorsed at the unworld humanitarian summit in istanbul the order of malta continues to emphasize the special role faith-based organizations and religious institutions have in the protection and integration of migrants in host communities through their impartiality they are able to provide a link between different religious communities by exercising leadership in prevention and peacebuilding processes due to their local roots fbo's are often first providers of material and spiritual assistance their access to community and cultural networks enables them to support inclusion of migrants in national and local systems and services and support host communities through capacity building and investment in local structures the order of malta therefore encourages states to recognize fbo's as a crucial actor in the humanitarian migration response and proposes that their role be clearly acknowledged in both the global compacts with regard to the order of malta's ongoing relief operations in the Mediterranean our italian relief core is actively saving lives by giving first aid to migrants crossing from the libian and tunisian coast on makeshift boats although political agreements have contributed to reducing the numbers the loss of lives at sea continues in parallel to a steady increase in the number of victims of human trafficking to this end the order of malta has recently appointed two ambassadors to tackle and monitor the plague of human trafficking in this context i should like to report on the fourth meeting of the libian working group co-organized by the order of malta last week in tunis which brought together libyan politicians and officials european government officials and international organizations including iom the aim of these discussions is to facilitate a high-level policy dialogue to support libya address the challenges the country faces from migration and to take forward the work of the libyan working group on migration to identify realistic practical and implementable solutions and policy recommendations based on the contributions emerging from the meeting in tunis some proposals to stir the dialogue into shared action points to tackle the crisis is being elaborated in conclusion allow me to mention the special event organized yesterday by the permanent missions of the holy sea and the order of malta on the topic mutual contributions and benefits integrating migrants in host societies which attracted wide interest from member states and observers i would also like to join the large support expressed by many delegations to see iom take the leading role in the process leading up to the global compact thank you madam chair thank you very much madam ambassador i now give the floor to mr silva so my son drum director policy regulation of markets from the universal postal union thank you madam chair mr director general excellencies ladies and gentlemen on behalf of mr bisha hussain director general of the universal postal union it is my pleasure to convey our congratulations to ambassador swing and to the international organization for migration iom for their leadership in service of migrants governments and international partners as you know the issue of migration and development is at the heart of international development frameworks the up as the un specialized agency for the postal sector is fully involved in the implementation of these objectives and in particular through the promotion of partnerships with other international organizations which help ensure efficiency in the delivery and the maximum positive impact of our initiatives aimed at supporting the sustainable development goals excellencies ladies and gentlemen migrant remittances have a direct impact on development and have proven to be more resilient to economic crises than foreign direct investment or economic aid remittances are already directly related to the well-being and economic opportunities of migrant families in the country of origin our partnership with the iom aims primarily at fostering efforts towards the reduction of costs for migrant fund transfers the 2030 development agenda has set a clear target for the international community that is by 2030 to reduce to less than three percent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than five percent what can the postal network bring to bear in achieving this target according to the world bank post offices are the world's cheapest providers of remittance services posts have already reached the five by five objective with an average cost of about four percent in sub sahara africa alone if all remittances were channeled through post offices at cost migrants and their families could save up to 3.2 billion us dollars a year one billion people or 19 percent of the world's adults hold a current or savings account with the post which makes the post the second most important contributor to financial inclusion worldwide after banks indeed posts have extensive government backed networks that reach across countries into both urban and remote rural areas their public egalitarian mission makes their services affordable and accessible to all segments of society in many countries in europe and elsewhere post offices are often the only financial institutions providing access to formal financial services for migrants and refugees through our partnership with the im both our organizations are building on their respective strengths and expertise to provide migrants and their families with concrete responses to the challenge that they face in accessing financial systems be it domestic or international with our first joint project in burundi we have equipped the post offices in burundi with the necessary digital technology to develop specific postal remittance products that are cheaper and more secure we're building partnerships between the post and private sector operators to reduce costs for migrants from burundi we're also focusing on financial education programs indeed we are currently in discussions with the iom and replicating this kind of partnership in other african countries and to extend other services to migrants and their families madam chair we at the up you are looking forward to continue working with the iom to the benefit of all migrants their families and their social and economic well-being thank you very much for your attention thank you very much i now give the floor to mrs charizard tabak ish the division of international protection of the in the high commission for refugees you have the floor carrot thank you very much and allow me to begin by congratulating you on your election as we didn't get a chance to take the floor yesterday to speak during the discussion on climate change with your permission i'd like to start by just saying a few words on this subject and indeed with many thanks to iom for having hosted a conversation on that important topic madam chair it's widely accepted today that persons in regions across the world are displaced across borders in the context of climate change and disasters there may be circumstances where they fall within the definition of a refugee which is notably the case when climate exasperates other factors that may force people to flee from their homes such as conflict and generalized violence when persons do not qualify as refugees under international or regional law they may nevertheless be in need of international protection on a temporary or longer term basis strategies to achieving predictable and equitable responses to international protection needs are usefully being addressed in the global compact for refugees with many thanks to states in this regard however climate change and disaster are cross-cutting phenomena and in order to achieve comprehensive responses it will be critical that those elements not related to international protection find expression in the global compact on migration disaster risk reduction voluntary migration as an adaption strategy and planned relocation as a last resort are essential elements to safe orderly and regular migration we'd like to take this opportunity to recommend to you a toolbox on planned relocation developed jointly with IOM and Georgetown University which is available on our website UNHCR is indeed very pleased to be partnering with IOM and many other fronts as well for instance on resettlement movement and as members of the steering group of the platform on disaster displacement our joint efforts on combating trafficking in persons is particularly important in 2018 UNHCR and IOM will be relaunching a joint guiding framework on developing standard operating procedures for the identification and protection of victims of trafficking and since august of this year we have been co-leading with Heartland Alliance a new task team on anti-trafficking in the global protection cluster for IDPs we equally value our cooperation in the process leading up to the global compact on migration UNHCR and IOM have a common interest in ensuring that all persons on the move are protected that those with special needs are identified and referred to appropriate services and procedures that there are safe regular channels available for migration and that we have accurate and up-to-date data on mixed migratory movements UNHCR is very pleased to be working with states with the special representative are born her office and of course with IOM and other partners towards a successful elaboration of this important compact thank you thank you thank you very much mrs yuka uchita technical expert on occupational health and safety from the ILO you have the floor thank you very much madam chair for giving the ILO to the opportunity to speak here labor migration and decent work as a theme of the global punk compact for safe ordinary and regular immigration is the high priority of the international labor organization international migration is in general considered as positive for the economy of countries origin and destination and migrant workers are recognized as key actors in economic growth and sustainable sustainable development yet their rights to decent work are not sufficiently protected migrant workers tend to concentrate in occupations doing dirty dangerous or degrading work whether in agriculture construction manufacturing or domestic work at the same time too often occupational safety in health and other working conditions are poorly related and their access to necessary occupational safety and health services is limited as a consequence it is estimated that globally migrant workers have twice the injury and mortality rate of national workers those in an irregular migration status in precarious employment or in the informal economy face even higher risks the 2030 sustainable development goals call for renewed efforts to protect migrant workers the goal 8.8 which requires member states to protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers including migrant workers in particular women migrants and those in precarious employment in this respect international labor standards apply equally to migrants as to national workers and offer the greatest preventative strategy for protecting migrant workers health and safety also at the custodian agency iLO is developing the tools which assist member states to major progress on the SDG indicator 8.8.1 frequency rates to fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries by sex and migrant status iLO in close collaboration with iOM and WHO commits the promotion of health of migrant workers and strongly supports the joint proposal to ensure that health is adequately addressed in the gcm i thank you thank you very much to the iLO i now offer the floor to ambassador asate kane from the organization of islamic cooperation you have the floor thank you madam chair i would like to congratulate chili etopia and danmark for the election as member of the bureau of this current session allow me also to extend my congratulations to the newly elected members and observer to iOM which is a real reflection of the expansion of the scope of cooperation that contributes to consolidating the international admin to stakeholder partnership and collaboration in addressing migration issues i would like to especially congratulate the state of katoate an important founding member of oic for its adhesion as observer to the iom a decision which goes in line with its leading role and sustained engagement in human italian assistance and resource mobilization for the post-conflict reconstruction in oic member states and elsewhere the comprehensive exposure of the director general of iom has set the scene and reflected meaningfully on the regional processes and consultation on a range of critical migration issues in view to providing useful guidance in the way ahead of the adoption of the global compact of migration next year even though the gcm will not be a binding document it would certainly provide harmonize and well grounded basis for adopting migration policies and mechanism in line with the 2030 sustainable development agenda the oic has taken part in automatic discussion and reaffirm here the its engagement expressed during the new york summit to be an active partner in advancing national led bi-aggression policies with the respect of human rights and dignity of people who have chosen to move freely in this regard the oic secretary general has invited more recently the international community to intensify its effort in order to face the criminal gangs operating in the field of human trafficking which is an obvious violation of international and humanitarian laws we are witnessing today more than ever the interconnectivity of our world the large influx of migrant and refugee has led to the recognition that no country alone can deal with this global issue even though the actual discussion on migration mostly turn around the need to find adapted solution to challenges faced by people on move we should not undermine the positive role that migration can bring in bridging culture and civilization and in providing economic and social benefit to migrant and two countries of origin and destination it has been rated in many times that the respect of human dignity of migrant and the need to combat xenophobia and discrimination is an important aspect of the international migration policy that's oic is fully engaged to play its role in combating the growing and toxic anti-migrant rhetoric and to highlight the benefit of migration of all for all societies it's also the equation here to underline the important of integration and social cohesion which should be key element in the any comprehensive migration management policy in this regard i would like to thank the iam director general and his team for having co-organized these two oic specialized organization in rabat in october 2017 an international workshop on youth in face of migration challenges which was the equation to underline the important role of youth in migration governance and in building bridges in among societies i cannot miss the opportunity to thank the iam and the other u and agencies for their collaboration with the oic core group of ambassador and the oic delegation in janeva in exploring ways to genuinely address the large scale of and critical humanitarian and human rights situation of rohingyas you are witnessing today in conclusion allow me to stress again the leading role of iam as u and specialized and well-equipped organization in migration governance and management we should therefore have stress on its continuous leadership to ensure that the global compact on migration to be agreed upon by member states would be an important policy tool for developing human rights based and comprehensive national regional and international migration processes it is time more than ever to reinforce the international cooperation on migration issues but also to build solid partnership in tackling the root causes that lead to forced migration and in promoting the development of migrants potential and their economic social political added value role in the host society i thank you thank you very much mr reiner gudei charged in emission of initiatives of change international has the role thank you madam chair your axon sees their colleagues initiatives of change international is grateful and proud of being an observer at this very important meeting we applaud the work of iam and consider ourselves as privileged to collaborate and support its iam a migrant program as well as welcoming iam to speak on various occasions at the co-forum our summer conferences in co-switzerland just above montreux especially on the topics of land degradation and migration over these days we have heard a lot about the challenges we face in creating the dynamics for safe regular and orderly migration and we have also heard a lot of innovative solutions and especially the need for partnerships we wholeheartedly agree and support every effort in partnership building especially when the first partner is the migrant themselves in our own work we have found that not only is the know how or the technical important but also the know why or should i say the values and the vision that drive us no matter how convinced we may be every organization individual and most certainly the public at large needs reminders of why we do what we do and must strengthen nourish and even let ourselves be guided by our common values two small tools that have helped us in doing so have been the use of stories or storytelling and proactively connecting people and not simply waiting for partnerships to happen both during our co-forum and in our national teams we have sought out the stories of migrants and tried to give them a voice we have actually even created a program and curriculum for migrants and refugees as rebuilders and powering them to be the change makers and them as our main partner in helping others more recently we have used human libraries also with the fantastic support of iam to inspire and connect people in a safe space where people and are more open to an enriching encounter with the other we can only encourage the use of this or any other grassroots tool to get migrant voices into the public space and create trust between and within communities in terms of connecting people and organizations we have also together with the Geneva center for security policy and the hospice general of Geneva recently undertaking the organization of a speed dating event just to get all the organizations in Geneva who work on migration into the same room and to start learning from one another we're surprised to see how many actually did not know each other and how many were happy to actually do so before partnering actually getting to know one another and nourishing common values is a good first step since i've started coming to conferences in Geneva i've been hearing about the need for breaking silos and the need to collaborate across sectors and of course for partnering and let us be honest there are inherent challenges that remain from our experience a focus on values on storytelling actively connecting all actors even the most local and seeing migrants as our partners can be of help the challenges and opportunities presented by migration are too complex for any one organization country or sector to address alone and we look forward to collaborating with you for the benefit of all thank you thank you very much indeed Ms. Semer Panayka-Davil coordinator of the development network of international social service has the floor sorry thank you madam chair for giving us the floor to the international social service um thank you director general um distinguished delegates ladies and gentlemen the international social service as an international child protection NGO founded in 1924 and present today in 130 countries um says is the opportunity to bring children's rights in migration to the forefront of all the discussions in line with the initiatives for child rights in the global compacts first of all the international social service would like to highlight the importance of meeting the standards set by the UN guidelines for the alternative care of children when considering alternative care settings for children on the move secondly the new york declaration has noted that detention for the purposes of determining migration status is seldom if ever in the best interest of the child and therefore alternatives must be prioritized however the international social service notes that where detention might nevertheless occur the quality of care provided by trained and qualified professionals includes inter alia an individualized treatment and access to basic services in addition states should duly assess the child's individual situation and find sustainable quality solutions through social assessment of the risks involved and family and social condition in the country of origin finally the international social service advocates for the establishment of operational cross border case management systems with harmonized standards among the different countries similar to the existing cooperation that we have in west africa i would like to thank you madame chair for giving us the floor and i just want to be in line also with the minister of interior from jibouti who mentioned that we should have an approach humane empathique and for the international social service we emphasize that we should have an approach global in accord with the standard global approach in accordance with established rights of the child thank you very much the final speaker on my list this afternoon is miss mantalin keru a politics specialist for the international catholic commission thank you mr chair mr director general and partners more than most migrants and refugees often stake their lives on trying to figure out how to go in the right direction millions depend on agencies of the un going in the right direction and we are impressed with how much iom is going in the right direction these days as you repeatedly emphasize mr director general iom does this work best in support of states efforts but always multi actor that states and multi actor reflex is your key to it all your best direction but all is not yet where it needs to be because as so many migrants and refugees stake their lives on trying to find the right direction they often struggle and suffer terribly against all odds indeed the right direction is also the right's direction fully for the sake of migrants of all kinds their families and all of society turning to both compacts being developed may we ask you mr director general how you see the three r's of refoulement return and regularization return as we see it among the many evidence-based and wise recommendations in the sutherland report number seven observes that how return is being done today is neither good for migrants nor for states so it's time for straight dialogue on principles and practices on return including practical read mission and reintegration this too belongs in the compact regularization given how many programs exist already it may be the most underrated solution to all sorts of migration labor and integration challenges it's time to expand regularization programs that exist for migrants often below the radar programs that successfully regularize regularize migrants and refugees whose lives family unity or recovery from human trafficking depend on it and fill jobs with workers and countries that structurally need them regularization that is permanent where possible temporary only if decent orderly departure and humanitarian corridors these alternative mechanisms exist but they need to be scaled way up how with cooperation even voluntary cooperation among states and other actors as was the case a generation ago when 70 countries unhcr iom and other actors including icmc came together in orderly departure programs resettlement family reunification and labor migration other mechanisms for safe orderly and legal pathways that should be expanded include private sponsorship family reunification and labor migration governance of course iom is the leading global agency on migration and you have been for years so of course iom has a central role in complementary governance of migration as miraslav lachak president of the general assembly said in the opening panel this week governance must always be people centered and rights-based and we would add diligently ordered to the common good of all in society mr. director general a last question to you what do you recommend for new elements of governance not only in implementation of the new compact but in migration in general these next five years all of this too belongs in the new compact on migration and in fact across both compacts together with 180 civil society partners we have consolidated these priorities in a unified civil society document entitled now and how 10 acts for the global compact the 10 acts reflected the thinking from over a thousand hours and civil society partners around the world participating in global and regional processes specifically on the compacts since december finally many of us are going in the same directions with you the right direction the rights direction to concrete solutions is essential in iom's work and the compacts because so many lives and societies depend on it thank you thank you very much indeed and with that last intervention this completes the speakers on our list and they've all made some very valuable contributions i'd like to thank all member states observers and speakers in particular this afternoon we've heard from international intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations who are our partners working very closely with us and we're very grateful to them for sharing their views so this concludes our general debate we'll now move on to the penultimate agenda item item 18 other business the floor is open to delegations women wish to raise any items under other business well i see no proposals nothing to raise under other business however we do have one ac that we mentioned earlier this week and was still to be dealt with as you will recall the administration shared with member states document c slash 108 slash inf slash one dated 28th september 2017 entitled note on rules and procedures for the election of the director general and deputy director general a brief overview of this document was also presented during the 21st session of the standing committee and if there are no objections i'll once again ask the administration to briefly outline again the main points of this procedure so the legal council has the floor thank you madam chair in the document that the chair referred to c 108 inth one contains the rules and the processes for the election of the dg this is the same that had been circulated to the council before and had been used in previous elections that has taken place just a few points of importance at this stage i think that we could highlight and draw specific attention to as we say these rules and procedures are contained in this document it covers both provisions in the convention the rules of procedures and decisions taken by the council previously in the past uh and the important elements are that candidates should be nominated by member states nomination of the candidates should be sent to the chairperson of the council no less than two months prior to the date of the special session of the council uh and it's currently as you see they're planned for for june next year and there is a resolution uh on the timing of the next uh sessions next year that you will will be dealt with uh each candidate will be announced by the chairperson as soon as it is received and eight weeks prior to the actual session the bureau will communicate to the official list of candidates to all member states and elections will be held in a private session and will be taken by secret ballot thank you madam chair thank you very much to the legal council i also take it from discussions held during the standing committee the member states would welcome the opportunity to have an interactive session with candidates this has become a more and more widespread practice in the un uh agencies so i propose that the bureau conducts consultations with a view to identifying methodology and uh an opportunity to organize that interactive exchange between member states and the candidates for the position of iom director general before the election takes place clearly nobody intends for that methodology or that process to be very burdensome or lengthy in terms of the time it might take both for members and for candidates so we'll be careful and we'll ensure that we meet the criteria that have been transmitted informally would you agree to this proposal for the bureau to conduct consultations in that regard i see no objections thank you very much for the confidence you're showing in the bureau it is so decided let's move on to the last item on the agenda item 19 date and place of the next sessions the administration has identified the following dates the 22nd session of the standing committee on programs and finance and the second special session of the council for the last week of june 2018 generally some member states here have difficulties with events taking place in parallel on the same time and i'm thinking of the human rights council which might take place at that same time but that's a reality in Geneva we all suffer from that problem concurrent meetings and that's why the proposal has come up for the last week of june 2018 and that probably alleviates some of the pressure but we'll also have the elections of director general taking place then we probably don't have any other possibility other than the last week of june 2018 we'll also have the 23rd session of the standing committee on programs and finance tentatively at the end of october or beginning of november 2018 that's the second date i wanted to give you and then the next regular session of the council at the end of november 2018 so that will be the 19th session of the council if there are no objections these dates will be adopted and a more detailed calendar will be circulated early in the next year are there any objections any comments i see none so i declare draft resolutions c108 l15 adopted well that was already adopted convening the next regular session and c108 l16 on convening a special session of the council adopted my dear friends and we are gearing to the closing of this session with a couple of hours of anticipation i think we'll all be happy about that being a friday of a long week but before we close this session i i would like to offer the floor to the director general for his overview of this 108th session and and so therefore ambassador swing you have the floor thank you very much madam chair i think overview might be an exaggeration of what i can offer at this hour of the day on a friday i would first of all like to begin with some words of appreciation starting first of all with our chair i've been extremely pleased and impressed with your your chairing of this session 108th i'm happy to say that recognize that this is the first you're the first woman to chair the council during my time there was one i think much earlier but you can see how far we have to come we are not anywhere close to to uh gender equality in the makeup of our the makeup of our boards and it's up to you the member states to see that that changes because you select the members of the board so i'm delighted at this and and extremely impressed with the professionals with which you've gone about this and i think i don't want to embarrass the chair but she has just been named one of the most outstanding women in all of a baro america and all of the spanish-speaking world it's just been published i'd like to give her a loud round of applause we will see if we can get a copy of that document and get it to you but we're very proud of you thank you so much uh let me also turn to you and thank all of you the member states the owners of this organization for taking your ownership seriously for turning out in such large numbers and from making such very substantive and and interesting and innovative presentations here it's helped us a lot to understand where you are in your thinking about the migration world right now and i especially want to thank you uh for adopting this resolution on the first anniversary of iom within the un system and calling upon all member states to support iom's current and future role as the global lead agency on migration um we've heard your encouragement and your counsel to us about um increasing our policy work and i signaled that in my opening remarks that we need to do more here we're doing quite a bit we also need to make that work much more visible uh we've heard you loudly and clearly on that and i know that you will want to support us in that endeavor you also would like us to have a much stronger advocacy voice uh i do believe that with the entry into the un and the glowing a growing interest in uh migration that we are getting a lot more visibility than we had before which allow us to be have a much stronger voice uh in your behalf all migration matters um i want to thank all of our mgs team where are you patricia please stand up i i won't this is behalf of all the mgs team i i would like to single them all out but we will acknowledge that perhaps uh when we get back from Puerto Vallarta and uh some kind of a drinks party or something to symbolically to say thank you for the great work you always do they're in here early and in here late making it possible for us to have a very smooth council meeting uh our interpreters always are thank you very very much we're so dependent on you and you do such a great job and you managed to even get my muffled american english right thank you very much uh we will try to find a way to to thank you uh more substantively than that i would like just to cover quickly three points uh one on the global compact is as expected and as is perfectly natural much of the focus of this meeting and your presentations has been on the global compact on migration that's perfectly understandable and we're grateful that that was the case uh almost a universal focus on the global compact expressions of appreciation to iom for the various ways in which we tried to support the process we also heard from this podium a very strong call by the president of the un general assembly echoed by many of your delegations for iom to keep all un member states here in Geneva informed during their global compact negotiations in new york and to give you regular debriefings after each round of negotiations and i propose that we do that perhaps best through the iom un working group again a great channel for communication um we've also heard from you a fairly wide ranging maybe close to universal endorsement of our role not only now until july during the negotiations but following up to and implementing the global compact i think this will be crucial to the success and we will be prepared to take on whatever role we are asked to take on i hope in regard to global compact that we will see a lot of you i'm thinking particularly of our international organization partners our international uh our NGO partners and other partners that will see a lot of you next week starting monday in Puerto Vallarta Mexico so second point has to do with partnerships i want to thank the member states for encouraging us to continue our current course in the light of one year's experience in the un system um i think that iom's business model might even offer some ideas or suggestions as we go through the secretary general's reform process as we look at the implications for us we ask ourselves are the things that we're doing that would be useful to others if so um imitation is the best form of flattery um although we're not as visible or well known uh our iom partners um we're not always visible or well known iom partners directly with many parts of the un system and always have and that will continue in fact i think entry into the un system will make us have uh bring us to have even more partners third and final point you've talked to us again about resolution 1309 maintaining our essential qualities we certainly plan to do that we're the only organization that spends full time on all aspects of migration and we will continue to do that and we will do it along the lines that you've outlined in 1309 let me just say at the operational level we made a major announcement today that working with the au the eu libya african origin countries unhcr we will be mounting a major effort for the voluntary return of all the remaining africans and others detained in the detention centers in libya we'll keep you closely informed on that we hope and believe that this is something that can be done in fairly short order working very closely with many other countries including france idly germany and the european union in general the african union uh the the un secretariat uh and unhcr so you'll see i think some movement in that area to address this whole problem of slave labor and slave markets and detention centers in libya uh so you'll hear you hear a lot more about that i think that's uh madam chair the last thing i had to say except to wish you all a very good homer journey for those who've come from afar and a good weekend thank you very much thank you very much director general uh let me now turn to my own closing remarks i would like to take this opportunity to reflect also very briefly on the on these four days before i draw the meeting to an end um the 108th session of the iom council is finalizing its very impressive work this in in this moment and from my perspective it has been four days of stimulating exchanges with a very active participation of member states and observers and also our partners in civil society and the un and with insightful contributions from panelists and speakers that have enriched our discussions including of course the very impressive exchange this morning with uh uh two migrants from different regions allow me to try to summarize not summarize too ambitious but at least to draw on a common on a few common elements that haven't pinned the work these four days member states interventions in particular but also everybody else predominantly focused on two points one reaffirming iom's lead role in migration and the significant support provided to all countries it couldn't be in any other way there is no other organization with those characteristics and it's and and i i have been very honored to be able to attest to your views um and your opinion of iom during this week the second subject is iom iom's role has been iom's role in the global compact on migration follow-up and uh coordination all interventions referred in fact all interventions referred to the global compact itself clearly showing the importance that we member states give to this exercise that has occupied us a well a good part of 2017 and will continue to occupy us during 2018 and also all interventions talked about the role that iom has played during the process up to now thanking iom for the extensive policy and technical expertise they have given to the consultations as well as to the srsg and the car facilitators also the vast majority of member states from all regions want to see iom playing a strong leadership role in any follow-up to the gm coordinating with other agencies in the un system and beyond and making sure that the organization is well placed to do so member states also frequently cited iom's policy and technical expertise their operational efficiency flexibility and then the field presence with a global footprint as key attributes in this regard while recognizing iom's significant expertise in both policy and operations many delegations expressed an interest in viewing iom's iom enhance even further its policy capacity but without losing its operational flexibility and nimbleness for which it is so well known others suggested iom focus more on building its management capacity concerning the follow-up several delegations stressed the existence of various mechanisms that may play a role in this regard thus without a need to create new institutions the follow-up process should be efficient and by efficient i mean no need for an extraordinary amount of new resources no need for more staff no need for more extra time than that which already exists for the cause of migration and therefore no need for creating new institutions the follow-up process should be efficient in order to facilitate reporting and participation as required also many delegations expressed that it would be natural to have a geneva-based follow-up mechanism given the state the states and un expertise already here with the iom playing a central lead role in this which i like to call the geneva hub on migration this we need to convey next week in Puerto Vallarta as the deputy the director general just actually said and in fact let me recall that i did point to you the documentation very small but very direct and thought-provoking documentation prepared by iom in this regard we will have an opportunity to continue this dialogue those of us who are going to Puerto Vallarta I hope most or many of us will be there and we will have an opportunity to continue this dialogue with the president of the general assembly who has been very interested in what he heard here in geneva and with certainly with madame louis arbor the srsg and the tucco facilitators it will be crucial I think for iom's member states to ensure good communication between geneva new york and capitals because after all I don't need to remind anybody that the negotiations of the global compact will take place in new york and therefore this communication between geneva new york and capitals is essential the bureau will make sure that the iom un working group which is the instrument that has served served us very well up to now for several years meet regularly next year to assist delegations in keeping up to date and exchanging views as the negotiations advance in fact we plan to hold the very first meeting of the working group on iom and un relations before the end of the year as we come back from Puerto Vallarta to be able to brief the geneva community about Puerto Vallarta and let me just advance that probably that would happen on the week of the 20th just so that you'd note it down in your calendars 2018 will be a crucial year for migration and therefore for iom our organization is in good shape and well prepared to face the challenges that these changes will involve in that regard i would like to thank the administration for the outstanding work that you have achieved with a special recognition for the dts leadership during his mandate it is true we will be electing a new dt mid-year in in tune but we i'm not saying goodbye because the director general will still be with us for a couple of important meetings we will still have before june but i also hope that we are able to continue the work in a in the strong way and in a resilient and seamless process that we need to in order to be able to continue playing our crucial role i would like to express my thanks for the confidence that the council has placed in this bureau and also expressed my appreciation to all member states for their commitment to iom's work i'm sure that your active participation and contribution will be prominent and essential in the work that will require our attention in the coming year and i cannot of course not do my own side by finally thanking very warmly the secretariat the senior staff around us here the more junior staff who've been running around and the people from the regional offices who have been with us throughout thank you very much for that thank you to the interpreters and have a very good weekend