International Migrants Day: embrace solidarity, not walls and violence

Caritas International Belgium International Migrants Day: embrace solidarity, not walls and violence

Isabel Corthier - Mohammad (on the right), his wife Khadija and their children had to flee Syria. Today, they live in Beloeil (Hainaut) where they met Linda (in the middle of the picture) and her husband Thierry in the context of the "community sponsorship" project.

Isabel Corthier - Mohammad (on the right), his wife Khadija and their children had to flee Syria. Today, they live in Beloeil (Hainaut) where they met Linda (in the middle of the picture) and her husband Thierry in the context of the "community sponsorship" project.

18/12/2021

On the occasion of International Migrants Day, Caritas Europa [1] and Caritas International call on policymakers to open safe and regular pathways instead of treating migrants as a threat and to build walls. People on the move cross borders for a range of reasons : to seek protection, work, study, reunite with family members, … And they should be treated with dignity.

Migrants and those who defend their rights in Europe pay the price every day for policies of deterrence and rejection. Policies that are all too often deadly: fatal shipwrecks in the English Channel and the Mediterranean, people used as pawns on the border with Belarus and left to die in the frozen woods at the gates of the European Union, or the countless pushbacks in Greece and along the Balkan route.

Unaccompanied minors: a journey riddled with danger

Manou Ballyn coordinates a project at Caritas International-CAP Brabantia, which provides support to unaccompanied minors from Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia who transit through Belgium to the UK. She explains the terrible challenges that many unaccompanied minors overcome: “Many have been through Libya, for example, where they were subjected to sexual violence, slavery, and inhumane traumatic treatment. It’s far from over in Europe – many report police violence and the  dispossession of their personal belongings.”

Caritas International Belgium International Migrants Day: embrace solidarity, not walls and violence

Solidarity and inclusion

In this context, we urge European leaders to cease to water down the Refugee Convention, legalise pushbacks [2] and introduce derogations to EU law[3], the latter of which was recently proposed by the European Commission in relation to Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. We also strongly echo Pope Francis’ message[4], delivered during his visit to Lesbos, in Greece, on the 5th of December 2021 : “It is distressing to hear of proposals that common funds be used to build walls and barbed wire as a solution. […] Yet problems are not resolved and coexistence improved by building walls higher, but by joining forces to care for others according to the concrete possibilities of each and in respect for the law, always giving primacy to the inalienable value of the life of every human being.”

People have always crossed borders, be it to find peace, love or better opportunities, and this will not stop, regardless of how high the fences are[5]. We call for a drastic shift of migration policies: instead of financing expensive walls and militarising our borders to stop people’s movements, let us invest in safe and regular pathways, decent reception centres and more welcoming societies that facilitate social inclusion for the common good,” adds Maria Nyman, Caritas Europa Secretary General.

Caritas International Belgium International Migrants Day: embrace solidarity, not walls and violence

An asset for host societies

Finally, this International Migrants Day is an opportunity to re-emphasise the positive contributions of migration in our societies and to pay tribute to the countless people who support migrants in one way or another, by choosing acceptance over fear.

>> READ MORE: A common home: migration and development in Belgium

More information

please contact:

Leïla Bodeux 
Policy & Advocacy Officer
Tel: +32 (0)2 235 26 55
Mob: +32 (0)478 58 54 09
lbodeux@caritas.eu

Susan Dabbous 
Media Officer
Mob: +32 470128803
sdabbous@caritas.eu

 


Caritas International Belgium International Migrants Day: embrace solidarity, not walls and violence



[1]

Caritas Europa is the network of Caritas organisations on the European continent. The united strength of its its 49 membres, present in 46 European countries, makes of Caritas Europa one of the major social actors in Europe.

[2]

Pushbacks: in the absence of an internationally agreed definition in the context of global migration (…), the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants describes pushbacks as “various measures taken by States which result in migrants, including asylum seekers, being summarily forced back to the country from where they attempted to cross or have crossed an international border without access to international protection or asylum procedures or denied of any individual assessment on their protection needs which may lead to a violation of the principle of non-refoulement.” – Questionnaire of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants: pushback practices and their impact on the human rights of migrants

Linked news

Caritas International Belgium Europe must embrace human mobility

Europe must embrace human mobility

On this International Migrants Day, Caritas Europa highlights the indispensable contribution that migrants make to Europe’s society and economy. In a new briefing paper, we…

Read more
All the news