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| Second Declaration of Rivas |
Second Declaration of Rivas
Adopted by the Assembly of Social Movements held during the
III World Social Forum of Migrations (September, 2008)
Today as we commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (disaster), twenty years since the first deaths of migrants were recorded in the Straits of Gilbraltar, 35 years of the military coup which overthrew democratically elected President Salvador Allende, at a historical moment when this same legitimacy is gravely threatened in Bolivia, and calls upon our conscience and solidarity, and as we celebrate the 60th year of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
We, women and men, who belong to more than two thousand social movements and organizations from 90 countries around the planet, gathered together in Rivas Vaciamadrid (Spain), from September 11th to the 14th, 2008, in the spirit of our common aspirations represented in the slogan
OUR VOICES, OUR RIGHTS, FOR A WORLD WITHOUT WALLS
1. Our voices
We are individuals, movements, and organizations of migrants, refugees, and displaced persons, and victims of human trafficking, forced labour, and slave trading. We are also members of social movements and organisations who work together and are in solidarity with these sectors. We are individuals, collectives, and peoples who, because of our concern for migratory processes from an integral perspective, have developed actions committed to the radical transformation of the living conditions of all human beings who have been forced to migrate, to be displaced, or to seek asylum and refuge.
We, migrants, refugees, and displaced persons, our movements and organizations, and those in solidarity with our struggles, hereby constitute ourselves as a new political actor and social force on a global scale which has been further consolidated in this III World Social Forum of Migrations. For all the reasons mentioned above, and in the exercise of our legitimate rights, we raise our voices to say:
NO to the increasing deterioration of living conditions which impact the majority of the people in
the world, both in the Global North and South. These conditions have a distinct impact upon migrants, refugees, and displaced persons throughout the world, and in particular on the Palestinian, Saharan, Colombian, Sudanese, Iraqi, and Afghan peoples. We also say NO to the complicit policies of the United States, the European Union, and Spain in these contexts.
NO to the forced migration of indigenous peoples due to the expropriation of their land and the impact of agro-industrial and other mega-projects whose consequences include the violation of their collective rights, and the loss and destruction of their cultural roots and environment.
NO to all the varied expressions of racism and xenophobia against migrants and their communities which are increasing throughout the world, and in particular those directed against people of African origin and descent, persons who profess the Islamic faith, and those of Mexican, Central American, and Latin American origin in the United States.
NO to the reproduction and strengthening of patriarchal systems, which in the context of the
feminisation of migration have led to profound disparities inherent already in existing structures and patterns of gender inequality, due to the fact that women are mainly employed in slave-like conditions, while caring for others in contexts of domestic labour.
NO to the policies and projects which stigmatise, fragment, and exclude migrants and their families and
further deteriorate their social, collective, and organizational fabrics. We also reject efforts to transform migrant remittances into a substitute for authentic policies of national development in countries of origin, and to use them to reinforce existing circuits of financial capital, thereby deepening historical, social, political, economic, and cultural inequalities to an even greater extent.
NO to conventional, hegemonic mass media discourse and coverage which reinforces the criminalisation and victimisation of migrants through stereotyping, and to xenophobia, discrimination, and racism propagated by the mass media that increases social conducts and practices of this kind in countries of destination, transit, and origin.
NO to neoliberal, capitalist globalisation, its concentration of wealth, resources, and power, and its exclusionary effects on a planetary scale, which destroy human beings, their social fabric, and the natural environment, and foment the conditions which produce contemporary forms of migration2. Our Rights
We are individuals committed to undertaking social processes to transform the realities related to these concerns. We analyse and interpret the complex reality of migration, from the perspective of human beings, their dignity, and their human rights. We also devise and implement multiple and diverse initiatives, by which we strive to fulfil our historic leading role in the overall struggle to make another world possible.
Under the current conditions of global capitalism, migrants are an evident example of economic
and social inequality among and within countries. This situation is further deepened when it coincides, as at present, with a multidimensional world crisis which is simultaneously economic and environmental in character, and includes related dimensions such as those of food and energy.
The building of geographic, political, legal, and cultural walls, such as the European
“Directive of Shame”, the emerging wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and its equivalents between Europe and Africa and Israel and Palestine, Plan Colombia and Plan Mexico, and other similar policies and laws, are criminal strategies that seek to extract the largest possible amount of profit through the militarization of borders and restrictions on human rights. This is the motivating force behind the externalisation of borders, their mental internalisation through policies targeting migrant workers and their families and communities through persecution, harassment, arbitrary detentions, raids, and deportations, and the impunity of border police and detention centres, where the violation of human rights is commonplace.
We insist that bilateral and regional labour agreements inspired by the Philippine model of temporary guest worker programmes or “managed migration”, and their multilateral equivalents in the context of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) administered by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which are intended to discourage resettlement and inhibit the possibility of asserting rights, and result in the intensified exploitation and dehumanisation of workers, must comply with International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions 97 and 143 and other international human rights standards. The effect of such policies is the overall deterioration of the human, social, economic, and legal worth of migrant labour, and our transformation into disposable merchandise.
We affirm the need to defend, promote, extend, and deepen our rights in order to contend with the forced, slave-like, precarious character of our labour, and the central role of dignified work as part of a dignified life, that integrates freedom, equality of treatment, and adequate wages and benefits for all working people.
We value economic initiatives of solidarity which strengthen the social fabric of our communities and families and contribute to social and economic processes of transformation and the integral development of all people. At the same we reject the distortion of these objectives as part of efforts ultimately intended to undermine our rights as migrants and workers.
We promote the concept and practice of universal citizenship, and reaffirm all people´s rights to freedom of movement throughout the world, which is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and which has been extended and deepened through our struggles.
3. For a world without walls
A world without walls is an essential pre-condition which makes it possible to dream and build another world, and includes full compliance with Articles 13 and 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and their contemporary implications, as bases for affirming all the human rights of all migrants and "peoples in movement".We therefore demand:
The signing, ratification, and full implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families by those countries that have not yet done so. We commend the countries that have ratified this Convention and demand that they adapt their national legal frameworks as necessary to fully comply with its obligations. We also welcome the commitment of local authorities to support the campaign in favour of its ratification, which was initiated by the municipal authorities of our hosts in Rivas Vaciamadrid.
The establishment of a special mandate or procedure within the UN system to address the gaps in existing instruments and instances for the integral defense and protection of the rights of migrants, refugees, and displaced persons, such as the CMW (Committee on Migrant Workers), the Special Rapporteur regarding the Human Rights of Migrants, the UN High Commissioner for Refuges, and the Secretary General´s Special Representative for Internally Displaced Persons, among others, with a particular emphasis on the creation of a permanent space where the voices of migrants, refugees, and the displaced and their movements and organizations can be heard.
The elimination of the EU Return Directive, as well as other legal instruments that permit and encourage the harassment and arrest of migrants throughout the world; the dismantling of Frontex and all political and military mechanisms that subordinate migration policies to the supposed imperatives of “national security” within, along, and beyond borders; we also demand measures to enable on-site monitoring of detention centres with free and full access by social organisations until their final closing and elimination;
That the borders of the world stop being places of impunity where migrants are the object of every kind of violation and crime and as result are compelled to take risks that put their lives in danger. We demand that countries of origin, transit, and destination assume their responsibilities to remedy such situations and its effects.
The regularization and legalization of all undocumented persons or those “without papers” throughout the world, and the expansion of legal bases for the full recognition of all forms of persecution of seekers of asylum and refuge, and for them to be granted the relief that they need, from an integral human rights and gender perspective, as well as compliance with their internationally recognized “right of return” to their places of origin;
The repudiation and cancellation of all bilateral and multilateral clauses and agreements providing for the expulsion of migrants to their places of origin against their will, which are generally imposed on countries of origin or transit as a reflection of their unequal relations with countries of destination, and which often involve serious violations of human rights, the separation of families, and retaliation by authorities in countries of origin, and a serious uprooting and disruption of the lives of migrants and their communities. This includes the annulment of agreements or clauses regarding re-admission, and the cancellation of all related trade and aid accords including provisions along these lines between the European Union, countries in the EU, and third countries, and among third countries.
That migrants, refugees, and displaced persons and their movements and organizations be encouraged, supported, and defended when they organize, speak out, and denounce all forms of domination and exploitation, and assert their rights in resistance and struggle, and promotion of the strengthening of their movements, organizations, and mutual support networks.
Full compliance with all international human rights and legal standards that guarantee the adequate protection of children and minors that are an increasingly important part of international migratory flows.
The incorporation in our struggle of the demands of environmental justice, and as to the legal recognition and protection of environmental refugees resulting from global climate change and environmental destruction, as an integral part of our commitment to strive for a new world order that promotes human dignity for all people, in a manner harmonious with the Earth and its limits and potential.
Implementation of policies that aim at guaranteeing equality of opportunities for all migrants, and the development of inclusionary measures that are not conditioned upon the legal status or administrative situation of migrants, and the promotion of policies to insure migrant access to all public services in a manner which respects their cultural diversity and identities, as well as long term policies for the integration of youth, and for the advancement and achievement of equal rights for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Trans-gender) migrants and their families.
The right to vote for migrants in local and state elections in countries of destination, and guarantees for their active participation in the determination of local development plans, in a manner which respects the autonomy of social organisations and movements, and that helps promote the recognition and effectiveness of full citizenship rights for all migrants, both in countries of destination and in their countries of origin.
Full respect for rights of political participation of migrants in order to enabl thm to influence internal policies as well as external policies in their host countries in favour of the interests of their countries of origin, in a manner which provides visibility to their contributions as active agents of change in both their countries of destination and origin.
The continuation of the collective drafting process of the World Migrant Charter, as well as other other processes and initiatives intended to strengthen the recognition and defense of the rights of migrants throughout the world.
Support of the increased presence and strength of alternative, inclusionary and democratic mass communication media and strategies that take into account and reflect the perspectives of migrants and their communities, movements, an organisations, and that adequately reflect the complexities of migratory processes.
We want to restore the full dimensions of the dignity of all human beings, and reaffirm our commitment to struggle together against the damaging effects of “market logic” among us, which undermines the quality of the lives of our families and communities, and of our social movements and organisations. This includes a recognition that our identities as migrants, refugees, and displaced persons does not imply the denial of our multiple and diverse identities, demands, and struggles in other spheres.
We commit ourselves to insure that these perspectives and concerns will be present when we gather together once more during the IV World Social Forum on Migrations in Quito, Ecuador in October 2010.
Migration is not a crime. It is instead the conditions which produce migration that are criminal.
We raise our voices, wedefend our rights, and we struggle together in order to build a world without walls.
Rivas Vaciamadrid, September 13th, 2008
