Dr. Bimal Ghosh, a former senior director in the United Nationsdevelopment system, spoke Thursday afternoon to SMU faculty andinternational studies students about the rights of migrants,addressing such issues as the unfair treatment of non-nationals andwhat measures are being taken to solve the problem.
Ghosh began by expressing his pleasure toward the fact that therights of migrants have grown noticeably in recent years.
“Human rights is going to be one of the biggest challengesof the century,” he said.
Today, between 30 percent and 50 percent of all people enteringWestern Europe or North America are doing so via illegalchannels.
“Now nobody knows how many illegal immigrants there are inthe world. I made a rough calculation years ago that it was 30million, and by now the number has increased, in this country inparticular,” he said.
Ghosh feels that the source of the problem stems from acombination of two separate variables.
“The increasing pressure for immigration, at the same timethe dwindling opportunity for legal entry — now this iscreating a difficult situation,” he said.
Ghosh also discussed the difference between migrants and othersuch susceptible groups.
While the law grants basic rights to domestic groups,non-nationals are left with nothing in writing to back them up,placing them at a severe disadvantage.
“From a legal point of view, the migrants are in a morevulnerable situation. Their only form of protection [is] theinternational human rights laws — not the nationallaws,” he said.
These international laws, however, in addition to offeringlittle to no specificity as to what is right and what is wrong,also mention nothing of the abuse of non-nationals.
The declaration also fails to offer a mechanism through whichone can submit a complaint. These gaps, Dr. Ghosh said, leave thedoors wide open for blatant discrimination of migrants.
The migrants hold a severe handicap as far as gaining enoughcontrol to make their voices heard to stop the problem. “Theyare not in a good position to organize themselves as a politicalparty,” Ghosh said, “because they are not allowed toaccept any governmental offices.
He went on to point out that those in command have been morewilling to point the finger since Sept. 11, 2001.
“The attacks of [Sept. 11] were a setback as far as humanrights are concerned because everything else was put aside forsecurity talks. Nobody can question the legitimacy of governmentprotection, but it must be balanced. A terrorist is not always amigrant, and a migrant is not always a terrorist,” hesaid.
“Globalization is now bringing human rights to theforefront. Who could have thought, even 15 or 20 years ago, thatthe conflicts in a remote island somewhere in the Pacific could[possibly] excite the whole international community?”
