“It is important to eliminate perceptions based on fear or supposed threats caused by the magnitude of forced migration, and rather carry out studies based on evidence, data and information that help to better characterize the phenomenon of migration. in the world, and to think of viable responses for their care,” said Dr. Luis Arriaga Valenzuela, SJ, rector of the Iberoamerican University Mexico City.
During the inauguration, in the Iberianof the international congress Migration crisis in Europe and America in the light of International Human Rights Law, the Rector also put on the table that it is necessary to combat xenophobic discourses that usually affirm that migrants, refugees or asylum seekers represent a risk to economies.
Faced with the growth of these xenophobic and openly discriminatory discourses, it is important to call for answers based on information and evidence, proposed the Doctor, who is also president of the Association of Universities Entrusted to the Society of Jesus in Latin America ( AUSJAL).
Continuing with his message, Arriaga commented that the special rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, François Crépeau, has argued that migrants drive and facilitate development and contribute to the economic growth of countries, and that migrants complement nationals, rather than compete with them, thereby generating greater productivity for the economy. Thus, “recognizing the contribution of migrants to the vitality of national economies helps combat these xenophobic discourses,” said the rector.
It also helps to insist that it is false to affirm that migrants are a danger to public safety and citizen security. And it is that, in countries where data has been collected in this regard, it has been shown that migrants statistically commit fewer crimes than nationals.
To give way to effective responses that comprehensively protect the human rights of migrants, and that put people and their dignity at the center, the rector said that the Ibeoamerican University promotes dialogue, deep and informed reflection, in order to build a critical understanding of migration.
Besides, the Iberian works to make the proposal that Pope Francis made in the World Migrant Day 2018through four verbs: welcome, protect, promote and integrate, which are fundamental attitudes to ensure that the human rights of migrants are respected.
Giovanni Lepri, representative in Mexico of the High Commissioner for the United Nations for Refugees, affirmed that it is important for the academy to disseminate evidence that contrasts with the instrumental uses of the migratory and refugee phenomenon. “I am convinced that ignorance is the best friend of xenophobia. And then, if we look at it from the other side, from the positive side, knowledge, the dissemination of evidence, well, it can be the best friend of inclusion”.
Regarding Mexico, he highlighted that last year it was the third country in the world with the most new asylum applications -after the United States and Germany-, it is also a nation that offers opportunities and where refugees are people who are contributing to society. “With the formal jobs that the refugees have taken in Mexico, and in which they are performing in Mexico, the tax collection is more than 100 million pesos annually.”
And since migration and the search for refuge are inevitable phenomena, Lepri said that States and societies should not decide whether or not they want people to be mobile, but how they manage it, how they respond and what are the inclusive and rights-based policies. that they are adopting
For Judge Ricardo Pérez Manrique, president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rightsthe approach proposed by the congress Migration crisis in Europe and America in the light of International Human Rights Law, which takes into account the obligations of the countries of origin, transit and reception, is very pertinent.
He also said that the lack of opportunities and security, a product of the lack of democracy, human rights and sustainable development, is what drives millions of people to embark on a path full of obstacles and uncertainty, but that, with the promise of a life better for themselves and their families, they take unusual risks that sometimes mean the loss of their own lives.
For his part, Dr. José María Porras Ramírez, professor at the University of Granada and director of the Jean Monnet Chair on Migration, Asylum and Refuge of the European Union, asserted that the integration of migrants and naturalized foreigners of migrant origin who have already become citizens, as a facilitating factor for essential social cohesion, entails a firm commitment to interculturality and the assumption of a comprehensive approach oriented from the prism of human rights.
Hence, it goes through recognizing that, in every person, expectations and needs concur, and not only a cold contribution to the gross domestic product or a contribution, certainly not insignificant, to the maintenance of the costly social welfare systems that aging European societies treat at all costs to prop up.”
Thus, the construction of more inclusive societies is imposed, not only to guarantee long-term well-being, the stability of economies and to help them prosper, but also so that “by empowering those who are in a disadvantaged situation, they make those fragmented communities in which we live to cohere”.
This requires offering equal opportunities, fighting discrimination, guaranteeing access to education, employment, housing, health and other social services, so that everyone, whatever their origin or background, enjoys rights and actively participate in the different levels of government “that make up the complex political community in which we live.”
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