Chapitre III - UNITAR

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One aspect of a State’s responsibility to protect its own population and territory
is the authority to determine who may enter and remain. In exercising this
sovereign responsibility, most States have pursued a primarily unilateral
approach to migration, with the general tendency to develop ad-hoc strategies
on migration issues to respond to domestic needs and interests. As a
result, different or even contradictory national migration policies and practices
have sometimes been developed and put into practice. Moreover, there
is no comprehensive and harmonized system on the basis of which States
cooperate in the management of international migration.
However, it is increasingly noted that international migration is, by definition,
a transnational phenomenon that presents major policy and management
challenges and opportunities for governments and other stakeholders in all
regions of the world. States have come to realize that nearly all States are
simultaneously countries of origin, transit and destination and that in order to
manage migration to the benefit of all, they need to shift from an isolated and
uni-sectoral focus to more comprehensive approaches.
Against this background, migration has been making its way steadily to the top
of the international affairs agenda and now calls insistently and urgently for
the attention of all governments, whatever the nature of their involvement or
interest in the management of migratory processes. It is increasingly observed
that that there is a need for a comprehensive and managed approach to migration,
at national, regional and global levels including more dialogue and
cooperation between all States while engaging other relevant stakeholders in
migration. In addition, migration has to be addressed in a balanced way in
economic, social and development domains, and migration policies have to
be accompanied by pertinent political measures, such as the training of
Government officials. There is also a need for more transparency of policy
measures, in particular regarding legal access to the labour market, combined
with enhanced information sharing among Governments with the aim of providing
objective, reliable and accurate information to all parties concerned.
2. The Berne Initiative
The Berne Initiative is a states-owned consultative process with the goal of
obtaining better management of migration at the national, regional and global
levels through cooperation between States. It assists governments in identifying
their different policy priorities and offers the opportunity to develop a
common orientation to migration management, based on notions of cooperation,
comprehensiveness, balance and predictability.
Introduction