Local governments are the main political bodies in charge of governing local communities and, in this sense, have a primary responsibility to provide essential services and are in a unique position to generate significant changes in the access to rights and inclusion of citizens under their responsibility.
That is why local authorities play an important role in the care and integration of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in cities across the Americas. While it is often thought that human mobility is an issue that is only addressed through national public policy, local authorities are in a unique position and close to the people they govern.
Indeed, they are the first to manage the impacts of migratory movements and forced displacement on their cities and their citizens.
In addition to the opportunities that their role offers them to administer public policies that allow them to take full advantage of the arrival of migrants and refugees, we cannot deny that cities and their governments have had to assume a significant cost in receiving and integrating migrant and forcibly displaced populations. , which have been increasing in recent years.
Today we know that more than 73.5 million international migrants live in the Americas, of which, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), more than half (43.3 million) are migrant workers. At the end of 2021, there were around 18.5 million people displaced or in need of international protection in the region, including asylum seekers, refugees, stateless persons and internally displaced persons, representing around 20% of the world’s forcibly displaced population.
In addition, it is estimated that more than six million refugees and migrants from Venezuela have left their country and reside in 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, while more than 1 million people have fled violence and persecution in Central America, including more than 100,000 Nicaraguans, who were mainly displaced to Costa Rica.
Furthermore, we know that local authorities face several challenges in the inclusion of migrants and refugees, which increase at the local level from cities to so-called border areas. These challenges range from the lack of financial resources, technical capacities and alternatives for the full social inclusion of migrants to the lack of adequate coordination between national and local governments, among others.
Despite these challenges, migrants and refugees contribute significantly to the development of their host communities. On the one hand, they help GDP growth through increased consumption and a young and qualified workforce, and on the other, they strengthen knowledge transfer and enrich cultural and social heritage.
But these benefits cannot be realized without local governments taking the lead. An active role by municipal governments will generate mechanisms to harness their human talents and economic contributions while combating discrimination and xenophobia in host communities.
Given the current crises of forced displacement in the region, it is increasingly important to promote spaces for the exchange of good practices and lessons learned, as well as international cooperation and technical assistance, which will allow host countries to replicate good practices that have been developed in other countries. countries. At the same time, they can provide a holistic and effective response to the phenomenon, as well as raise awareness and foster solidarity and cohesion in host communities.
During the Cities of the Americas Summit, to be held in Denver, Colorado (USA), in April 2023, the Regional Study “The Role of Local Governments in the Reception and Integration of Migrants and Refugees in Cities of the Americas” will be launched. , with the aim of generating a diagnosis of the needs of local authorities in the reception and integration of migrants and refugees, as well as including a compilation of good practices developed at the local level.
The purpose of bringing this agenda to the Cities of the Americas Summit is to provoke a dialogue on the challenges and opportunities faced by local authorities involved in the reception, assistance, protection and socioeconomic and cultural integration of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, as well as to continue to propose solutions that make migration a win-win for migrants and forcibly displaced persons and their host communities.
This is not an impossible task. This can be achieved with public policies that allow their contributions to be leveraged.
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