Government representatives from North and Central America and the Dominican Republic will meet in Washington D.C. March 20-24, 2000 to discuss regional migration policies at the Fifth Annual Vice-Ministerial meeting of the Regional Conference on Migration, commonly known as the “Puebla Group.” Thirty non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives from throughout the region will convene a parallel meeting, and will also participate in joint sessions, an important step towards increasing NGO-government dialogue.

Puebla Group Activities

In March 1996, representatives of ten North and Central American governments met in Puebla, Mexico, to form a new intergovernmental forum on migration. Its purpose was to improve communication among regional immigration and foreign policy officials and to establish cooperative agreements on migration issues. Each year, the Puebla Group convenes meetings and seminars which address national migration policies, migration and development, cooperation for the return of extra-regional migrants, and the human rights of migrants.

While many official Puebla Group sessions are closed, non-governmental actors have been involved from the start. Realizing that NGO advocacy also needed to develop a regional dimension, staff of the Heartland Alliance and the Academia Mexicana de Derechos Humanos convened a meeting of thirty concerned Mexican and U.S. NGOs in March 1996. Afterwards, the NGO binational coalition presented Puebla Group delegates with a statement urging recognition of the human rights of migrants and refugees.

At successive Puebla Group activities, members of the Mexico-U.S. Advocates Network, colleagues from the Central American coalition Asociación Regional para Migraciones Forzadas (ARMIF), and the Canadian Council for Refugees have advocated for the inclusion of human and labor rights in regional migration policies. Increasing NGO participation was formalized in January 1999 with the establishment of the Non-governmental Network for Migration, steered by the above organizations and consisting of NGO representatives from each Puebla country.

Participation by U.S. Immigrants’ Rights Groups At the March 2000 Vice-Ministerial meeting, formal joint sessions will include the presentation of an NGO-prepared document on minimum human rights standards for detention and deportation and other NGO proposals, and an NGO reaction to the government Plan of Action. The Mexico-U.S. Advocates Network, with U.S.-based immigrant organizations and Washington-based colleagues, is also planning several side meetings. Tentative plans include joint strategy sessions and a community encuentro between U.S.-based Central American and Mexican immigrant groups and their visiting NGO compatriots, a briefing session for DC immigrants rights advocates, and a meeting with members of the U.S. Congress. Because NGO representation in the regional meeting will be limited, preparatory sessions may be convened in selected U.S. cities in February, to provide input into the U.S. NGO delegation.

Susan Gzesh is Director and Anne Seymour is Program Coordinator at the Mexico-U.S. Advocates Network. If you would like to convene a preparatory meeting on the Puebla Group conference in your city, contact the Mexico - U.S. Advocates Network for materials and the names of other interested organizations and individuals in your area (tentative plans are in place for Houston, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.). For more information on the Puebla Group, the binational and regional NGO networks, and how to get involved, please contact the Mexico-U.S. Advocates Network at (312) 660-1347/1343 or email: mexus@msn.com.