By Xinhua,
Manila : The current financial crisis is increasingly affecting migrants all over the world and immigration has become a political issue in many countries, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here on Wednesday.
The world today is facing a financial crisis from which no country can be insulated, Ban said at the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development held in Manila.
The world would be in a more unstable condition if governments fail to protect the rights of the 200 million migrants, whose remittances are helping cushion their home countries from the impact of the financial turmoil, he said.
With the global slowdown, unemployment has been rising in some countries and “it would be naive to think the current crisis will have no effect on the movement of people across borders and on how our public perceive migration and the migrants in their midst,” said the UN chief.
“Mounting evidence” showed that remittance flows have been slowing down as well, he said, adding that in many countries, immigration has increasingly become a political issue heightening the risk of discrimination.
Migration flows are reversing in some sectors, such as construction and tourism, according the Secretary-General.
Meanwhile, he said that migration can lessen the impact of the “financial crisis we face.”
“Migration can and will help us in this global financial crisis,” he said, adding “we must learn how to draw power from migrants and migration.”
Ban expects to find a “triple win” way for countries of origin, for countries of destination, and for migrants themselves.
“Only by safeguarding the rights of migrants, and ensuring that migrants are treated with the dignity and respect, can we create the conditions which migration can contribute to development,” he said.
“Exploitation is the antithesis of development. In these times of financial hardships, we all need to be especially vigilant,” he added.