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While United Nations member states are planning to meet in Marrakech to adopt the Global Compact for Migration, international activists form Peoples’ Global action (PGA) are gathering on the 8th and 9th of December in Marrakech for their own alternative forum.
Their forum is expected to allow participants to develop «strategies to strengthen the actions of civil society» to defend the rights of migrants. The event will be attended by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), as well as ATTAC Morocco and La Via Campesina, a movement founded in 1993 by farmers organizations from Europe, Latin America, Asia, North America, Central America and Africa.
Migrant’ vulnerability not protected by the Compact
Contacted by Yabiladi, Khadija Inani, AMDH vice-president who is also in charge of migration and refugees within the NGO, pointed out that the countries that have decided not to adopt the Compact, do not shae the same positions as the associations opposed to the text . «They refused the treaty for reasons that are not ours. They see it as a threat to their sovereignty and their interests», said the actisit.
Khadija Inani stressed that after studying the Compact, NGOs realized that it «violates the rights of migrants in the world and in Morocco». She pointed out to the issues related to «the ratification of the Convention protecting all migrant workers and members of their families and the Geneva Convention on refugees to which the European countries remain reluctant, just like Morocco».
«We certainly do not have the means of developed countries, but this does not justify the restrictive measures targeting migrants in Morocco.»
A text that risks to maintain the imbalances
According to Khadija Inani «the UN Pact will not stop migrants from storming European borders.» Meanwhile, M'hamed Lmossayer, representative of ATTAC Morocco in Rabat, explained that «this text reflects the ambivalent relationship between Europe and Africa, especially Morocco».
The activist believes that the terms of the treaty «serve the interests of our northern neighbors and their migration policies, which aim at securing their borders with Africa by sorting the profiles of the nationals they host, but allow themselves to continue to build their economic and industrial growth at the expense of the natural resources of our continent».
For M'hamed Lmossayer, «at a time when we are hosting this big event, Morocco’s policy makes the social and economic integration of foreign nationals in the country very difficult».
Member of the Confederation Paysanne in France and the international group of migration in La Via Campesina, Romain Balandier told Yabiladi that the UN discussions on the Migration Compact «do not take into consideration the real issues related to the global management of migration».
Romain Balandier highlighted the fact that the proposals of civil society during the elaboration of this text «were not retained in the final draft, under the pressure of some states». He referred to the UN’s recent report that «rebukes the way in which some governments deal with migrants».
It is in this context that La Via Campesina, among the participating associations, calls for «opening borders and recognizing the contribution of migrants to the economic development of their host countries and especially in the agricultural sector».
