Hon. Sergio Marchi

Sergio Marchi spoke today at the International Humanitarian Conference in Geneva. The theme of the conference was Refugees in Armed Conflict.

Mr. Marchi spoke on the efforts that were made to assist/move refugees and migrants from Libya last year, as an example and inspiration of how we better manage the migration dossier.

Here is an excerpt from the speech:

I have been interested and involved in the advocacy for a change in governance for the last several years. And one thing is very clear: it is critical for our political leaders and international policy makers to now begin the work of providing global migration, the global governance it needs and deserves, on an incremental, step-by-step basis.

We really must shift gears in how we approach and manage migration realities, in all of their different forms.

Increased human mobility is but a reflection of our globalized times. The number of international migrants has doubled since 1980 alone, reaching some 215 million people. Added to this, we have some 15 million refugees, about 15 million internally displaced people, and approximately 30 to 40 million undocumented migrants. As well, we must also take stock of the some 740 million people who are internal migrants, the vast majority of them moving from rural to urban centers. 

That’s more than 1 billion people on the move. And this trend will only intensify.