1st PRESS RELEASE
 
Mexico City (Mexico), October 20, 2011

This morning the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón opened the Third International Forum on Migration and Peace at the Secretariat of Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  This year the focus of the discussion was "Safe International Migration."  At the opening ceremony, the President was accompanied by Dr. Rafael Fernandez de Castro, Head of the Department of International Studies (ITAM, Mexico) and by Father Leonir Mario Chiarello,  Executive Director of the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN) and Head of SIMN's Advocacy Department.
 
The President stressed the need to consider migration as a source of social, cultural and economic enrichment for the country of destination, focusing on the benefits of orderly migration noting that legislation restricting migration can only cause more criminal activity at an international level. Felipe Calderón pointed out that emigration is not a desirable alternative for families or for communities and that it is an ethical duty of governments to become aware of their responsibilities and to implement comprehensive policies and answers toward an orderly migration respectful of the human rights of migrants. The president's full speech can be found at: http://www.presidencia.gob.mx/2011/10/el-presidente-calderon-durante-la-inauguracion-del-tercer-foro-internacional-sobre-migracion-y-paz/
 
Dr. Rafael Fernandez de Castro outlined the finding of a marked decrease in migration in the analyzed regions of Mexico by 80% since 2005, with an increase in return flows and a sharp drop in transit migratory flows. In the words of Dr. Fernandez de Castro, this has implications for public policies such as the need for regional solutions (involving also the United States), finding new economic opportunities and the challenges that the return flows present (e.g. the education of children). On the causes of the decrease, he presented the lack of attraction of the U.S. economy (pull factor), lower wages (push factor) and structural improvements in Mexico's  health system.
 
Father Leonir Chiarello, pointed out the intrinsic link between direct violence and indirect or structural violence, in an increasingly uncivil society, with a clear impact on migration. Father Chiarello stressed the need to implement more effective public policies on migration in a framework of legalization and for governments to work together and with the civil society.  In the words of the SIMN Executive Director, "All this requires is the definition of a new social and cultural grammar inspired by the common good for everyone, including migrants."

​2nd PRESS RELEASE

Mexico City (Mexico), October 20, 2011
Father Leonir Chiarello's speech at the opening of the Third International Forum on Migration and Peace

Your Excellency Mr. Felipe Calderón, President of the United States of Mexico, Professor Margarita Zavala, President of the National System for the Integral Development of the Family, Your Excellency Dr. Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Mr. José Francisco Blake Mora, Interior Secretary, Ambassador Julian Ventura Valero, Undersecretary for North America, Ambassador Ruben Beltran, Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mr. Salvador Beltrán del Río Madrid, Commissioner of the National Migration Institute, Mr. Thomas Weiss, Mexico Representative of the International Organization for Migration, Mr. Antonio Mazzitelli, Mexico Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Ms. Esther Olavarria, Counselor of the United States Department of Homeland Security, Dr. Rafael Fernandez de Castro, Head of Department of International Studies at the Mexico Autonomous Technological Institute, Padre Flor Maria Rigoni, Director and Founder of the Casa del Migrante in Tapachula, Chiapas, Government Representatives of Mexico and other countries, international and regional organizations, civil society and religious representatives, ladies and gentlemen, welcome.
 
Since time immemorial the link between violence and migration is a reality. Along with poverty, inequality, lack of social cohesion and natural disasters, violence is one of the main causes of the emigration of millions of people around the world, while in countries of destination, the simple presence of migrants causes tensions in the social fabric.
 
The gains of organized crime, arms, drugs and people trafficking and other illegal and criminal activities, make it possible for us to recognize the progress of an uncivil society that, according to former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan, is becoming global. Although different, direct violence, caused by the use of weapons or organized crime, and indirect or structural violence, caused by the globalization process through an inequitable economic system which condemns millions of people to premature death because of poverty, are closely related. Researchers from various disciplines agree that one of the causes of direct violence is the endemic existence of structural indirect violence and that certain economic, political and social structures are prone to create or maintain direct violence. The big difference is that while you can, with more or less difficulty, identify and prosecute those responsible for direct violence, the causes and perpetrators of indirect violence are not as easily identified, and in many cases, indirect violence is not even recognized as "violence" or as systematic violation of human rights. It might thus appear that violence is a normal and intrinsic attribute of human life.
 
Violence is one of the main causes of increased international migration. It not only forces people to migrate, but migrants are the victims, both during the journey and upon arrival at destination, where they become the subjects of different forms of discrimination, exploitation and abuse that prevent the recognition of their basic rights.
 
In the current global context, migration, because of its multiple factors and its impact on the societies of origin, transit and destination, requires responses that combine articulated "shared responsibility" among governments to ensure effective governance of migration flows, and "collaboration" between civil society organizations and state agencies to ensure greater legitimacy of policies and programs on migration. Co-responsibility among governments and cooperation between governments and civil society actors in pursuit of such guarantees requires a concerted and inclusive participation of all of them, which can only work if it is animated by democratic principles. This requires the definition of a new social and cultural grammar inspired by the common good for all, including migrants.
 
With the aim of fostering the shaping of this grammar while generating concrete actions to ensure these objectives, the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN) has implemented an international campaign to promote a culture of peaceful coexistence between the societies of origin, transit and destination of migrants and the migrants themselves through the International Forum on Migration and Peace. This high-level debate began in 2009 in Guatemala and continued in Colombia in 2010. During this third gathering in Mexico, we will consider the impact of violence on international migration flows and how governments and civil society can define and implement policies and programs to ensure the safety of migrants and refugees who cross international borders daily and how to build new relationships in the pursuit of peaceful coexistence.

We thank all the people and organizations who made possible this Forum. Welcome to the Third International Forum on Migration and Peace.