A/HRC/29/36 91. The benefits of this rethinking and of the European Union taking a leadership role go far beyond the fulfilment of normative commitments. Fact-based economic analyses have tended to conclude that migrants contribute to economic growth and productivity. As Europe changes over the next generation, extending mobility to those outside its borders will allow European Union member States to reap opportunities for peace, security and sustainable development both within and outside the Union. B. 1. Recommendations General recommendations To the European Union and its member States Overall 92. Accept the impossibility of “sealing” borders and the perverse incentives and paradoxes created by the current system, as well as the inevitability and benefits of mobility. Conversely, highlight the necessity of incentivizing all migrants to default to services provided by the European Union and its member States and use entry and exit control mechanisms rather than resorting to smuggling rings. 93. Invest in the overall development of a coherent and robust migration policy that fully reflects the human rights of migrants as enshrined in both international and regional law. 94. Convey a road map for the evolution of this policy by developing a full 25-year strategy that outlines clear short-, medium- and long-term interventions and that articulates a shared vision for how the European Union can bank on mobility over a generation. 95. Invest in filling data gaps — such as those around underground labour markets, labour exploitation of migrants, deaths at sea and push and pull factors — to develop evidence-based policies. In addition, increase harmonization and coordination in respect of migration data sources to develop a systemic picture. 96. Through fact-based analyses and long-term thinking, reflect on the conceptualizations of migrants and migration that underpin counterproductive and ineffective security policies and result in the criminalization and stigmatization of migrants. 97. Integrate these analyses at a political level, as well as within public communication and education curricula. 98. Fully recognize the push and pull factors of irregular migration, including that undertaken by sea, and the European Union’s responsibility in managing and mitigating them. 99. Use the region’s considerable global influence, including two permanent and one non-permanent seat on the Security Council, to push for more effective solutions to humanitarian crises in the Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine and other countries. Regular migration channels 100. Take a global leadership role in relation to the Syrian civil war and other humanitarian crises and reduce the market for smugglers by developing, in cooperation with other States in the global North, resettlement opportunities so that 18