Secretary-General stresses importance of international migration, academic freedom

 

in remarks to colloquium of university presidents

Following is the text of remarks by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the plenary session of the Global Colloquium of University Presidents in New York on 19 January:

Once again, let me thank you all for being here.

As you know, two global challenges have been selected as topics for this colloquium:  international migration and academic freedom.  Each would be worth a whole colloquium by itself.  I know you have spent the morning discussing these issues in two parallel sessions, doing the best you can in the time available.  Before we hear the reports of those sessions, I would like to say a few words about each subject.

First, international migration.  As an international community, we need to manage the movement of people across borders far better than we do.  Today, more people live outside their countries of origin than at any time in history, and the numbers of people who move across international borders in search of a new home are expected to rise in the future.

Migration brings many complex challenges -- including issues of human rights and economic opportunity, of labour shortages and unemployment, of brain drain and brain gain, of multiculturalism and integration, of refugee flows and asylum seekers, of law enforcement and human trafficking.  With growing attention being given to counter-terrorism, efforts to address the national security implications of migration have become a pressing issue for both receiving countries and countries of origin.

We cannot ignore the real policy difficulties posed by migration.  But nor should we lose sight of its immense potential benefits.  I very much look forward to the report of the Global Commission on International Migration, which is due to be issued this coming summer.  I am also glad that the United Nations General Assembly will convene a high-level dialogue on the subject in 2006.

Let me turn now to our second topic.

Academic freedom is central to the purpose of a university.  It is critical for free inquiry, the pursuit of knowledge and institutional excellence.  It is a right that must never be taken for granted.  In many parts of the world, professors and students are targets of repression by governments, or manipulation by corporations and others who seek to restrict the freedom to teach and research.  This undermines the capacity of universities to fulfil their sacred mission of increasing the sum of human knowledge.  Moreover, threats to academic freedom are often the beginning of broader assaults on human rights and liberty.

Freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas are enshrined in international human rights agreements, and promoted by a whole network of committees and working groups, as well as the High Commissioner and her staff.  Here, too, I look forward to working with you who are on the frontlines of this issue, and doing what we can to defend academic freedom whenever and wherever it is threatened.

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