Migration with Dignity: Opportunities for peace through migration with dignity

art by Samuel Kambari (Rwanda | Uganda)

Shanna McClain (NASA); Mikiyasu Nakayama (University of Tokyo); Brian Kelly (International Organization for Migration); Jennifer Seru (College of the Marshall Islands); Carl Bruch, (Environmental Law Institute)

The Migration with Dignity Framework focuses on the dignity of individuals: the framework stresses the importance of skill-building, practical knowledge, and protections essential for building peace.

Context

A confluence of dynamic factors—including environmental change, climate change, altered resource distribution and access, and livelihood impacts—can increase the likelihood of migration. If mishandled, this migration can catalyse conflict and exacerbate conditions that contribute to violent extremism.

For example, climate-related factors in the Lake Chad Basin have depleted the size of the lake and its resources, disrupting livelihoods, incomes, and food supplies, and exacerbating income inequalities, particularly among youth, making it easier for extremist organizations like Boko Haram to recruit young soldiers and perpetuate violence in vulnerable communities.[i] And in Mali, historic drought and flooding pushed many farmers and herders into urban and peri-urban areas, fueling grievances and conflict linked to poor governance, which resulted in a lack of access to basic services like food, clean water, and healthcare.[ii]

The concept of “Migration with Dignity” seeks to maintain the cultural integrity of migrants and ensure their access to education, employment, and healthcare without losing their skills and knowledge gained from their country of origin. Building from the vision of then-President of Kiribati, Anote Tong, “migration with dignity” embodied the ability for Kiribati people to decide whether, when, and how they migrate.[iii] It also recognized the need to build the educational and vocational capacity of Kiribati residents to achieve a life that was equal to or better than the one they were leaving behind.

From this vision, researchers from the Environmental Law Institute, the Dignity Rights Initiative, Delaware Law School, the International Organization for Migration, and the Ocean Policy Research Institute drew upon the large body of law on dignity rights, applied in the context of migration, to give life and legal force to Migration with Dignity. The framework is being tested across a number of contexts (e.g., discrimination, gender, COVID-19) and throughout the different stages of migration (e.g., pre-migration, during transit, post-migration/arrival, upon return).[iv]

Following this process, the Migration with Dignity Framework reflects the unique experiences and perspectives of those who migrate and provides six key dimensions that are central to supporting human rights and dignity across the migration cycle. By focusing on the dignity of individuals, the framework stresses the importance of skill building, practical knowledge, and protections essential for building peace.

What’s been done

The Migration with Dignity Framework reflects the fundamental aspects of the migration experience that are central to supporting human rights and dignity rights across the migration cycle:

1) freedom of movement, including the right to stay where you are, return to where you are from, or move somewhere else;

2) the right to be secure in one’s person and free from rape, slavery, torture, and labour exploitation;

3) the right of equality, to be treated equally under the law in a nondiscriminatory manner;

4) the right to a basic quality of life, including rights related to employment, housing, and food;

5) the right to access services, including health care, education, and utilities; and

6) civil and political rights, including identity, free speech, and participation in political decision-making.

The Migration with Dignity framework intends to reduce human suffering and promote human dignity and can be used as a conflict prevention tool, particularly in the context of climate migration. The Framework—which benefits migrants, origin countries, and receiving countries alike—can also help countries and partners that are looking for an alternative model to addressing migration patterns impacted by climate change and other variables.

For example, following consultations on the Migration with Dignity framework with Marshallese residents in Springdale, Arkansas, it was learned that the professional certificates and degrees of Marshallese were not being recognized in Arkansas,[v] which forced a number of skilled workers forced to take low-skilled positions with little opportunity for upward mobility. Further research revealed that agreements existed between Utah’s Brigham Young University (home to a small population of Marshallese) and the College of Marshall Islands (CMI), to facilitate equitable transfer and acknowledgement of education and certificates, thus allowing the Marshallese population to work in their professional field. This approach has since informed the development of agreements between CMI and the University of Arkansas (home to a large population of Marshallese). Currently, graduate-level education is not available for those living in the Republic of the Marshall Islands; therefore, arrangements such as these also enable the attainment of higher education that can be brought back to Marshallese communities.

Looking ahead

The Migration with Dignity Framework is relevant across geographies, scales, reasons for migration, legal systems, and capacities. Further outreach and engagement are needed—particularly with affected communities and individuals, as well as governmental authorities and service providers—to ensure that the Migration with Dignity Framework addresses their priorities, realities, aspirations, and capacities. To move from theory to practice, the framework must be tested in different contexts and at different stages of the migration cycle: pre-emigration, transit, post-immigration, and return to origin or resettlement.

The ability to test and replicate the framework across these settings would help validate the key dimensions of dignity across the migration cycle; it would also provide additional evidence of the application of the framework across different crises and disasters. Finally, additional opportunities exist to apply the framework in relation to diversity, equity, and inclusion—such as conditioning the dimensions to be responsive to gender, age, and ability—and to identify opportunities to ensure greater inclusion of marginalized groups.

Footnotes

[i] Frimpong, O.B. (2020) ‘Climate Change and Violent Extremism in the Lake Chad Basin: Key Issues and Way Forward’, Africa Program Occasional Paper. The Wilson Center: Washington D.C.

[ii] IOM (2020) World Migration Report. International Organization for Migration: Geneva

[iii] See IOM, n. 1.

[iv] McClain, S.N., Bruch, C., Daly, E., May, J., Hamada, Y., Maekawa, M., Shiiba, N., Nakayama, M., Tsiokanou, G.,and Fuji. M. (2022) ‘Migration with Dignity: A Legal and Policy Framework’, Journal of Disaster Research (Accepted for publication Spring 2022).

[v] McClain, S.N., Bruch, C., Nakayama, M. and Laelan, M. (2019) ‘Migration with Dignity: A Case Study on the Livelihood Transition of the Marshallese to Springdale, Arkansas’, Journal of International Migration and Integration 21(3): 847-859.