Racism and migration

 

RACISM AND MIGRATION

Introduction

Today, one in every 50 human beings is a migrant worker, a refugee or asylum-seeker, or an immigrant living in a ‘foreign’ country. Current estimates by the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are that some 175 million people live temporarily or permanently outside their countries of origin (2.5 per cent of the world’s population). Many of these, 80-97 million, are estimated to be migrant workers and members of their families. Another 12 million are refugees outside their country of origin. These figures do not include the estimated 20 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) forcibly displaced within their own country, nor tens of millions more of internal migrants, mainly rural to urban, in countries around the world. Given this picture of the scale of migration, it is not surprising that the Durban Conference gave extensive attention to migrants as a major category among the contemporary victims of racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia. Increasing ethnic and racial diversity of societies is the inevitable consequence of migration. Migration means that a growing number of States have become or are becoming more multi-ethnic and are confronted with the challenge of accommodating peoples of different cultures, races, religions and language. Addressing the reality of increased diversity means finding political, legal, social and economic mechanisms to ensure mutual respect and mediate relations across differences. Xenophobia and racism have, however, become manifest in some societies which have received substantial numbers of immigrants, as workers or as asylum-seekers. In those countries the migrants have become the targets in internal disputes about national identity. In the past decade, the emergence of new nation States has often been accompanied by ethnic exclusion. As Governments grapple with the new realities of their multi-ethnic societies, there has been a marked increase in discrimination and violence directed against migrants, refugees and other non-nationals by extremist groups in many parts of the world. The lack of systematic documentation or research over time leaves it unclear whether there is a real increase in the level of abuse or in the level of exposure and reporting. Unfortunately, there is more than enough anecdotal evidence to show that violations of human rights of migrants, refugees and other non-nationals are so generalized, widespread and commonplace that they are a defining feature of international migration today.

1.    Definitions of racial discrimination, racism, and xenophobia

The extent of racial discrimination and xenophobia is often played down and sometimes denied by authorities. Racial discrimination is defined in international law as being: “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on a equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.” Racism and xenophobia are distinct phenomena, although they often overlap. While racism generally implies distinction based on difference in physical characteristics, such as skin colour, hair type, facial features etc., xenophobia denotes behaviour specifically based on the perception that the other is foreign to or originates from outside the community or nation. By dictionary definition, xenophobia is “the intense dislike or fear of strangers or people from other countries.” As a sociologist puts it, xenophobia is “an attitudinal orientation of hostility against non-natives in a given population.”

 The definition of xenophobia, and its differentiation from racism and racial discrimination, is still evolving.

• Racism is an ideological construct that assigns a certain race and/or ethnic group to a position of power over others on the basis of physical and cultural attributes, as well as economic wealth, involving hierarchical relations where the ‘superior’ race exercises domination and control over others

 • Xenophobia describes attitudes, prejudices and behaviour that reject, exclude and often vilify persons, based on the perception that they are outsiders or foreigners to the community, society or national identity.

 In many cases, it is difficult to distinguish between racism and xenophobia as motivations for behaviour, since differences in physical characteristics are often assumed to distinguish the ‘other’ from the common identity. However, manifestations of xenophobia occur against people of identical physical characteristics, even of shared ancestry, when such people arrive, return or migrate to States or areas where occupants consider them outsiders.

2.    Globalization and migration

Globalization has accentuated the unevenness of development between countries and thereby generated significant pressure for the movement of labour across borders. Some of this movement takes the form of the classic ‘brain drain’ with relatively skilled workers migrating to developed economies. But a significant proportion takes the form of low-skilled or even unskilled workers moving, sometimes illegally, to neighbouring countries with rapidly growing economies that thus offer higher wages for relatively low skills. In principle, the flow of labour between countries should be economically beneficial for all countries. However, while the unrestricted movement of goods and capital is accepted almost without qualification, the movement of labour tends to raise sensitive political and sociological issues. Still, it is necessary to recognize that migration can never be eliminated or even fully controlled. In fact, with rising globalization, migratory pressures will most likely increase. The challenge for the international community will be to manage this issue in the broader context of a coherent, human-centred and human-rights-based response to globalization

3.    Future trends

IOM predicts that the total number of international migrants will approach 250 million by the year 2050. Such a prediction has to reflect many probable factors. These include the effects of war, famine, drought and epidemics, the increasing economic gap between rich and poor countries, and the differential between countries in which the population is growing and those where it is decreasing. On the basis of data on fertility rates, United Nations projections show significant decreases in the populations of many countries in Europe and some in other regions, contrasting with large projected increases in parts of Asia, Africa and the Americas. The threat of rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions, associated with global climate change, may also emerge as major factors behind forced migration. Already international aid agencies, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, are warning of the humanitarian impact of the unfettered growth of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels in industrialized nations

4.    A human right approach to international migration

Human rights should be at the centre of any analysis of migration and xenophobia. Fortunately, more consideration is now being given to the protection of migrant and refugee rights by NGOs and human rights organizations. Migrants’ rights have emerged as a formal topic on the agenda of many migration-related conferences and forums, and news and communications media attention has increased substantially. The challenge is to turn this concern into concrete action. A long and slow trend of extension to migrants of basic human rights principles culminated in 1990 with the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. That Convention built on the ILO Conventions of 1949 and 1975 on the subject. NGO and United Nations initiatives have revived attention to these norms, notably by initiating a successful global campaign for ratification of the Convention. It came into force in July 2003 and to date some 27 States have ratified it. The appointment of a United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants has further focused attention on the application of human rights to migrants. The Special Rapporteur, Ms. Gabriela Rodríguez Pizarro, has emphasized the importance of a human rights approach not least because it allows all parties to look at the experience of migration from the perspective of the migrants.6 Human rights recognize that certain principles are true and valid for all peoples, in all societies, under all conditions of economic, political, ethnic and cultural life. Human rights are universal – they apply everywhere; they are indivisible – in the sense that political and civil rights cannot be separated from social and cultural rights; and they are inalienable – they cannot be denied to any human being. A human rights framework can help to identify where racism, xenophobia and discrimination contribute to motivating or compelling migration. This framework also provides criteria to identify and measure where racism, discrimination and xenophobia affect the treatment of migrants and refugees.

5.    The migration process

The ease of travel today, the widespread awareness of conditions in other lands, family and ethnic ties, opportunities – even requirements for international experience to advance in business, professions and careers – all facilitate migration. In a globalizing world, this should be encouraged and supported. Yet for many migrants, the migration process exposes them to racism and xenophobia, when leaving their own country, transiting another or entering their country of destination. For some migrants, the choice to leave a country of origin is a full and well-informed one, 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. It is clear that most people prefer to stay in their home countries when they can do so in safety, dignity and well-being. Perceptions of tolerable political, social and economic levels and conditions vary widely across different countries and communities, but the most basic consideration is the ability to survive above a local minimum standard of decent living. In essence, forced displacement today is largely the direct consequence of the breakdown or absence of sustainable community.

Although the right to leave one’s own country is enshrined in article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is often thwarted in practice by difficulties of obtaining travel documents and visas to enter any other country. The past two decades have seen a dramatic realignment of international visa and direct airside transit visa regimes. In many parts of the world, such restrictions have cut across traditional bilateral and subregional routes limiting the movement of migrant labour and merchant traders where relatively free movement had existed before, sometimes for centuries. Increasingly strict border control measures of many States and the absence of adequate provision for regular migration are linked by many observers to increased irregular migration. 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 fashion. With the narrowing of opportunities for economic, social and humanitarian migration, irregular migration has given rise to pressures for greater migration control measures and provided anti-immigration political organizations with an issue to rally around. Irregular or unauthorized migrants are vulnerable to racist and xenophobic hostility, whether in countries of transit or destination. Irregular migrants are easy and often tempting targets for such hostility. Lack of legal status leaves them reluctant to seek or be provided with police protection, the means of redress or access to justice. Irregular status impedes possibilities for community self-organization, unionization, or other forms of association to respond collectively to racism and xenophobia and to call on government and civil society support. Irregular status may place migrants at considerable risk of abuse when dealing with or apprehended by government authorities, particularly where these are inadequately trained and supervised.

Trafficking and migrant smuggling

Trafficking and migrant smuggling have increased in parallel with increasing obstacles to legal migration. This growth of trafficking and smuggling of persons by organized criminal groups presents compelling challenges for human rights advocates and humanitarian organizations, as well as for law enforcement agencies. Racism and discrimination are factors putting migrants at risk of trafficking, and racism and xenophobia influence treatment of victims of trafficking and smuggling in transit and destination countries. International law has recently recognized a distinction between the concepts of trafficking and migrant smuggling. Until a few years ago, most agencies referred to organized irregular migration as ‘trafficking’ – using this term in a generic sense to distinguish harmful migratory processes from those that could be characterized as more humanitarian. The term ‘trafficking’ now refers principally to a migratory process which involves some form of coercion or deception, and which is for an exploitative purpose.8 The term ‘migrant smuggling’, on the other hand, is now used to refer to the facilitated, illegal movement of persons across borders for profit. The international community has recognized that both trafficked persons and smuggled migrants are entitled to basic human rights protections. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Trafficking Protocol) and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (Migrant Smuggling Protocol) were both adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in November 2000 and have been widely signed. These two instruments are discussed further below. Sometimes, racially incited violence is directly related to the trafficking process itself. It is not always possible to infer xenophobia or racist motivation in the neglect or murder of migrants, but two legal cases involving stowaways probably represent only the tip of the iceberg. The most infamous case is arguably that of the ‘MC Ruby’, in which seven Ghanaian stowaways were brutally murdered and thrown overboard by the ship’s Ukrainian crew before arriving at Le Havre, France, in October 1992. The case reached court because one stowaway, Kingsley Ofosu, survived to tell the tale: “The Ukrainian sailors say they were afraid of getting into trouble if they arrived in Europe with the stowaway aboard. They say that they, too, are poor and that some of them handed over stowaways in Rotterdam last year and that the owner of the boat was so angry at being fined under the new laws that he docked the money out of their pay to teach them a lesson. They seem to think there was nothing unusual in what they did to the black men.” Because migrants in an irregular situation are largely invisible to authorities during their migration, quantifying the number of racially motivated acts by carriers or border authorities is impossible. It can only be flagged as an area of great concern requiring large-scale monitoring and research.

6.    Treatment of migrants

The Durban Conference brought into focus the worrying dimensions of racism, discrimination and xenophobia in the treatment of migrants and refugees. The preparatory events for the Conference in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia all highlighted that growing racist and xenophobic hostility directed at non-nationals, including migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers, displaced persons and other foreigners, is a serious denial of human rights, human dignity and security. Manifestations of anti-foreigner hostility include incitement to and actions of overt exclusion, hostility and violence against persons, explicitly based on their perceived status as foreigners or non-nationals, as well as discrimination against foreigners in employment, housing or health care. Anti-foreigner hostility can also be symptomatic of a denial of deeper racist tendencies within the host society: “The ethnic or racial inequalities implied by discrimination or racism would be inconsistent with official ideologies of liberal democracies, and thus instead of recognizing such ‘imperfections’, it is more expedient to deny them or explain them away as characteristic of the victims, or as a temporary phenomenon of transition for new immigrants. Furthermore, as long as the existence of racism is denied, so is the need for anti-racist and anti-discrimination legislation.” Research on xenophobia and discrimination against migrants, refugees and other non-nationals is still very limited, especially outside Europe and North America. There are few data that allow for effective comparisons among countries, let alone across different regional contexts. Nonetheless, the research that has been done provides very clear indications of the breadth and depth of these phenomena. A very few examples are included below, with the caveat that the data presented are not intended to imply any conclusions regarding practices in a country cited, nor any comparative evaluation in relation to other countries. The absence of any data at all from most countries may be an indication that many serious problems remain unknown and unacknowledged.

7.    Conclusion

Advancing the protection of migrants and refugees in the face of xenophobic hostility, discrimination and violations of human rights requires common approaches, strategies, coordination, and the ability to mobilize human and material resources. Government officials and institutions, international organizations, civil society organizations and migrant support groups, all have roles to play and contributions to make. Various initiatives described above demonstrate that dialogue and cooperation is possible among government, corporate and international and civil society actors. All this and more will be required to generate the alternative solutions set out in the Durban Programme of Action. A rights-based approach to migration needs to be more adequately incorporated in the policies and activities of all concerned with migration. Political will or the lack of it is the fundamental variable that can make the difference between effective interventions to tackle racism and xenophobia, or the continued exposure of migrants and refugees to its effects. If the 21st century is to avoid repeating some of the mistakes of the last, then the rights and dignity of all migrants and refugees.