The post-2015 development agenda and migration, how will the emerging powers make their mark?

The political environment has altered from when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were established in 2000. The donor-driven process of the MDG’s set in the context of traditional North-South relationships has been shifted by the rise of South-South cooperation. In the current discussions there is potential for emerging powers from the global South to influence the debates that take place around the post-2015 development agenda. The United Nations (UN) debates on the post-2015 development goals is an opportunity for emerging powers such as China, South Africa and India to engage in international development goal setting, as they have become defining actors in the global governance issues. The negotiations on reviewing and creating sustainable development goals enables the emerging powers to interact in a constructive manner and strengthen their soft power which will allow them to “accumulate more influence in the international community.”[i]

Through a series of engagements facilitated by the UN with international organisations, global civil society and activists, seventeen targets have been agreed upon and identified for the post-2015 goals. These goals cover a range of issues from ending poverty to reducing inequality; making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable; and achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.[ii] The identified goals will be presented to the UN General Assembly for consideration and further discussion during its 68^th session.  Included in the set of 17 goals to be shared with the General Assembly, are indicators on migration, which is a first.

The inclusion of migration into the post-2015 goals is an advancement on the MDGs, and a move towards acknowledging the migration-development nexus. The addition of migration is a result of consistent advocacy by international organisations that work on migration and human mobility, and due to discussions held by the United Nations High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. It was at this meeting that migration was recognised by the panel as a key factor for sustainable development. Migration features in the following proposed goals of the Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 8, which will “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.” In particular it will (8.8) “protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments of all workers, including migrant workers, particularly women migrants, and those in precarious employment.” Goal 9 will “build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation” with a focus in (9.1) to “develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and trans-border infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all.” And finally in Goal 10 to “reduce inequality within and among countries”; by aiming to (10.7) “facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.”[iii]

Migration is a complex issue that is becoming an increasingly prominent policy concern for most developed countries. Migration, as understood by the International Organisation of Migration[iv], encompasses the full spectrum of people who move within or across borders willingly for economic purposes, or forcibly because of conflict and persecution. The complexities of migration have deepened since the securitisation of the movement of people in the early 2000s, due to an increase in terror attacks and the rise in state security.[v] In contrast, the recent acknowledgement by the UN High Level Panel of the interdependent nature of migration and development which is a welcomed provides alternative discourse on the movement of people and implications for receiving countries. The inclusion of migration as one of the 17 sustainable development goals is a positive move, which will hopefully influence national policies on migration.

However, one will notice that the post-2015 proposed goals have a particular slant towards regularised and economic migration. In order to address migration and development in a holistic manner the full spectrum of migration needs to be reviewed, which should include methods to deal with and manage the movement of people within a rights-based framework. The issue of forced migration (refugees and internally displaced persons) was included in a number of the discussion rounds of the working group on the goals. However, it was removed from the final draft of the post-2015 goals. This action sparked a few reactions and discussions from participants of the working group, although they were not successful in getting the issue included as a goal again. The high numbers of refugees and internally displaced people because of increased conflict in a number of areas across the globe, from the Central African Republic to Syria, has resulted in the highest number of refugees recorded in history. On World Refugee Day in June the UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) annual report said that the number of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced around the world stood at 51.2 million, which is an increase of 6 million people from the previous year’s figures[vi]. The global crisis requires a united and sustainable response, and the exclusion of forced migration from the post-2015 development goals may have been a missed opportunity.

Engagement by the emerging powers on the issue of migration and in particular including forced migration into the goals and indicators of the post-2015 development goals could yield positive results. While the emerging powers may have some policy concerns with migration, the championing of such an issue, challenges notwithstanding, could highlight the positives in the movement of people. Most of the BRICS countries benefit from remittances through their economic migrants, which have shown results for lowering poverty in the receiving country. Russia, China, India and South Africa have also been receiving countries for forced migrants, and have provided support in one way or another to refugees. The recent BRICS summit that took place in July 2014, saw the BRICS countries renew their commitment to international peace and security and protecting, promoting and fostering human rights and sustainable development.[vii] The BRICS leaders also reiterated the role that they wanted to play at the international level and in structures such as the United Nations. In the declaration signed at the end of the Summit, it was acknowledged that the timing of the Summit was taking place at a crucial in international affairs. The emerging powers will need to act with political prowess when addressing issues such as migration at the United Nations as it has become a highly political issues, with concerns around sovereignty of nation states.

It is to be seen whether the emerging powers will utilise the opportunity during the 68^th UN session to advance the agenda on certain issues of the post-2105 development goals, such as forced migration. However, it is hoped that they will put into action the declaration that came out of the BRICS summit where they stated that “we believe the BRICS are an important force for incremental change and reform of current institutions towards more representative and equitable governance, capable of generating more inclusive global growth and fostering a stable, peaceful and prosperous world.”[viii]