Filipino migrant leaders Garry Martinez and Connie Regalado of Migrante International, together with International Migrants Alliance chairperson Eni Lestari and others, led the march of migrant workers and refugees in New York City, USA to the United Nations (UN) headquarters.

The march called for an end to forced migration as a neoliberal policy pushed by the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD).

IMA spearheaded the fourth International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR) that gathered migrants from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and around the world in New York. The international grassroots conference became occasion for the migrants to share their stories and struggles, and discuss issues affecting them, as well as propose solutions.

The conference, which happened on October 2-4 at Saint Patrick’s Church in Long Island City, coincided with the High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development (UN HLD) at the UN.