Possible Implications of the Ministerial Council Decision on the OSCE’s Role in the Governance of Large Movements of Migrants and Refugees

By Claude Wild

Ambassador Claude Wild is the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the OSCE, the United Nations and the International Organizations in Vienna. He chaired the OSCE Informal Working Group Focusing on the Issue of Migration and Refugee Flows in 2016.

In migration policy circles, 2016 will be remembered as the year when the international community decided to give relevant organizations the necessary political guidance to start working on a global and inclusive migration and refugee framework. Through different important decisions taken in the course of the year, the issue of governance of large movements of migrants and refugees now has a chance of being addressed in all its multidimensional aspects, at the global level by the United Nations (UN) and also at the regional level in the OSCE.

UN Member States took three historic decisions at the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York on 19 September 2016. They embedded the International Organization for Migration into the UN system. They adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, a global plan for saving the lives of migrants and protecting their rights. And they launched work to set up a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration as well as a Global Compact on Refugees by 2018.

This made it more important than ever for the OSCE participating States to give this Organization, as a regional arrangement under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, adequate high-level political guidance as to how it could better define its role in the face of the security and human rights consequences of large movements of migrants and refugees in the OSCE area. They had already made a first unsuccessful attempt at the Ministerial Council in 2015 to reach consensus on a text that was more focussed on the migrants and refugees “crisis” as it was unfolding particularly on the Balkan route. On 9 December 2016, at the Ministerial Council in Hamburg, a more general decision, giving future-oriented political guidance to the OSCE on the governance of large movements of migrants and refugees, found consensus and was adopted.

A positive sign

The fact that the OSCE was able to adopt this ministerial decision shortly after the important global steps made in New York is a positive sign. It shows that our Organization, despite its cumbersome consensual decision-making process and diverging views among participating States on how to address current and future issues of European security, is nevertheless capable of staying connected with the UN system when dealing with a global phenomenon that affects security and human rights also in its region.

As a consequence of the decision, issues related to the governance of large movement of migrants and refugees now form an integral and cross-dimensional part of the OSCE’s comprehensive approach to Euro-Atlantic, Eurasian and Euro-Mediterranean security.

The events on the Balkan route in 2015 and the drama we continue to witness at sea every day on the Central Mediterranean route leave no doubt about the challenge large movements of migrants and refugees pose both for ensuring security and protecting human rights in the OSCE area. Confronting this challenge must therefore be considered an integral part of the OSCE’s comprehensive approach to security, as is already the case for the effects caused by forced movements of internally displaced persons.

Large movements of migrants and refugees can threaten security and human rights at different levels. Vulnerable persons on the move risk falling prey to traffickers and/or smugglers along the way or having their fundamental rights violated when crossing borders. Communities are often unprepared for receiving a large influx of people and therefore suffer societal security implications. Finally, states are confronted with increased organized crime, which gets strengthened by lucrative criminal activities along migration routes and through exploitation of vulnerable persons on the move.

On the other hand, the benefits of safe, orderly and regular migration are substantial and often underestimated. That is why responsible governance of large movements of migrants and refugees also has to include the recognition of the substantial economic and social contribution that migrants and refugees can make for inclusive growth and sustainable development.

These issues should now receive sustained focus and adequate resources in the work of the incoming and future OSCE Chairmanships as well as in the work of the OSCE executive structures, including that done with OSCE Partners for Co-operation.

Potential for OSCE action

The potential for value-added action by the OSCE, also using the Organization’s convening power for dialogue and expertise, is huge. International actors dealing with the consequences of large movements of migrants and refugees (but with different mandates and tools), such as the International Organization for Migration, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, are encouraging the OSCE to use this potential more visibly and more consistently. Better internal and international co-ordination, enhanced project work by executive structures, including field missions, initiatives showing solidarity and partnership with frontline states within the OSCE area and with neighbouring countries, are all avenues for using this potential in line with the political guidance received in Hamburg and without duplicating the activities of other local, national and international actors.

In parallel to the UN’s preparations for the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants and the roadmap to  Global Compacts on Migration and on Refugees, the OSCE conducted in-depth hearings between March and July 2016 in the framework of the Informal Working Group Focussing on Migration and Refugee Flows (IWG). As Chair of the IWG, I had the mandate to prepare a report that was presented and discussed at the special meeting of the Permanent Council on 20 July 2016. The report and the groundwork done in the IWG remain comprehensive and useful references to inspire current and future work of the OSCE. This was also the case during the negotiations conducted in Vienna during the autumn that eventually led to the ministerial decision adopted at the Hamburg OSCE Ministerial Council. One can conclude that the ministerial decision and the work done in the OSCE during 2016 were timely, in phase with reality and will now allow the Organization to make full use of its expertise, its convening power and its position as a regional arrangement under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, in order to play its specific role in the governance of large movements of migrants and refugees.

Disclaimer: the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author as Chair of the OSCE Informal Working Group Focusing on the Issue of Migration and Refugee Flows and do not necessarily represent the position of the Government of Switzerland.