Statement by Sue Le Mesurier, Senior Policy Officer, Migration, at the 4th Global Forum of the Alliance of Civilization entitled “New Strategies for Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding and Cooperation”, in Doha, Qatar
Worryingly, violent and xenophobic attacks appear to be on the rise nowadays. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), migrants “are more and more targeted as the scapegoats for all manner of domestic problems facing societies today, particularly unemployment, crime, drugs, and even terrorism.” [1] As noted by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants: “This is especially true in the case of migrants who are undocumented or in irregular situations, including victims of trafficking.” [2]
At the end of 2009, it was estimated that there were 15.2 million refugees worldwide [3] and more than 200 million people were living outside their countries of birth. [4] Despite many initiatives and serious attempts from different stakeholders, discrimination, exclusion and violence remain major humanitarian challenges that cause suffering to millions of migrants around the world. Recent studies suggest that discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin remains widespread in housing and employment, and that perceived competition over scarce resources is being exacerbated by the economic crisis.
It is important to acknowledge that discrimination is not solely a migrant issue but one that impacts on millions of other lives around the world. However, migrants are often particularly vulnerable to discrimination because, as well as being scapegoats and the subjects of hostility, they may not speak the local language, have the support of familiar social networks, or be well informed about available assistance.
Without these resources, migrants can find themselves living in the shadows of society, unable to get their voices heard. This is particularly true in the case of irregular migrants or victims of trafficking who, because of their legal and administrative status, sometimes are too scared to come forward and use the legal avenues usually available to uphold basic human rights.
This brings me to the need for social inclusion and the importance of “belonging”.
Social exclusion is a phenomenon that affects all societies. It is the breaking of social and familial ties which result in persons living in the margins of society. This is particularly the case with displaced persons, and in particular migrants far from home and without their normal support mechanisms.
Social inclusion, on the other hand, is about strengthening connections between groups of people and enabling individuals to fully participate, contribute and benefit from a society. The process of integrating migrants into a host country is often described as a two way process a mutual commitment from newcomers and the citizens of their host nation to respect and accept one another.
Successful integration can also help build more secure, vibrant and peaceful communities. Helping migrants regain their confidence and dignity, and promoting inclusion and changing attitudes in our society is an integral part of Red Cross Red Crescent work underlined by our core fundamental principles of humanity, independence and neutrality.
According to the European Commission, legal and well managed migration (recognising the rights of the individual and the benefits of migration) can also help address challenges caused by an ageing population, longer life expectancies and a declining working-age population by maximising the use of the labour force and skills already (and potentially) available and improving productivity of the economy. [5]
The recognition of the positive aspects of migration and ensuring the rights of all migrants are respected will also address “false impressions” of migrants and ensure that their contribution to their host society is valued.
In this regard, Governments and the media play an important role in communicating opinions, reporting trends and framing migration discourse. In public rhetoric, migrants are often represented as “strange” or “other”, described using metaphors of invasion and flood and an “us and them” divide. Newspaper headlines such as “Halt the tide of EU migrants – HIV children bringing time bomb” and “the bitter truth about foreigners and benefits” draw on these images with the aim of evoking emotions of fear and anger amongst their readership.
These media representations can, in turn, shape public views about the impact of migration. For example, the annual survey “Trans-Atlantic Trends” reported that in 2010, Italians perceived the percentage of migrants in Italy to be around 25 percent, when in reality it is around 7 percent.
As the World Migration Report 2011 suggests: “misinformation and misperception can trigger a vicious cycle which influences government policy, and in turn, perpetuates negative attitudes in mass media and the community at large. Policies and political discourse can therefore play a major role in shaping the image of migrants in home and host societies.”
This interlink between government policy and public perception is evident in examples of State responses to migration of members of Roma populations over the past few years where countries have introduced policies to restrict or remove Roma people which have coincided with a series of vigilante attacks and fatalities.
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies (IFRC)’s response to these issues finds its roots in our belief that respectful dialogue as well as improved communication and education tools are powerful means of tackling negative attitudes towards migrants, and thereby tackling xenophobia and discrimination. By providing accurate, impartial information and facilitating dialogue between local communities and migrants, we seek to counter misconceptions and address exclusion by encouraging people around the world to understand where others come from and respect their right to be different.
We are therefore committed to ensure that our work with migrants along the migration trails, in origin, transit and destination countries, encompass the following:
- initiatives to understand better trends that fuel intolerance, violence, discrimination and lack of respect for diversity and actions that can combat these trends;
- promoting respect for diversity and the promotion of non-discrimination;
- dialogue and advocacy on tolerance and respect for diversity at national and international levels
Many Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies deliver innovative programmes and public awareness campaigns to combat xenophobia and racism with regard to migrant communities. The Armenian Red Cross, for example, has a campaign called Don’t Judge by the Cover. Its aim is to raise awareness about the benefits of diversity and to challenge negative public perceptions of migrants. Other National Societies running similar campaigns to improve the dialogue on migration include Cape Verde, Mauritania, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Egypt.
National Societies’ initiatives also facilitate an engagement between local communities and migrants. The 1001 Strengths programme in the Netherlands actively involves migrant women and pairs them with local elderly individuals to encourage social interaction that promotes intercultural dialogue and social inclusion.
Veronique Stevens, diversity advisor for the Netherlands Red Cross, explains: “We organise meetings and activities to inform the women about what the Red Cross can do both for themselves and for others around them, and even more about what they could do as a Red Cross volunteer.” “We are really happy with the results so far. To date, we have reached over 1,500 women and encouraged more than 600 women to get actively involved in volunteer work. We realise that there is a great challenge ahead. Dutch society is becoming more and more diverse. Our experience is that people are really enthusiastic to participate in the work of the Red Cross. This gives us inspiration to continue our work.”
A particular focus of our work is engaging and educating young people. Many National Societies are now implementing the Youth as Agents of Behavioural Change (YABC) initiative which aims to empower young people to help change mindsets, attitudes and behaviours within their local communities. For example, in North Africa, the YABC approach has been used to train young volunteers assisting migrants and refugees on the Tunisian / Libyan border.
The YABC work in the region is being carried out as part of a wider campaign to raise awareness about migration issues using a range of creative approaches, including the production of over 1,000 colouring books about a young boy from Niger living in Morocco, which have been handed out at schools throughout the region.
Supporting migrants to integrate into host countries is also an important means of fostering social inclusion. The Spanish Red Cross Integration Plan for Immigrants includes different projects that share the objective of promoting access to the job market of immigrants (both self-employed and employed). Similarly, the Austrian Red Cross together with the Austrian Youth Red Cross is actively supporting the integration and public acceptance of migrants by implementing projects which aim at presenting positive examples of well-integrated migrants to young people in schools.
As underlined in these examples, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is particularly engaged in promoting the contributions migrants make to their societies and in contributing to building an intercultural society and peaceful coexistence within the community. The promotion of respect for human dignity for all is a long standing goal of our Movement and we will remain committed to achieving this important aim.
Thank you.
[1] Cited in Working Far from Home – Migration and Discrimination, World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (2001)
[3] The Office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2009 Global Trends: Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons (2010)
[4] United Nations Development Programme, Overcoming Barriers: Human mobility and development, Human Development Report (2009)
[5] European Commission, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions (2011)