I think that the Human Movements and Immigration (HMI) World Congress is an interesting initiative because it addresses the issue of migration in an open way, without defensiveness, and it brings together a wide range of actors to interact and exchange ideas and insights. I particularly appreciate the emphasis on intercultural dialogue.

I have participated from the beginning of the project in the preparation of the Human Movements and Immigration (HMI) World Congress. I considered it essential for the Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona 2004 to have a wide space to debate this social reality, immigration, in which we are all immersed: those who emigrate, those who receive immigrants and those who remain in the country of origin seeing their loved ones depart. Immigration concerns everybody.

From my experience as Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission of Human Rights on the human rights of migrants , I believe that the Human Movements and Immigration (HMI) World Congress is an excellent opportunity to meet and debate. The countries of origin, transit and destination of migrants must share responsibilities throughout the whole migratory process, bearing in mind social, economic, cultural, religious and human security aspects.

The open dialogue between the different actors –states, NGOs, international bodies and local and regional authorities– is transcendental for the development of proposals that facilitate the management of global migratory policies from the perspective of human rights.

International migration has become a central issue of the early 21 st century. The huge gap between North and South in living standards, human rights and security is generating enormous pressure to migrate. At the same time the new transport and communication technologies make it easier for people to move. Instead of a permanent shift to a new country, many people now circulate back and forwards, and take on a transnational consciousness. Governments, on the other hand, often remain trapped in outmoded models of national separation. Their efforts at control become simultaneously more draconian and less effective. The HMI Congress will give an opportunity for migrants, academics, civil society and policy makers to come together to discuss new solutions to these dilemmas.

The Asia Pacific Migration Research Network (APMRN) is very excited about being involved in the planned congress on Human Movements and Immigration. The APMRN covers Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan (unofficial), Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

This will provide a unique opportunity for people from our region to participate in a global conference that addresses some of the key issues today in international migration. As we encompass more than 60% of the world's population, major trends in our region and between the Asia Pacific and elsewhere, need to be explored. Labour mobility, settlement and integration and refugee issues are high on our agenda and we look forward to discussing them in positive and enriching way.

Imagine a world of nations without international migration. People would undoubtedly travel from one place to the other, but never settling anywhere other than in their own country, so that a people would only know about others through what commerce brought of their material production or what the media delivered of their ideal production. There would be only indirect knowledge, without real contact. It would be quite a tedious world. It would also be a very dangerous world. Ignoring others, each would lean on some never questioned preconceptions and chauvinism would reign supreme. Based on the image of a genetic heritage that would not regenerate itself, this world would fade away. Migration is one of the forms of exchange, as indispensable as the others in terms of reproduction and the progress of societies. All individuals on earth possess in their more or less recent genealogy ancestors who arrived from elsewhere. However, we should not be naive: migration does not automatically mean happiness. To expatriate oneself is a difficult choice to make, and even more difficult to put into practice because of the social and political resistance encountered. Sedentariness is the rule and migration is the exception: less than 3% of people are international migrants. One paradox of migration lies in the fact that it seems necessary to the history of societies but contingent within the life cycle of persons. For the first time, international migration has a world congress, with “dialogues” and “experiences” as leading concepts. Let us thank Barcelona for such a happy idea!

Migration is one of the great challenges in relations between rich and poor countries. In regards to this issue, I hope this congress will be able to open a clear debate that deconstructs the prejudices and the negative image connected to migration and emigrants and show that beyond the stereotypes, prejudices and “the cost of immigration”, there is an “inverse debt” at once hidden by political and media discourse and absent from the fields of interest of academic research. This forum, organized under the banner of promoting social issues, should be an appropriate platform for favouring migration and emigrants.

The importance of international migration today is becoming increasingly clear. As Secretary-General Kofi Annan has noted: “How we deal with the question of refugee and migration policy will have a profound effect on relations between the peoples of the developed and developing world.  It will also say a great deal about our moral character and commitment to human equality and human dignity.” Migration, although long a sensitive matter of national sovereignty, is progressively developing regional and international dimensions. Increasingly, States are looking for regional and international mechanisms through which to discuss and better understand migration issues and trends. Many States want to improve coordination and develop regional or international guidelines for what is recognized as a global phenomenon with broad economic, social and security ramifications. And migrants are looking for someone, or some institution, to advocate for their rights and address their needs.

The processes deriving from great social transformations generate political and social tensions and provoke in-depth discussions. The truth is that the decisions on how to manage these processes are important. What is at stake is the type of future society that we are designing. At present, the factor of social change is the accommodation of immigration within institutional structures initially conceived for a citizen population. The debates on whether we are in favour or against the process form part of the previous century. The process is irreversible. The reflections to be made must not be based on false premises. The question now is to debate how to manage the process without damaging the values that articulate our societies. The HMI forms part of this dynamic of reflection. It will help to socialise this issue and have a global effect. During the Congress we will be in an interdependent public space. The four cardinal points on which the debates will be organised constitute the framework within which all the arguments will fit: transformations, mobility, diversity and justice. It will undoubtedly be an opportunity without precedents not only to transmit existing information from theories and experiences from all the continents but in order to be a laboratory for the production of information.

The HMI is a very interesting initiative because of the time it will take place. This time is characterised by a global framework that encourages human movements from a migratory culture increasingly rooted in vast social sectors. Moreover, there is an attempt to limit them through ever more restrictive migratory policies. On many occasions, these movements are the result of the social exclusion generated by the prevailing economic model. At the same time, they are increasingly stigmatised with the reappearance of the doctrine of national security, which attempts to link them with terrorism, and are discriminated against through the prejudice and xenophobia encouraged in some cases by opportunistic policies. Paradoxically, this migration is necessary both to cover the unmet demands for labour or as replacement migration in ageing societies. In the scenario of all these contradictory and coexisting situations, the space for reflection put forward by the HMI constitutes a good occasion for an objective analysis of the issue and a reaffirmation of the “ethic proposals” that place the immigrant as a full citizen.

At a moment when the globalisation of economies and the power of the media and information technologies give the impression that it is possible to know everything, that we all have a common language, the organisers of the Human Movements and Immigration (HMI) World Congress invite us to ask ourselves what we really know about the others, what is foreign to us, the life and culture of new immigrants, all the strength that they must possess simply to survive in exile or sometimes even to return to their own countries. Because of the number and diversity of persons that this Congress mobilises, it represents an observatory which should allow us to approach and debate in a more human way the economic and social chances and opportunities of immigration. By contributing to banishing the dark areas that blur the issue of migration, the Human Movements and Migration (HMI) World Congress aims to erase the frontiers of ignorance which make us misunderstand the meaning of foreign.

The HMI Congress is a bold and creative initiative which can greatly enrich our understanding of the value and significance of human movements to modern societies. It is bold because it attempts what has never been tried before - that is, to bring out the perspectives not only of scholars or policy makers but also of the different social groups that are in one way or another touched by migration. It is creative because it seeks to make the activity manageable by organizing the dialogues or exchange of ideas around very relevant contemporary themes like diversity, justice and progress. I am excited by the thought of how much new insights the Congress can contribute to the construction of a more humane international migration regime.

Policy dialogue on international migration is in a state of flux as the diverse actors and stakeholders in rich and poor countries have conflicting interests dominated by economic, political and demographic concerns. Migration should be a win-win enterprise; what is needed is a comprehensive perspective and policy for orderly management of migration. The HMI Congress's policy agenda and a strong focus on migrants and their experiences in a series of dialogues provide a unique opportunity for a variety of Southern and Northern stakeholders to share their diverse viewpoints and cultural contextual concerns. I am convinced that the outcome will help refocus public opinion on positive aspects of migration and challenges for a common destiny.

The HMI World Congress is important because it provides an international meeting space for the exchange of different views related to the migratory movements and which includes refugees. It seeks to raise awareness among the Forum participants of the measures to be adopted by the governments in order to preserve the right of asylum within the debate on the control of irregular immigration.

Two types of discourses dominate our discussion of migration. One is the discourse from governments and international agencies with the key words of "migration management" and "orderly movement". The other is represented by NGOs centered on the notion of "human rights". The wide gap between these two has caused considerable confusion in public opinions. By bringing a wide range of participants together, the HMI Congress may contribute to filling this gap. Problems related to migration are often more problems of the perception of migration than of migration per se. In this sense, the HMI Congress is directly addressing a key root cause of the social tensions related to migration.