New York, NY – The migration study centers of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles – Scalabrinians, a Catholic community dedicated to serving refugees and migrants throughout the world, released today their first annual International Migration Policy Report. The study centers include the Centro de Estudios Migratorios (CEM) in Brazil; the Centro de Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos (CEMLA) in Argentina; the Centre d’Information et d’Études sur les Migrations Internationales (CIEMI) in France; the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), the Centro Studi Emigrazione Roma (CSER) in Italy, the Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa (SIHMA) in South Africa, and the Scalabrini Migration Center (SMC) in the Philippines. The centers are members of the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN), a global network of migrant shelters, service centers and other institutions along migrant corridors and in border and destination communities throughout the world. 

• The theme of the 2017 report is responsibility-sharing for large-scale refugee and migrant populations in need. The report consists of chapters that describe the situation of refugee and migrant populations in select regions around the world and analyzes the responses of states, regional bodies and the international community. The chapters cover:The crisis in South Sudan, making the case that regional responses can be inadequate in protecting human rights and seeking durable solutions for the displaced.
• The persecuted Rohingya minority in Myanmar, showing how long-simmering ethnic and religious divisions, left unaddressed by the international community, can lead to group persecution, statelessness, human trafficking, and widespread displacement.
• An analysis of the recent crisis in refugee protection in Europe and a critique of the European Union’s response.
• Migration trends in the Americas and the Caribbean, with recommendations for establishing regional systems of migration governance.
• Migratory movements to the United States from the Northern Triangle states of Central America and the Caribbean, with an analysis of deterrence policies deployed by the US in response.

Each chapter provides recommendations under the rubric of responsibility sharing in an effort to improve state practices and inform regional and United Nations (UN) processes, including the development of the Global Compact on Responsibility Sharing for Refugees and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration.

In announcing the report, Fr. Alessandro Gazzola,c.s., General Superior of the Scalabrinians, said: “This annual International Migration Policy Report, produced by the Scalabrini migration study centers, analyzes the responses of states, regional bodies, and the international community in addressing the challenges of large-scale migration and refugee flows and offers recommendations under the theme of responsibility-sharing. Through this report and our Congregation’s daily commitment to welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants and refugees worldwide, we renew our pledge to share responsibility for migration governance and refugee protection, with diverse political and social partners, starting with the affected refugee and migrant communities themselves.”

The report is available at http://bit.ly/2rUujym. For more information on the report or to set up interviews with one of the report’s authors, please contact Rachel Reyes, CMS’ Director of Communications, at (212) 337-3080 x 7012 or rreyes@cmsny.org.