In the debate on migration and asylum, Governments are usually unwilling to look at what they do to create "push" factors, while they are only too willing to look at deterrence and control.
The terms of global trade, for example, are stacked against poorer countries. We expect them to liberalise their economies and open their markets as if there were equality between trading partners. Most of these countries still suffer an appalling burden of debt, yet are required to limit public spending in areas such as health and education, which are vital to economic development.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) is widely regarded as a real problem for developing countries. EU farmers receive guaranteed prices for much of their food production: other farmers do not and find it, therefore, difficult to compete. More importantly, because of the CAP, EU products can be exported at subsidised "dump" prices on to the global market, which undermines local production and markets, forcing people off the land.
Our way of life also contributes to environmental degradation elsewhere. Climate change, with its associated extreme weather conditions, makes crop production unpredictable. Flooding and drought renders land unworkable, again forcing people to move. The EU and USA are the world's major emmitters of climate change gases.
Our Governments subsidise unsustainable development through Export Credit Guarantess often for arms sales to questionable, if not oppressive, regimes.
If we look at the proposed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, we will find written in to that agreement requirements for the land involved in Turkey to be guarded by the Government and separated from EU legislation in the future. There are requirements for the necessary water supply to be maintained at an adequate standard. There are many inbuilt problems. We already know from the Ilisu Dam campaign what a practical weapon water, and projects which physically divide peoples, can be.
A key theme arising from this conference is the issue of transparency. Whether that concerns Export Credit Guarantees and the basis upon which decisions are made, Corporate Social Responsibility and the behaviour of major companies, or the negotiations for the global trading framework (such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)) in which our Governments are involved.
At present, the UK has no clear public policy on the sort of projects it will underwrite or the social, economic and environmental criteria which will be used to inform decisions. We could expect that if such projects as the new pipeline are so positive, there would be no problem in publicising the criteria and the benefits involved, but this is not the case. I am still waiting for a letter from Patricia Hewitt concerning the Government's final position on the Ilisu Dam project - after all, Balfour Beatty might reconsider their position.
In the light of the support at the Johannesburg Earth Summit (2002) for so many public-private parternships with big business, Corporate Social Responsbility (CSR) becomes a crucial issue. The EU Commission (and our Government) prefers a voluntary approach to CSR rather than a legislative framework. We shall be debating a report in the European Parliament from Mr Bushill-Mathews (Conservative). Please tell him why it is crucial to have information about Company performance and policy in the public domain.
In terms of trade, we want transparency in the neogtiations on GATS as this will affect the ownership of the delivery of public services in both rich and poor countries. Consulations have been under way at national level and in the EU. What are the criteria for decision-making: what will the likely effects be? Are poor countries going to be futher exploited?
As regards asylum, we must also demand transparency within the current system. Who makes the decisions and on what background information? I want to particularly condemn the policy of removing asylum seekers from the community and educating the children separately. This is part of a deliberate policy to break connections and render people invisible. It is more difficult to defend anonymous strangers than your child's best friend. Again, we need visibility and transparency.
Knowledge is power and power should be shared.