Current estimates from the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration indicate that approximately 150 million people live temporarily or permanently outside their country of origin (2.5% of the world's population1). According to the standard dictionary definition, xenophobia is “the intense aversion or fear of strangers or people from other countries.” As one sociologist puts it, xenophobia is “an attitude orientation of hostility against immigrants in a particular population group.”4.
Future Trends
A human rights approach to International Migration
A word about this discussion paper
The Migration Process
But for many migrants, the migration process exposes them to racism and xenophobia when they leave their own country, travel through another, or enter their destination country. For some migrants, the choice to leave a country of origin is a full and well-informed choice based on the offer of employment or a social connection, such as marriage. For many others, there is little or no choice due to political, social, economic or environmental pressure and necessity.
In essence, forced displacement today is in no small measure the direct result of the breakdown or absence of sustainable community. For many reasons, including the lack of a legal alternative, an increasing number of migrants leave their country of origin and enter another country in an irregular manner.
Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling
It is not always possible to infer xenophobia or racist motivation in the neglect or killing of migrants, but two legal cases involving hijackings probably represent only the tip of the iceberg. The most famous is probably that of the 'MC Ruby' in which seven Ghanaian passengers were brutally murdered and thrown overboard by the ship's Ukrainian crew before arriving at Le Havre in France in October 1992. They say they too are poor and that some of them turned in tourists in Rotterdam last year and that the boat owner was so angry at being fined under the new laws that he took money out of their wages to teach them a lesson.
They seem to think there was nothing unusual about what they did to the black men.”10.
Arriving in destination countries
Without a legal status, the migrant or refugee may be 'invisible' to welfare, police, judicial, health and other authorities in the state, increasing their risk of exploitation and discrimination. The World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) has focused on the worrying dimensions of racism, discrimination and xenophobia in the treatment of migrants and refugees. Manifestations of anti-xenophobia are widely reported in all regions of the world.
The ethnic or racial inequalities implied by discrimination or racism would be contrary to the official ideologies of liberal democracies, and therefore, instead of acknowledging such "imperfections", it is more appropriate to deny them or explain them away as characteristic of the victims or as temporary phenomena adjustment for new immigrants. Nevertheless, the research that has been done gives very clear indications of the breadth and depth of these phenomena.
Xenophobia versus Diversity
Migrants themselves are criminalized, most dramatically through the widespread characterization of migrants with irregular status as "illegal", implicitly placing them outside the scope and protection of the rule of law. The multi-colored city of Rotterdam' is one of the key priorities of the municipality of Rotterdam (Netherlands), which was approved by the city council in 1998. The percentage of ethnic minorities employed in the municipal administration is said to have risen from 16.1% in 1998 to 22% in 2002.
Implementation includes: strengthening participation of ethnic minorities in subsidized institutions, including reporting on the number of migrants/ethnic minorities on institution's board, in the establishment and in product consumption;. A promotion of "multiculturalism" and/or respect for diversity - respect for the values and identities of others - is increasingly seen as one of the most effective approaches to changing attitudes and reducing the expression of racist and xenophobic hostility against migrants , refugees and other non-citizens.
Exploitation
They are usually on the fringes of workplace safety, health, minimum wage and other standards. Vulnerability to exploitation and abuse is often exacerbated by language problems, unfamiliarity with local customs and culture, and a lack of social support networks. Given their lack of legal recognition and precarious status in host countries, the employment of migrants can often be done without paying benefits, payroll taxes and other mandatory contributions, representing further savings for employers.
Migrants' weak position in the labor market is largely a result of their immigration status, or lack thereof, in the employment countries. However, temporary status usually means an explicit lack of the right to mobility in the labor market or to obtain the right to benefits such as social security.
Discrimination
Comparative data on unemployment figures that measure different rates between members of the non-national labor force and those authorized for employment can provide clear indicators of employment discrimination. A recent study (2000) conducted for the Ministry of Labor showed unemployment rates of 16.5% for immigrants and their descendants compared to 5.5% for the rest of the population.). His findings21 showed that discrimination in access to employment is a phenomenon of considerable importance and significance in all the countries covered by the research.
As a consequence of the rigorous research methodology, the rates of discrimination discovered by the project were assumed to be conservative estimates of what is happening in reality. Source: Zegers de Beijl, Roger; Discrimination against migrants in the labor market: A comparative study of four European countries, ILO, 1999.
Victimization and persecution
The Response required
The Core Rights
Convention (No. 143) further developed the rights of migrant workers to family reunification, to the preservation of national and ethnic identity and cultural ties with their country of origin, and to free choice of employment after two years of legal residence with a view to work . The 1958 ILO Convention No. 111 on Discrimination in the Fields of Employment and Occupation prohibited “any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national origin or social origin, resulting in has the nullification or impairment of equal opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation”. All of these conventions have been ratified by a significant number of states, although the migrant worker conventions should be more widely ratified, especially by the recipient countries.
Convention No.111 has received 151 ratifications, Convention No.97 has 41, and Convention No.143 has been ratified by 18 States.
1990 UN Convention on Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families
Other countries have used the provisions of the 1990 Convention as a guide for drafting national migration legislation. A notable example is Italy, which based much of its extensive national migration legislation adopted in March 1998 on the norms of the 1990 Convention. National ratification coalitions, mirroring similar alliances, have been established in around twenty countries in various regions to inform , advocated and convinced governments that ratification of the convention was necessary.
These efforts are aimed at raising awareness of the Convention among government officials, diplomats, politicians, NGOs and the general public, nationally and internationally. Since the Global Campaign was launched in 1998, the number of ratifications and accessions has doubled to sixteen, and the number of additional signatories more than tripled to ten, more than in the previous eight years combined.
New Protections for Trafficked Persons and Smuggled Migrants
Recognizing that progress in human rights will only be achieved with broad cooperation between different sectors and different regions, an alliance of intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations launched the Global Campaign for the ratification of the 1990 Convention on the Rights of Migrants.26 The Campaign Steering Committee now includes 16 leading international bodies in the humanitarian fields of human rights, labour, migration and the Church, including the ILO, IOM and OHCHR as well as Human Rights Watch, the Asia Migrant Forum, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the International Catholic Migration Commission. . The special requirements of children, including housing, education and appropriate care, must be taken into account in the implementation of these protective provisions. States Parties should strive to establish policies, programs and other measures aimed at preventing trafficking and protecting trafficked persons from re-victimization.
While the protection provisions of the Migrant Smuggling Protocol are not as comprehensive as those of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol, the former instrument contains a number of provisions aimed at protecting the fundamental rights of smuggled migrants and preventing the worst forms of exploitation that often accompany the smuggling process . The special needs of women and children must be taken into account when applying the protection and assistance measures of the Protocol.
The special character of the refugee protection regime
Implementation and interpretation of measures in accordance with the Protocol (including those related to border control and law enforcement): “must be consistent with internationally recognized principles of non-discrimination”. Immigrants themselves will not be liable to prosecution under the Protocol for having been smuggled. States Parties are required to take all appropriate measures to preserve the internationally recognized rights of smuggled migrants, in particular, the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. humiliating.
Together they embody the foundational concepts of the refugee protection regime, which are as relevant in today's context as they were in 1951. The 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol should be upheld in their entirety and reinforced by other provisions in other treaties prohibiting refoulement. to inhuman or degrading treatment, as in article 3 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984) or under regional arrangements such as the European Convention on Human Rights.
Developing a framework for national action
The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol were milestones in setting standards for the treatment of refugees. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the international agency mandated to provide international protection to refugees and other persons of concern.
Social partners and civil society actors
- Conclusion
- Organizational Initiatives
- Collective Action
- Legislative And Legal Measures
- Administrative Measures, Regulations and Practices
- Political/Educational Action
- International Standards and Programmes
Advancing the protection of migrants and refugees in the face of xenophobic hostility, discrimination and human rights violations requires joint approaches, strategies, coordination and capabilities to mobilize human and material resources. Action to prevent discrimination and xenophobia, and to promote equality of opportunity is the shared responsibility of all social partners, including government -- national and local --, employers and their associations, workers' organizations and other associations of civil society. A national effort to combat discrimination and promote equality can only hope to achieve results to the extent that various measures are implemented within each of these categories by all sectors concerned: employers, workers and community organizations, government, leaders politics and opinion, in cooperation with international standards and programs.
Organizational initiatives is a term to identify those policies and practices established and implemented by employers to reduce discrimination and promote equality of opportunity in the workplace. Measures, regulations and practices established under the administrative authority of national, state and local government can be effective tools to demonstrate and carry out the will of the state to discourage discrimination and promote equal opportunity.
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