New Delhi, India. December 13, 2016. The 9th Summit of the Global Forum on Migration and Development was held from 10th to 12th December in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. This event was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of this country Ms. Sheikh Hasina who affirmed the international community is working with states and civil society to push for a comprehensive Global Compact of Migrants and Refugees by 2018.
Cuba was represented in this forum by Ambassador Oscar Martinez Cordovés who spoke in the plenary of the debate that addresses the principles, institutions and processes for the regular, orderly and safe migration. The objective was to reaffirm that our country advocates multilateral cooperation in the field of international migration, based on the purposes of the UN charter and in the norms of international law, the provisions of which the Island fully applies, in particular those relating to human rights, refugee law and International Humanitarian Law.
In this scenario, the Cuban diplomat denounced the United States Government's hostile policy against Cuba in migration matters, saying that the Cuban Adjustment Act and the policy of "dry feet and wet feet” constitute the main stimulus to irregular and unsafe migration and trafficking of persons; as well as the Cuban Medical Professional Parole (CMPP). A unique program of its kind in the world aimed at encouraging the desertion of Cuban doctors from their missions and depriving these vital human resources to our country and the receiving nations.
The forum was attended by 125 countries, more that 30 UN agencies, international organisations global civil societies and business and, it was conducive to broadly discuss and informally debate issues on migration and development to ensure overall welfare of migrants. The Minister of External Affairs of Bangladesh Mr. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali received several foreign delegations attending the event, including the representative of the island. (CubaMinrex-Embacuba India.