12 June 2014
The meeting of liberal parliamentarians was organized under the auspices of the LI Human Rights Committee within the framework of the 26th Session of the UN Human Rights Council. The main objective was to provide liberal parliamentarians with effective answers to the challenges posed by migration in a way that enjoys public support while countering the far-right populist rhetoric on the issue. The overall goal was to establish a strong network of liberal parliamentarians working on human rights issues in order to collectively promote and coordinate sensible human rights policies around the world. The meeting aimed at accomplishing the following secondary objectives:
Allow for the LI Human Rights Committee to advance the work of liberal parliamentarians by offering them various resources such as Secretariat assistance in formulating parliamentary questions, international policy coordination and international human rights law expertise
Mobilize the United Nations in defence of common causes through Liberal International’s UN ECOSOC consultative status
Strengthen and refine the respective parties’ strategies for tacking domestic and international human rights concerns in cooperation with international peers and academic experts
Provide a platform whereby liberal colleagues from around the world, whether in government or opposition, and who are national leaders in the fight for human rights can meet and exchange ideas
Provide a platform for coordination and discussion of policy with other liberal ministers, government or opposition MPs from donor and project target countries
The Conference featured two discussion panels and one high level UN meeting with the Chief of the Labour Migration Branch of the International Labour Organisation, Mrs. Michelle Leighton. There were a total of 11 participants present representing a diverse group of countries and liberal parties from around the world such as Andorra (Liberal Party of Andorra), Germany (Freie Demokratische Partei), Guinea (Union des Forces Démocratiques de Guinée), Lebanon (Future Movement), Montenegro (Liberal Party of Montenegro), Switzerland (Parti Liberal Radical), and the United Kingdom (Liberal Democrats). The LI delegation was led by the LI President and former Andorran Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Juli Minoves, LI Vice-President on the Bureau and former German Federal Commissioner for Human Rights Markus Loening and LI Past President Lord Alderdice.
Panel One: Migration and Human Rights: Strengthening Economic, Social and Conflict-Driven Migration Policies
The panel was opened and chaired by the President of Liberal International, Dr. Juli Minoves, and it featured His Excellency Francois Crepeau, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights of Migrants, Mrs. Kristina Touzenis, the Head of the International Migration Law Unit of the International Organisation for Migration, and Mr. Khodr Habib, Member of the Lebanese Parliament (Future Movement, LI full-member) as speakers.
The main theme of the discussion was the strengthening of economic, social and conflict-drive migration policies with a particular focus on the challenges posed by migration for both migrants and hosting countries. Much attention was paid to the steps liberal parliamentarians need to take in order to fight the far-right populist rhetoric on the issue in a way that enjoys public support. Participants also had the opportunity to address key issues such as integrating the human rights of migrants into the post-2015 development agenda, addressing international migration policy shortcomings, and the role and limitations of the Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration.
Some of the issues highlighted were that as a whole there is no political advantage in defending migrants’ rights there needs to be a social debate on creating competitive social circles without exploiting migrants especially since the human rights discourse is a liberal discourse.
Panel Two: LI Human Rights Committee: Effective Methods in Providing Assistance to Liberal Parliamentarians
Tools identified as crucial in assisting the work of MPs are as follows:
Identify a focal point of contact within each LI member party when it comes to human rights concerns
Create an LI HRC newsletter focusing on human rights concerns of importance to LI members
Assign each LI HRC member a key area of concern
Allow LI members to present reports on the human rights situation in their respective countries either at LI statutory events or during separate LI HRC meetings/ conferences
Organize a meeting of liberal parliamentarians working on human rights issues at least once a year preferably within the framework of the UN Human Rights Council regular debate sessions
Write news articles to regional and international media and pose questions to ministers together as a network
Identify volunteers within LI member parties who can assist with the regular organisation of meeting pertaining to the liberal human rights network including with interpretation
Consider organizing LI HRC workshops on a more frequent basis as there is lack of time for human rights debates among delegates at LI statutory events
