UN: United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has called for greater recognition of the contribution migrants make to host countries and to the countries they leave.
Opening the two-day High Level Dialogue on Migration in New York, Mr Annan said that governments are now beginning to see international migration through the prism of opportunity, rather than fear.
"Migration is a courageous expression of an individual's will to overcome adversity and live a better life," he said.
Mr Annan paid tribute to the success of his special representative on migration, Peter Sutherland, in persuading 133 countries to participate in the meeting, most of whom are represented by senior ministers.
Mr Sutherland, who has agreed to extend his role as special representative, hopes the meeting will agree to establish a migration forum that will hold high-level meetings on the issue in capitals throughout the world. Belgium has agreed to host the first such meeting in Brussels next year.
"This will be transparent, it will be non-decision-making and it will be legitimised by its connection with the UN," Mr Sutherland said.
The dialogue faces opposition from the US, which argues that migration issues should be determined at a national level. Australia is also understood to be cool towards the proposal.
Mr Sutherland said the overwhelming majority of member states wanted to proceed with the dialogue. Junior agriculture minister Mary Wallace has stepped in as Ireland's representative in place of Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.