Specialists highlight the multiple contributions of migrants to sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Migrants make multiple contributions to sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean, in particular, to the economies, societies, demographic dynamics and cultural diversity of the countries of the region, highlighted today specialists gathered at a regional seminar organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago de Chile.

The event, which culminates on Thursday, June 15, marks the closure of the United Nations Development Account project “Taking Advantage of the Contribution of International Migration to Sustainable Development in Latin American and Caribbean Countries,” which It was coordinated by the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Center (CELADE)- Population Division of ECLAC.

The regional seminar Contribution of international migration to sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean, aims to publicize the results of the project, in addition to facilitating the exchange of experiences and lessons learned between the various agents and key actors of the countries of the region, reflect on the contributions of migrants to development in order to illuminate decision-making in both the public and private sectors, and provide arguments and content to support an affirmative narrative of migration processes and protection rights of all migrants.

The inauguration was attended by Simone Cecchini, Director of CELADE – Population Division of ECLAC, representing the Executive Secretary José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs; María José Torres Macho, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Chile; Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director in South America, and Francesco Carella, labor migration and mobility specialist at the ILO Regional Office.

In her opening remarks, Simone Cecchini highlighted that in Latin America and the Caribbean international migration has always been important; however, this relevance has increased in the political debate in recent years due to the fact that all the countries of the region participate in migratory flows, whether as countries of origin, transit, destination or return.

He specified that, according to United Nations estimates, in 2020, 43 million people in the region lived outside their countries of birth, representing 15% of the world population of migrants. In the year 2000 this population was 25 million. Likewise, immigrants in Latin America and the Caribbean increased from 6.5 million in 2000 to 15 million in 2020.

The Director of CELADE – Population Division of ECLAC added that, although the United States continues to be the main migratory destination, several countries in the region attract many migrants, especially Venezuelans. The Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V) currently estimates 6 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the region, who live mainly in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Brazil.

“As our Executive Secretary has highlighted, ‘the migratory cycles in the region are explained both by expulsion factors, such as the structural lack of decent work opportunities and economic crises, environmental disasters and the effects of climate change, as well as the humanitarian crises and violence of all kinds, and by pull factors, based on greater opportunities for employment, study, better wages and family reunification’. There is then a very strong link between migration and the inequalities that exist within and between countries”, Cecchini affirmed.

He stressed that ECLAC maintains a perspective that combines the challenges of development with a rights-based approach, and urged to ensure that migration is an informed and free option, and not a necessity imposed by deficiencies and suffering.

“We have to face the structural causes of migration, and at the same time address the problems that migrants face. To address the vulnerability of migrants, it is urgent to offer regular pathways for human mobility. Also, provide access to education, health, social protection and decent work ”, he emphasized.

For her part, the Resident Coordinator of the UN in Chile, María José Torres Macho, stressed the importance of human mobility being the object of concern and attention not only by countries and public policy, but by all actors in society. .

“He has to summon us all, it is an issue that has to do with the future of the 2030 Agenda,” he said.

Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director in South America, meanwhile, highlighted that intraregional migration is a trend in Latin American migration processes and is particularly high in South America where it is estimated that almost 4 out of 5 migrants reside in another country of this subregion of the Americas.

“In this sense, the objective of strengthening national capacities to take full advantage of the socioeconomic benefits of intraregional migration and its contributions to sustainable development is a priority,” he asserted.

Francesco Carella, specialist in labor migration and mobility from the ILO Regional Office, highlighted the work coordinated by ECLAC and pointed out that, at a time when the public debate around migration tends to focus on the negative aspects, it is very important that we have data and analysis that allow us to highlight what migrants contribute to societies and economies.

Within the framework of the project, studies were carried out on the cases of Costa Rica, Chile, Jamaica, Mexico and Peru, the results of which were disseminated and discussed in two national workshops, providing updated evidence on the contributions of migrants. The research combines quantitative and qualitative approaches and analyzes to identify and measure the contributions that migrants make to the countries of origin and destination, in three dimensions of great interest: economic, including contributions to the labor market; the demographic one, with its contribution to the growth of the population because they are population groups mainly in reproductive ages and, finally; the cultural dimension, with its transformations and socio-cultural enrichment in the host communities.

The studies carried out in Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru can be reviewed in the document On the contributions of migration to sustainable development: studies in selected countries.