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Joint Statement of
Asia Pacific Non-Governmental Organisations
attending the
Seminar of Experts on Migrants and Trafficking in Persons
with Particular
Reference to Women and Children,
5-7 September, 2000
in Bangkok, Thailand
As people living and working in
this region, we recognise the impact of racism, racial
discrimination and related intolerance on the lives of our
peoples and on their capacity to enjoy their fill' human rights.
We welcome the steps taken by the United Nations to convene the
third United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and concur
with its conviction that racism and racial discrimination
constitute a total negation of the purposes and principles of the
Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
While we welcome the initiative
taken by the governments of the Asia Pacific region to discuss
migration and trafficking with a particular focus on women and
children, we stress the importance of considering the complete
range of issues related to discrimination including
discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, caste, religion,
and tribal or indigenous origin and making concrete
recommendations on all the above. We urge all governments to rise
up to the challenge of ensuring that the deliberations of this
and all subsequent preparatory meetings include a holistic
treatment of the issues of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and other related intolerance.
We hope that this Conference will
provide the opportunity for the international community to
recommit itself to the elimination of all forms of
discrimination. We call on the international community to develop
comprehensive frameworks that will encompass existing and
persistent forms of discrimination as well as new manifestations
based on race, ethnicity, language, religion, descent and work
recognising the inter-sectional of these with factors of class,
sex, age and health status.
In examining the issue of racism
within the context of migration and trafficking at this Seminar
of Experts, we remind the international community of the
commitments to the principle of "All Human Rights for
All", that they made on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We believe that all
people, no matter where they are and how and why they got there,
are entitled to the same protection of their human rights.
We hope that in the processes
leading towards the World Conference against Racism, governments
will acknowledge the full extent of all forms of prejudice based
on race, sex and other differences within their national borders
and transcend their national interests in order to deal with race
related issues that are transnational and global in nature. We
recommend therefore that the following principles and actions be
adopted at the upcoming World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance:
- Ensure that the mandates of all national and regional
human rights mechanisms and institutions include working
towards the elimination of all forms of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
- Make greater efforts to investigate and address the root
causes of migration and trafficking including poverty,
political and social oppression, ethnic, religious,
gender and caste-based discrimination and situations of
violence and armed conflict;
- Acknowledge, redress and reform the inherently racist
legislation, policies and programmes that have displaced,
marginalised and severely discriminated against
indigenous peoples and which have contributed to the
removal of their land rights, the decimation of their
cultures and their heightened vulnerability in situations
of migration and trafficking;
- Give full consideration to the elimination of caste as an
insidious and deeply entrenched form of discrimination on
the basis of work and descent;
- Reform and modify imigration legislation and policies to
improve accessibility to legal forms of migration, and
ensure transparency of the processes related to
migration;
- Promote forms of governance that are based on principles
of equality and nondiscrimination and that reflect the
full diversity of humanity;
- Recognise the positive political, economic and social
roles and contributions of discriminated sectors, and
ensure their full political and economic social and
cultural, participation as an essential element in
eliminating all forms of discrimination.
- Recognise the responsibility and accountability of
governments nationally, regionally and internationally to
act decisively to resolve, through peaceful and
democratic means, situations of ethnic, religious and
other forms of armed conflict that result in the
violations of human rights and the displacement of vast
numbers of people internally and internationally;
- Ensure institutions and mechanisms, that include the
involvement of government, non government organisations
and grass roots groups, to protect and prevent racial and
gender based violence against migrants and trafficked
persons in host and transit countries, in situations of
custody and incarceration, and in the context of
repatriation;
- Promote awareness and greater social and political
respect for all forms of diversity and the greater
recognition of the contributions of migrants and
trafficked persons, through educational curricula,
community programmes and the mass media;
- Ratify the International Convention on the Protection of
the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their
Families, the International Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination and all other pertinent
international instruments for the protection of
fundamental human rights;
- Ensure that there is adequate protection and full
enjoyment of the rights of children and families of
migrants and trafficked persons as recognised under the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights
of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families;
- Recognise the roles of non-governmental organisations and
grassroots organisations as active partners in addressing
the problems of migration, trafficking and in combating
all forms of discrimination, and guarantee support for
their participation in all processes leading up to the
World Conference against Racism;
- Incorporate key concerns identified by non-governmental
organisations working on the elimination of all forms of
discrimination in the region into the recommendations of
this Seminar of Experts.
6th September, 2000, Bangkok,
Thailand
This statement has been endorsed
by:
Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law
and Development
Asian Forum on Human Rights and Development
Asian Human Rights Commission
Asian Migrant Centre
Asian Women's Human Rights Council
Asia-Pacific Peace Research Association
Catholic Commission on Migration
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Global Alliance against Trafficking in Women
International Catholic Migration Commission
International Movement for Fraternal Union Among Races and
Peoples
Isis-International Manila
Maryknoll Sisters
Migrant Forum in Asia
Third World Movement Against Exploitation of Women
World Council of Churches
Netherlands Organisations for International Development
Cooperation (NOVIB)
Posted on 2001-07-13
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