A new high-level task force launched today brings together civil society, business leaders, academic researchers and former policymakers to push for collective, regional responses to the longer-term economic, security and governance issues that impel migrants and asylum seekers to leave their homes.
In an inaugural statement, members of the North and Central American Task Force on Migration outline a new approach to the issues that must be addressed collectively by Western Hemisphere neighbors from Canada to Central America. The nongovernmental forum seeks to move beyond meetings of political leaders to facilitate solutions-oriented dialogue and clear channels of communication with government officials and regional and international institutions.
“It is time for a comprehensive, unified regional effort to address the major issue of refugees and migrants in the Americas,” the statement says. “No country is immune or unaffected by the large movements of people fleeing violence, corruption, poverty, criminality and the effects of climate change that impel thousands of people to seek protection in other countries.”
The task force is co-chaired by Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State; Lloyd Axworthy, Chair, World Refugee & Migration Council and former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mayu Brizuela de Avila, former Salvadoran Minister of Foreign Affairs; Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica; Silvia Giorguli Saucedo, President of El Colegio de México; and Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini, Bishop of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Task force members include a broad range of civil society, business and academic institutions.
Created through an initiative of the World Refugee & Migration Council in partnership with the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, El Colegio de México and the Inter-American Dialogue the task force will issue evidence-based recommendations that promote responsibility sharing across North and Central America to regional leaders on six key issues:
“Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Guatemala next week offers the opportunity for the United States to create a solid foundation for future engagement in the region. But the United States cannot respond alone,” said MPI President Andrew Selee, who is a task force member. “The vision driving this new North and Central American Task Force on Migration is an important one: It is only by engaging change-makers across our shared neighborhood that the region will be to achieve a longer-term reality where migration is more regular, predictable and secure.”
Task Force Co-Chairs
Task Force Members
More details on the North and Central American Task Force on Migration are available at wrmcouncil.org/taskforce.