At the People’s Summit for a Global Pact of Solidarity with Migrants and Refugees, held in Marrakech December 8^th and 9^th of 2018, hosted by La Via Campesina and its member organisations of the Middle East and North Africa (MeNa) Process, the global peasant movement and its allies have issued a scathing critique of the Global Compact on Migration [see below] and rejected it.

The Agreement on an International Pact of Solidarity and Unity Of Action For The Full Rights Of All Migrants And Refugees, issued at the summit says;

“In this summit, we have concluded that the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) does not represent a change in the anti-migrant policies and current offensive against migrants and refugees being waged by many States, especially of the North. The GCM is more of the same: migrants as cheap labour, criminalised for simply being migrants. Analysing it further, we consider the GCM a step backwards with respect to human rights and the protection of migrants and our families as established in past International Conventions approved by the United Nations and other institutions such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

While it is true that some countries have decided not to sign the GCM, this is not the result of their is agreement with the agreement which represent a step backward regarding migrant rights. Their disagreement is motivated by a refusal of any multi-lateral engagement on migration. Those state have clearly stated their anti-migrant position. The GCM proposes to discipline and organise migration to serve the interests of States and their true owners, transnational corporations and financial capital. Other than a few apparent mentions of migrants, human rights are left beneath security concerns of states and economies.

For the above reasons, we express our public rejection of the Global Compact for Migration and place in the hands of social movements, collectives for the protection of migrants’ human rights, progressive States and civil society, our alternative that brings together the spirit, conclusions and recommendations of our Summit.”

La Via Campesina

• 15 DECEMBER 2018 :
https://viacampesina.org/en/global-compact-for-migration-gcm-does-not-represent-a-change-in-the-current-offensive-against-migrants-and-refugees-la-via-campesina/

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AGREEMENT ON AN INTERNATIONAL PACT OF SOLIDARITY AND UNITY OF ACTION FOR THE FULL RIGHTS OF ALL MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

I. INTRODUCTION

The People’s Summit for a Global Pact of Solidarity with Migrants and Refugees, women and men, celebrated in Marrakech December 8^th and 9^th of 2018, hosted by La Via Campesina and its member organizations of the Middle East and North Africa (MeNa) Process, specifically Morocco’s National Federation of the Agricultural Sector (FNSA), along with the Moroccan Human Rights Association (AMDH), The Maghreb Coordination of Human Rights Organisations (CMODH) and the Platform of Sub-Saharan Associations and Communities (P. ASCOMS), as well as AlarmPhone and many other movements and communities, announce our proposal to agree upon an International Pact of Solidarity and Unity of Action for the Full Rights of All Migrants and Refugees, women and men, based on the following considerations:

Current State of Migration

The present migration crisis represents a human debacle of proportions never before seen in the contemporary history of civilization. Never has humanity been dragged into such low levels of dehumanization and barbarity which resemble the worst moments of recent past since the colonialist period.
A terrible facet of the current state of migration is the modern slavery in which millions of humans are now living, comparable only to the worst moments of colonialism’s brutal conquest of the South to extract resources and accumulate capital for a handful of Northern countries.

From Morocco to the Mexican border, from North Africa to the fields of southern Spain, from Central America to Bangladesh, all across the planet, we find suffering caused by displacement of human beings with their families, communities, peoples and regions devastated by the relentless exodus of expulsion and dispossession. In some places, such as Asia, this disaster is multiplied by a climate crisis created by an endless push for more and more profits – the principal attribute of today’s savage economic and social system. In other places, such as Africa, the Middle East and Americas, the violence of the powerful and the wars and conflicts they induce, is aimed at grabbing lands, occupying territories, and exploiting natural resources such as oil and minerals. In addition, all is made worse by racism, intolerance, authoritarianism, impunity, drug trafficking and organized crime.

In the majority of cases, inequality and marginalization join with poverty and misery. We see a barbaric exploitation of cheap migrant labour, in the North and in the peripheries, where an abusive mode of production continues to push goods and commodities that aim to satisfy the veracious appetite of modern consumerism of the most privileged sectors.

This debacle of civilization is reflected today in the enormous tragedy of deaths in the Mediterranean Ocean and deserts of the Sahara and South-eastern border between the United States and Mexico, to name just a few of the hot spots of the state of migration.

Response of States

In response to the crisis, the most economically-powerful States are holding hostage many countries of the South through economic and political measures, closing ranks to repress migration through militarization of borders, proliferation of walls and detention centres – that resemble concentration camps – the criminalization of migrants for simply being migrants, followed by mass imprisonment and deportation. This anti-migrant offensive represents a strategy of military combat that includes the criminalization of organizations and human rights activists and the induced divides between workers and oppressed peoples.

Clearly, a fundamental aspect behind this offensive against migrants and refugees is the fact that States continue to implement neoliberal policies at the service of transnational corporations and financial capital who with total liberty pillage our peoples, exploit millions of human beings, appropriate the commons’ natural goods such as land, water, forests, seeds, knowledge and cultures, resulting in devastation and death.

To make matters worse, everywhere we turn there is a rise in political power of quasi-fascist forces taking moving into governments, institutions and public life. There is also a generalized disillusionment with the lack of a genuine democracy in which peoples can freely exercise our sovereignty and strengthen hope in the building of better living conditions with social justice, peace and dignity.

II. THE GLOBAL COMPACT FOR MIGRATION

Presented as a response to the migration crisis, States have seized upon the opportunity to sign the Global Compact for Migration on December 11^th in Marrakech. We, the women and men who participated in the People’s Summit for a Global Pact of Solidarity with Migrants and Refugees, women and men, have collectively studied and debated its implications on our peoples – migrants and refugees – coming to our own conclusions.

In this summit, we have concluded that the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) does not represent a change in the anti-migrant policies and current offensive against migrants and refugees being waged by many States, especially of the North. The GCM is more of the same: migrants as cheap labor, criminalized for simply being migrants.

Analyzing it further, we consider the GCM a step backwards with respect to human rights and the protection of migrants and our families as established in past International Conventions approved by the United Nations and other institutions such as the International Labour Organization (ILO).

While it is true that some countries have decided not to sign the GCM, this is not the result of their disagreement with the agreement which represent a step backward regarding migrant rights. Their disagreement is motivated by a refusal of any multi-lateral engagement on migration. Those state have clearly stated their anti-migrant position.

The GCM proposes to discipline and organize migration to serve the interests of States and their true owners, transnational corporations and financial capital. Other than a few apparent mentions of migrants, human rights are left beneath security concerns of states and economies.

For the above reasons, we express our public rejection of the Global Compact for Migration and place in the hands of social movements, collectives for the protection of migrants’ human rights, progressive States and civil society, our alternative that brings together the spirit, conclusions and recommendations of our Summit.

III. OUR ALTERNATIVE TO THE GLOBAL COMPACT FOR MIGRATION

For us, migration is an individual and collective act of resistance and rebellion against a system and, as a result, our alternative must also be an act of profound unity and struggle. For many years we have struggled in defense of our human rights and against slavery, colonialism, anti- migrant policies – achieving important victories and learning that we cannot advance nor defend ourselves if we remain isolated and disorganised. Recently, the approval of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants, the Convention for the Right of Indigenous People and the Guidelines on Land Tenure of the FAO are important gains that we achieved with unity, tenacity, conviction and sacrifice.

On this basis we propose a Global Compact of Solidarity for the Rights of Migrants that would establish the primacy of the human rights of people over the profits and interests of States and transnationals, ensuring multilaterally and democracy in the United Nations.

This Agreement would promote self-determination, democracy and food sovereignty of people, enabling the implementation of sustainable, fair and solidarity local economies, ensuring that communities have a right to decent life in their territories without having to be forcibly displaced.

This Compact would guaranty the inalienable right to free movement of all persons, promoting regional and international cooperation to implement relevant public policies and protecting whoever chooses to migrate from any violation of their rights, specially women, children and people seeking refuge for political, economic, climatic or social reasons.

The respect of human rights and the global responsibility of State prevent migrants from being criminalized, repressed or detained for the only reason that they are migrants during their migration and in the host country; it also ensures that migrants receive the necessary documents and that all state abide by the international laws and regulations protecting refugees, migrant workers and their families. Cooperation and solidarity between States would enable economic policies to cover all basic needs of people, would fight racism, xenophobia and all type of discrimination.

In order to implement this new Compact a united international effort of movements, organizations, collectives and social forces is needed; it is born from below, from our organizations, our communities and our families. We are calling upon all persons and organisations in agreement to oppose the Global Compact to control migration of the States and to support and feed an alternative: the Compact of Solidarity and Unity with a central aim to defend the rights of migrant women and men and refugees of the entire planet.
s – a pact whose central aim is to defend the full rights of all migrants and refugees.

Marrakech,
Sunday, December 9^th, 2018

La Via Campesina
The Moroccan Human Rights Association and
Maghreb Human Rights Organizations
The Platform of Sub-Saharian Associations and Communities, Alarm Phone Maroc
Alarm Phone Sahara
Conseil des Migrants Subsahariens au Maroc
Collectif des Femmes Migrantes au Maroc
Afrique Europe Interact
Communauté Congolaise au Maroc
Transnational Migrant Platform Europe
Transnational Institute
Association des Refoulés d’Afrique Centrale au Mali Association pour la Défense des Emigrés Maliens
Association Lumière sur l’Emigration au Maroc

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