Subject: [fem-women2000 515] Fw: [apwomen2000] APWLD position paper on race and sex discrimination
From: lalamaziwa <lalamaziwa@jca.apc.org>
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 00:32:06 +0900
Seq: 515

Forwarded by lalamaziwa <lalamaziwa@jca.apc.org>
---------------- Original message follows ----------------
 From: Susanna George <susanna@isiswomen.org>
 To: apwomen2000@isiswomen.org
 Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 12:08:23 +0800
 Subject: [apwomen2000] APWLD position paper on race and sex discrimination
--

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Subject: APWLD position paper on race and sex discrimination
author:    APWLD
forwarded by: Alison G. Aggarwal <apwld@loxinfo.co.th>
date: 00.09.14
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Dear APWomen2000,

This message was sent to us by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and 
Development (APWLD) who was also an active participant at the recently 
concluded Regional Experts Seminar on Migration and Trafficking.  They have 
prepared a document giving comments on the Experts Recommendations which 
will go into the final report of the meeting which is being compiled by the 
secretariat in Geneva.  Although there are no email versions of the Draft 
Recommendations as they were discussed at the meeting, you might want to 
scan through the comments that have been made by APWLD, and pass your own 
comments directly to them.  They need to hear your comments on or before 
the 19th of September, when they will be summarizing and forwarding 
comments from their network to the secretariat.  I attach the letter that 
was sent out by Alison Aggarwal that accompanies the documents.

Salaams,

Susanna George
Isis International-Manila
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings!
APWLD's Women's Rights Human Rights Taskforce member, Sunila Abeyeseekera and
the three program officers from APWLD's secretariat attended the Asia-Pacific
Seminar of Experts on Migrants and Trafficking in Persons with Particular
Reference to Women and Children, 5-7 September 2000, Bangkok, Thailand.

We presented APWLD's position paper to experts, State representatives and
representatives of international organisations, calling for a wider discussion
of race and sex discrimination in the Asia-Pacific, including issues other than
just migration and trafficking.   We also worked with other NGOs attending the
seminar to develop a Joint NGO Statement.(see attached).

The Secretariat of the Seminar called for contributions from NGOs, to be
submitted within two weeks of the Seminar, on the draft conclusions and
recommendations of the Seminar.  Although we do not have an electronic copy of
the draft conclusions and recommendations to provide you, we have developed
APWLD's response to the draft document (see attached).

We would appreciate it if you could review our suggested comments on the
Seminar's draft conclusions and recommendations and suggest any changes.
Please notify us of any changes by Tuesday 19 September 2000, so that we can
submit our suggestions by the due date.  We apologise for the very short time
frame.

Warm regards
Alison G Aggarwal
APWLD Program Officer






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Asia-Pacific Seminar of Experts in Preparation for the World Conference
Against Racism: Migrants and Trafficking in Persons with a Particular
Reference to Women and Children

Bangkok 5-7 September 2000

APWLD's (NGO) COMMENTS ON DRAFT CONLCUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

We welcome the draft recommendations and conclusions of the experts for
the Asia Pacific Seminar of Experts on Migrants and Trafficking in
Persons with Particular Reference to Women and Children from 5-7
September, 2000 in Bangkok, Thailand. The draft conclusions and
recommendations comprehensively address the range of issues that were
discussed in the Seminar, and concretely address the concerns of the
most marginalised groups, particularly, women and children.  The experts'
conclusions and recommendations highlight the most urgent concerns for
States, international organisations and civil society need to address
and raise at the World Conference Against Racism in 2001. 

Suggestions for amendments to the draft conclusions and recommendations
were called for by the Secretariat from states, international
organisations and participating non-government organisations.  In
response we submit the following suggestions for amendments.  These
amendments are suggested to ensure that the conclusions and
recommendations fully reflect the concerns and issues for women and
children in particular. 


Suggested Amendments
--------------------
1. General

5 (v):  We support the inclusion of sex and race as  grounds for direct
and indirect discrimination against women in immigration laws and
practices. 

5 (vii): We support the inclusion of the element of coercion, in
addition to "deceit and trickery" as an aspect of trafficking to be
aware of, in recognition of the cases where women and children are
forced into these situations.

14:  We support the inclusion in the Report of the conclusion that there
is no country in the world which is free from racism and racial
discrimination as defined in the ICERD, as an important statement on the
assessment of the actual status of racism among states in the region.

II Racism as Root Cause and as Consequence of Migration and Trafficking

22:  We support the following amendment: "Thus the World Conference
should recommend that any [insert: sustainable] economic development
programs in sending communities must ensure that they do not [remove
"simply 'deepen' entrenched" and insert: continue to widen the gap
between advantaged and disadvantaged groups and thereby further entrench
the position of] elites."

III Ratification and Implementation of Relevant International Instruments

34.  We support the recommendation that States should ensure that
children of families and migrants and trafficked persons are adequately
protected and enjoy the full rights contained in the Covenant 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 as it
highlights the importance of women's and children's rights within
trafficking and migration.

IV "Bilateral, Regional and International Cooperation 

38: We support the recommendation for States to allow for the inclusion
of perspectives of migrants and trafficked persons in regional fora
where the issues of migration and trafficking are considered.


VI Combating Discrimination Against Migrants

We support a greater emphasis on the specific needs of undocumented
migrants to enable States to undertake greater steps towards
legitimising migration.

66: We support the need for States to consult with employers' and
workers organisations, and NGOs in the course of modifying their
immigration policies. For States to ensure that they do not discriminate
against migrants on the basis of race or sex, it is essential that they
consult with those who will be involved in and impacted by the policies.

67: We support the recommendation for States to support the
establishment of associations of migrant workers, in recognition of the
right for the freedom for association, as identified in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.

We also encourage the inclusion of a recommendation for States to ensure
that national mechanisms and institutions are able to effectively
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.

VIII Best Practices and Procedures

While we welcome the recognition of the role that NGOs can play in
addressing many of the migration and trafficking issues discussed, we
recommend that States undertake greater measures to provide financial
and other forms support for NGOs to undertake activities and roles in
this area.

Overall

In recognition that the Expert Seminar was in preparation for the World
Conference Against Racism, and in recognition of the global nature of
the problems of migration and trafficking, the conclusions and
recommendations should reflect their applicability to all States
throughout the world, not just within the Asia-pacific region.

While recognising that migration and trafficking, especially of women
and children, is a critical issue for States in the Asia-pacific region
to be addressing, we reiterate the importance for States, in their
preparations for the World Conference Against Racism, to be prepared to
comprehensively consider the full range of issues related to
discrimination including discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity,
caste, religion and tribal or indigenous origin; and the
inter-sectionality of these issue with the factors, of class, sex, age
and health status.


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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

In preparation for the World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, we, as human rights
non governmental organisations working in the Asia Pacific region, have
participated in the Asia Pacific Seminar of Experts on Migrants and
Trafficking in Persons with Particular Reference to Women and Children
>from 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 full 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-sectionality 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 immigration 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 non-discrimination 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
Equality Now
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
Netherlands Organisation for International Development Cooperation
Third World Movement Against Exploitation of Women
World Council of Churches
World Movement of Christian Workers





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