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Migration and Refugees

In many countries, skilled health and social care workers feel they must leave their families behind and work abroad to earn a decent income. They brave exploitation and discrimination. And their departure weakens health and social services in their home community. PSI works with unions worldwide to protect migrant workers and to improve the quality of health and social services. Read more

PSI meets with Swedish State Secretary for Migration

22 September 2016

Public Services International (PSI) delegates, headed by PSI General Secretary Rosa Pavanelli, met with Irene Wennemo, Sweden’s State Secretary for Migration, on the week of the UN High Level Summit on Migrants and Refugees in New York.

PSI at the UN High Level Meeting on Large Movements of Migrants and Refugees

20 September 2016

PSI contributed to the consultations leading to and participated in the UN high level summit on large movements of migrants and refuges hosted by the UN General Assembly in New York on 19 September 2016.

UN General Assembly High Level Summit on Large Flows of Migrants and Refugees (New York)

17 September 2016

The summit, to be held on 19 September at the UN in New York, will call for a Global Compact on responsibility-sharing for refugees, which includes a comprehensive response plan on refugees and the strengthening of the global governance of migration.

ILO Tripartite Technical meeting adopts the General Principles and Operational Guidelines on Recruitment

09 September 2016

The Tripartite Technical Meeting of Experts to Develop Guidance on Fair Recruitment held at the ILO in Geneva on 5-7 September adopted the General Principles and Operational Guidelines on Recruitment that will be submitted for approval by the ILO Governing Body in November.

ILO Tripartite Technical Meeting on Recruitment

06 September 2016
ILO TTM on refugees

The Tripartite Meeting of Experts to Develop Guidance on Fair Recruitment is being held at the ILO in Geneva on 5-7 September. The objective is to adopt ILO guidelines on fair recruitment, encompassing both cross-border and national recruitment. PSI Migration Programme Coordinator, Genevieve Gencianos, delivered a speech on 5 September at the opening session of the meeting.

A story of survival: From teenage refugee to union leader

31 August 2016

On 19 September 2016, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a “High Level Summit on Large Flows of Migrants and Refugees” at the UN in New York. PSI will participate in the Summit with a delegation headed by PSI’s General Secretary, Rosa Pavanelli, and PSI affiliates that are on the frontline of migration and refugee issues.

Civil Society Days: 9th Global Forum on Migration and Development (Dhaka)

21 July 2016

PSI and the Global Union Federations are planning to bring a delegation of trade union activists to the GFMD Civil Society Days (CSD). The Civil Society Days will take place on 8‐9 December 2016, to be followed by the GFMD on 10‐12 December 2016. Both events will take place in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Refugees are not commercial goods: Let’s work together for peace and inclusive societies

19 July 2016

Sandra Vermuyten, PSI Head of Campaigns, spoke on behalf of PSI and the Major Group of Workers and Trade Unions at the Informal Interactive Multi-stakeholder Hearing in support of the preparatory process towards the High-level Plenary Meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants on 19 September 2016.

Informal Interactive Multi-stakeholder Hearing (preparatory process for UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants)

13 July 2016
Photo: Ben White/ CAFOD - Creative Commons

PSI will be attending the informal interactive multi-stakeholder hearing on 18 July 2016 as part of the lead-up to the UN high-level plenary meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants to be held on 19 September 2016.

ILO Tripartite Technical Meeting on Access of Refugees to the Labour Market

01 July 2016

PSI will be participating in the ILO tripartite technical meeting on the access of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons to the labour market that will be held at the ILO in Geneva from 5-7 July 2016. This meeting comes at a time when the international community is facing an escalation of forced human displacement worldwide.

We all have the responsibility to protect refugees, respect human rights and uphold our humanity

17 June 2016

“As we commemorate World Refugee Day, we are deeply alarmed by the escalating violence and conflicts in many parts of the world, along with a culture of indifference, fear and intolerance which is increasingly permeating our societies,” says Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary of PSI.

United Nations General Assembly High Level Summit on Large Flows of Migrants and Refugees

17 June 2016

On 19 September 2016, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a “High Level Summit on Large Flows of Migrants and Refugees” at the UN in New York. The summit will call for a Global Compact on responsibility-sharing for refugees, which includes a comprehensive response plan on refugees and the strengthening of the global governance of migration.

Route of Shame 2016: Walk for social justice!

25 May 2016

PSI and global trade unionists walked for social justice in Geneva. Around the world, populist politicians are raising the flag of racism and xenophobia to hide the fact that they represent the interests of the few, not the many. PSI calls for global solidarity with refugees and the respect of their human rights.

Final Declaration of the seminar on Public Debt and the Puerto Rican situation

31 March 2016

The participants of the International Seminar “Public Debt, a global problem: international experiences
and Puerto Rico’s situation” held on March 30, 2016 in San Juan, capital city of Puerto Rico, expressed
their strong support and solidarity with the Puerto Rican people in their struggle to overcome the fiscal,
economic and social crisis they are facing.

PSI influencing United Nations policy on health employment

24 March 2016
Photo: Co-chairs of the UN  High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth - Copyright Laurent Cipriani

PSI gave evidence to the UN High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth in Lyon, France on 23 March. PSI argued that public spending on public health was both a government obligation to ensure universal access to health care and an investment in economic growth.