BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 11. The X Global Baku Forum on the topic "The World of Today: Challenges and Hopes", taking place in Baku, continues with panel sessions, Trend reports.
The fifth panel session within the forum was devoted to the topic "Migration as a symptom of global poverty, inequality, the climate crisis, and conflicts."
The panel session on the causes and solutions of the problem of migration, which is one of the main global problems, was moderated by the former Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, a member of the UN Working Group on ICT, former Chairman of the Intergovernmental Council of the UNESCO International Program for the Development of Communications, president of the Globethics.net platform Walter Fust.
He noted that millions of people around the world are leaving their homeland and heading to other countries in search of a better life and education. Conflicts and wars, difficult living conditions, climate change are increasing the number of migrants. Fust spoke about how the migration issue has become one of the global problems and about the role of integration in solving this problem.
Noting that the largest migration flow is observed in Western Europe.
Former Prime Minister of Latvia Laimdota Straujuma, speaking about her country's experience in solving the problem of migration, said that after 1990, 600,000 people left Latvia. The reason for this was the problems that people faced in Soviet times, economic difficulties. She noted that her country was only able to balance this problem in 2021. However, due to the war in Ukraine, a significant number of refugees arrived in Latvia.
Former Moldovan Prime Minister Chiril Gaburici stressed that many countries have suffered due to the problem of migration. He noted that 30 percent of the population of his country migrated to other countries.
Speaking at a panel session, the head of the State Migration Service of Azerbaijan, Vusal Huseynov, said that as a result of the military aggression of Armenia, more than a million Azerbaijanis left their homes. After restoring its territorial integrity, Azerbaijan began to ensure their return to their native lands. Noting the increase in the number of migrants in the world as a result of climate change, poverty, conflicts, the head of the State Migration Service said that this issue is on the global agenda. He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic also had an impact on the growth of migration. Huseynov stressed the importance of solidarity and international documents to solve this problem.
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Maria Angela Holguin, noted the importance of supporting Latin American countries. According to her, NGOs should also be involved in solving the problem of migration. Holguin noted the importance of considering the problem of migration as a humanitarian issue, spoke about the problems her country is facing and ways out of them. She stressed the need for an immediate response to the issue of migration.
Thanking Azerbaijan for organizing the Global Baku Forum and hospitality, the former Director General of ISESCO Abdelaziz bin Osman al-Tuwaijri spoke on the problems of migration in the world and noted that in some countries people leave their homeland due to wars and economic difficulties. He stressed the role of international cooperation in addressing issues related to migration.
Former Ecuadorian President Rosalia Arteaga said that 50 percent of the world's refugees are women, which is linked to violence against women. She noted that it is necessary to ensure equality and employment opportunities so that people do not leave their homeland.
Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Elders, Mohammed Mahmoud Abdelsalam, in his speech called on the states of the world to put an end to racism and discrimination, which will contribute to solving the problem of migration. The Secretary General said that Arab and African countries should not be forgotten in migration issues.
The panel session continued with discussions.
About 360 delegates from 61 countries take part in the Global Baku Forum, including 4 presidents, 2 prime ministers, 6 speakers and ministers, heads of 5 UN structures, 25 ex-presidents, 21 ex-prime ministers, deputy foreign ministers 23 countries.
The 10th Global Baku Forum, held under the patronage of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, will end its work on March 11.