Regional migration declaration must be backed by action, NGOs say

A joint declaration on migration issued by leaders in the Americas last week was welcomed by NGOs, but they warned that it must be backed by robust accountability to ensure international protections as well as a focus on the root causes of migration.

On Friday, the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection was presented by 21 countries at the U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas. It was the first time that countries of origin, transit, and destination have come together to share responsibility for the region’s migration crisis.

The declaration focused on assistance for migrants, international protection, migration management, emergency response, and reducing the numbers of people fleeing their homes.

While migration levels dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic, migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border are now at a 22-year high. Population demographics among migrants have changed, most recently with a marked increase of Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Cubans moving north.

Marisa Limón Garza, senior director for advocacy and programming at the Hope Border Institute, described the border as perennially a “political football,” creating a dynamic where American politicians “push the problem away.” She was critical of U.S. efforts to outsource its international protection obligations for refugees.

“That’s what externalization of asylum looks like. That looks like: ‘Let me just avoid the problem at hand’ — the problem being global migration — ‘but it happens to be happening at our doorstep, and therefore it’s more politically expedient for me to push that south,’” Limón Garza said.

She said the declaration should focus more on the root causes of migration and improving people’s lives so they do not have to make a dangerous journey to meet their family’s basic needs.

“I would like to see permanent solutions related to humanitarian accompaniment, especially in the role that the United States can play to marshal that support. That, to me, is critically important,” Limón Garza said.

“I also want to see more of a deeper analysis of the challenges, including the climate crisis and other things — a more thorough analysis of the way that COVID, from an economic stance, has and continues to impact the region.”

The Los Angeles Declaration has four “pillars:” promoting stability and assistance for communities of destination, origin, transit, and return; promoting regular pathways for migration and international protection; promoting humane migration management; and promoting a coordinated emergency response.

The countries that joined the declaration committed to cooperating more closely to facilitate “safe, orderly, humane, and regular migration” and said addressing irregular migration requires a regional approach. They pledged to strengthen migration management institutions and exchange best practices for how to “provide efficient and adequate care to migrants and access to protection for refugees.”

The declaration stressed the importance of supporting host communities, saying they need access to international financing to meet basic humanitarian and development needs.

Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador all joined the declaration despite not sending their leaders to attend the Summit of the Americas. Those countries have faced increasing pressure to strengthen their asylum systems and offer international protections to vulnerable migrants, many of whom seek to request asylum in the U.S.

Under the previous U.S. administration, the countries in the Northern Triangle region — Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador — signed “migration cooperation” agreements stipulating that migrants crossing those nations must request asylum there instead of at the U.S. border.

“Many of the countries in our region that are assuming some of these commitments are countries that also have their own internal dynamics related to internal displacement or other sorts of conflict. So when you put that additional burden on them, ensuring that protection mechanisms are in place that hold the best standards to ensure protection can be a challenge,” said Julio Rank-Wright, deputy regional director for Latin America at the International Rescue Committee.

“Beyond that, we really just would like to emphasize that within all this, the fact that what cannot be lost is that asylum is a right and that international protection mechanisms have to ensure that the most vulnerable and groups in danger are tended to.”

There must be a more “humane” asylum system across the region, Rank-Wright said.

The United Nations Refugee Agency said in a statement that it “welcomes the commitment of states in the Americas to strengthen protection systems and guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face persecution or human rights violations.”

“At the same time, UNHCR recognizes the importance of regional initiatives that address the root causes of migration and forced displacement, and encourages states and other relevant stakeholders, including multilateral development banks, international financial institutions and other donors, to expand efforts to improve conditions and opportunities to prevent forced displacement,” the U.N. agency said.

Rank-Wright said the next step for parties to the declaration is to “operationalize” the commitments made and ensure that there is follow-through.

“When these declarations are made, if there’s no accountability and monitoring and evaluating the progress towards them, then there’s obviously the danger of it falling off … the radar,” Rank-Wright said.

Limón Garza said she’d like to see civil society be a part of that process, because religious organizations and other NGOs are often those that provide critical services to vulnerable migrants, some of whom are seeking asylum.

“A transparent process would be great, reporting out on this obviously before the next summit. Having milestones at least on an annual basis would be really great. What progress have we made?” Limón Garza said.

“It’s good and well [that] we have this agreement or a declaration, but then how do you make it manifest and have policies that drive it home and make it real? Having a hemispheric response and measurement would be really helpful.”