Remarks by María José Espinosa Carrillo, CEDA Executive Director at Georgetown University
June 3, 2024
Image source: Georgetown School of Foreign Service, June 3
CEDA’s Executive Director, María José Espinosa Carrillo comments on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees remarks at Georgetown University
Thank you to Georgetown University for hosting this important discussion and thank you UNHCR for the invitation. As a representative of a civil society organization dedicated to regional cooperation on refugee and migrant rights, I really appreciate the opportunity to react to the High Commissioner’s speech.
I agree with the High Commissioner–the scale and complexity of mixed movements in our hemisphere demand urgent and comprehensive action. We are witnessing an unprecedented scale of displacement due to violence, climate change, economic disparities, or political instability, but there is also a glaring absence of cooperation around implementing a comprehensive and inclusive regional migration management system.
Current migration policies often focus on short-term political gains rather than effective solutions. Instead, we must view migration management as a holistic system, protecting and supporting migrants and refugees, while maximizing the benefits of migration for all. Because migration is here to stay, migration is human, and as High Commissioner Grandi noted, it is not an impossible challenge but requires political will and courage. In fact, and I’m sure my colleagues will cover this later, there is evidence that migration generates opportunities when different stakeholders collaborate.
Today, I want to make three key points and I’m happy to continue this conversation at the reception:
First, Latin America and the Caribbean have already set a path forward for migration management,** hosting more than 20% of the world's displaced population despite accounting for only 8% of the world's population. Examples of good practices in the region offer hope and direction. Brazil's Operation Welcome, Colombia's groundbreaking temporary protective status for Venezuelans, and more recently, Uruguay’s expedited asylum processing are just a few examples. That is without mentioning the effective and creative responses in cities across the region. We must work together to support and expand these creative solutions through financing and more, from integration at scale, to stabilization of migrant and host communities.
Second, the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection is an essential step in the right direction, as the High Commissioner put it. Its spirit, commitment, and achievements, such as expanding refugee resettlement, family reunification, labor mobility programs, and creating new legal avenues for protection and immigration, are remarkable.
While the Los Angeles Declaration will continue to experience challenges, naturally, there are solutions we can draw from to enhance its reach, impact, and efficacy. Last month, at the third LAD Ministerial in Guatemala, civil society and academia, invited by the Guatemalan government and in coordination with the U.S. State Department, hosted its first meeting with government officials and international organizations. - Thank you, High Commissioner Grandi, for participating at this meeting last month.
This was an important step, since, sadly, civil society and refugee and migrant-led organizations, despite delivering essential and lifesaving services, undertaking advocacy, and filling development gaps, are rarely included in these processes. At the meeting, we proposed steps to ensure the Declaration's sustainability and civil society participation, including establishing a technical secretariat by the end of 2024, that meaningfully includes the people at the frontlines of the refugee and migrant response, and the very people on the move we are talking about today, as well as Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and LGBTQI-led organizations. These groups must be part of the formal structure and architecture of the LA Declaration, and of every migration management forum.
And my third and final point, we need to be clear-eyed about the political realities we face. As we move full force into an election cycle in this very country and several countries in the Western Hemisphere, we need to be better prepared to protect the achievements of the Declaration, ensure that it survives political cycles, and continue advancing in its implementation. In the same vein, while we cannot fully counter election-driven discourse that panders to voter bases, we can work to mitigate risks like xenophobia, harmful copycat border externalization policies, and attacks on humanitarian service providers. There is a concerning increase in harmful rhetoric against civil society actors working to create impactful, local, and practical solutions. From those working in the Darién to organizations at the US-Mexico border and even institutions like the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration, or the UN system, we've seen troubling public attacks across the hemisphere, even from elected officials. Let me stress this: States need to protect humanitarian institutions and expand their access, preserving and increasing funding for frontline organizations.
In conclusion, the management of migration flows in the Americas requires a comprehensive, inclusive and collaborative approach. I’ve witnessed firsthand the readiness of civil society to work with states, international organizations, financial institutions, and the private sector to achieve lasting and holistic solutions to manage migration in the region, as evidenced in Guatemala last month.
Thank you.