The International Migrants Alliance (IMA), the first ever global formation of migrants, immigrants and other displaced peoples, held its founding assembly last June 15-16, 2008 in Hong Kong, SAR. The IMA was conceptualized due to the perceived need of creating a formation in the world that can represent people living and working in countries other than their home ones and create a common platform for them.’

One hundred and sixty seven delegates representing 118 organizations from 25 countries participated in the 2-day assembly convened by Atik-Europe, the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers (ATKI) in Hong Kong, Migrante, the May 1st Coalition for Immigrant Rights, the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants, TENAGANITA, and PhilForum USA.

The establishment of the IMA marked a historic chapter in the movement of migrants and immigrants for rights and welfare and for comprehensive social change. According to the convenors, “there are around 200 million migrant workers present in almost every country in the world. They came mostly from countries beset with economic and political problems and they work in countries that are relatively well-developed. Despite the different countries of origin or sectors where they can be found, the common concerns on their situation in the host countries as well as with issues related to why they are forced to migrate exist.”

A 17-person International Coordinating Body (ICB) was formed to ensure the representation of the different global regions. The ICB then elected the following members of its Executive Committee: Ms. Eni Lestari of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body-HK as Chairperson, Mr. Ufuk Berdan of ATIK-Europe as Vice-chairperson, Ms. Connie Bragas-Regalado of Migrante-Philippines as Secretary-general, Ms. Teresa Gutierrez of the May 1st Coalition for Immigrant and Worker Rights in the USA as Deputy secretary-general, and Ms. Tess Tesalona of the Immigrant Workers Center in Canada as Treasurer.

An important task of the founding assembly will be to create the migrants’ own space in the upcoming Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) this October 2008 in Manila, Philippines. The GFMD is a multilateral meeting of states to discuss how migration policies can contribute to the advancement of economies. This year’s GFMD will study the Philippines’ government-facilitated outmigration policies, particularly the Labor Export Program (LEP), as a template for other labor-exporting countries. The last GFMD was held in Brussels in 2007.