THE INTERNATIONAL MASS MIGRATION OF PEOPLE: ITS DEMOGRAPHIC, RELIGIOUS, ETHNIC AND ECONOMIC CAUSES; ITS EFFECTS ON SOURCE AND RECEIVING COUNTRIES, ITS IMPLICATIONS INTERNATIONALLY; AND THE RIGHTS OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

Resolution adopted without a vote by the 88th Inter-Parliamentary Conference
(Stockholm, 12 September 1992)

The 88th Inter-Parliamentary Conference,

Recognizing that international migration involves 45 to 50 million people each year, that most of these people are from the poorer nations of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America, and that an increasing number are from Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States,

Noting that the causes, direct and indirect, include economic hardship, social, religious and ethnic instability, rapid population growth, political repression, the threat or use of force, environmental disasters, the threat of starvation, and internal migration, and that these are priority issues which must be addressed by preventive measures,

Further noting that the causes of an individual's migration are invariably mixed and that the distinction between voluntary and involuntary migration is often unclear,

Acknowledging that mass migration often entails social, economic, administrative, political and national costs for both the country of origin and the receiving country,

Accepting that most governments regard control over migrant entry as a sovereign right,

Mindful that more co-operative control measures will go only part way towards addressing the problems posed by international mass migration,

1. Calls on the parliaments of the world to urge their respective governments:

(a) To develop a multilateral approach to dealing with the socio-economic causes and effects of migration, to harmonizing immigration policies, taking into consideration the differing priorities and concerns of States, and to managing migration flows inter alia through preventive measures and international co-operation aimed at providing prospects of a better life with dignity for potential migrants in their country of origin;

(b) To strengthen international initiatives and means for putting a halt to massive and organized migrations which prejudice the interests of indigenous citizens and can change the demographic nature, physical condition and structure of certain regions, territories, areas or countries;

2. Further calls on the parliaments of the world to urge their respective governments to support efforts to reach standard definitions, to comply with provisions of United Nations instruments relating to human, migrant and refugee rights, including the right of return, and to work towards the objectives laid down in such instruments, to respect international burden-sharing principles with regard to operational responses to mass refugee situations, and to support the work of the United Nations, in particular the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM);

3. Recognizes that rapid population growth is an indirect contributory factor to the causes of migration; calls on each country to develop a population policy appropriate to its needs, and urges parliaments to strengthen development assistance devoted to the implementation of these policies;

4. Calls on parliaments to ensure that national legislation dovetails with the rights of migrants under international law, paying due regard to universal respect for human rights.