Addis Ababa University (AAU) School of Law in collaboration with The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent conducted a panel discussion focussed on people’s migration and challenges of all round protection at Ras Mekonnen Hall of the University on the 6th of December 2023.
The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent is an independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanism that operates globally to investigate and assess human rights of people of African descent. It studies the problems of racial discrimination faced by people of African descent and gathers all relevant information from Governments, non-governmental organizations and other relevant sources.
The School in collaboration with the Group ran the panel discussion with both physical and virtual participants from different parts of the world, moderated by Mesenbet Assefa (PhD), Asst. Professor of Law, Addis Ababa University, School of Law Consultant and Attorney at Law.
Ms. Maymuchka Lauriston, Deputy Regional Representative, OHCHR Regional Office for East Africa, from the Group, in her statement expressed that the phenomena of migration is centered on the increasingly complex, and at times precarious movement of more than 214 million human beings.
“As human mobility becomes more and more complex, the journeys taken by many migrants more perilous, and the situation in which they live and work more precarious, need to refer to human rights standards and principles in policy response to migration becomes ever more important,” she reiterated.
According to Ms. Maymuchka human rights are not a matter of clarity, nor are they a reward for obeying immigration rules; human rights are inalienable entitlements of every human being, wherever they are and whatever their status is/are.
She expressed migration in today’s context that the globalization brings challenges of vulnerability and discrimination in their host countries, millions as being less fortunate. “If fundamental rights are not guaranteed, if migrants lack access to their human rights, such as health, education, housing, non-discrimination and equal treatment in employment, freedom of expression, freedom of association and access to justice, their ability to benefit from migration is compromised,” she added.
Deputy Regional Representative further stated that an increasing message of xenophobia has permeated both fringe and mainstream political movements in many countries and resulted in a climate of exclusion and rising violence against migrants. Migrants are criminalized and subject to harsh, even inhumane, penalties for doing more than crossing a border or remaining in a country without administrative authorization, she confirmed.
The contemporary reality of migration in view of Ms. Maymuchka, compels a coordinated and comprehensive approach; the motivation for movement are increasingly complex; many migrants will be or may become vulnerable on more than one ground.
Accordingly, “Many may have suffered abuse of more than one type. Invariably, those who are victims of violence and trauma in an irregular as well as in a poor situation are more likely to be vulnerable to discrimination and partiality when these journeys are long and hazardous.”
Ms. Maymuchka finally stressed that while governments are the central actors in ensuring the respect, protection, fulfillment of human rights, and the responsibility to safeguard these rights as a shared endeavor and a collective responsibility as well, the essence of human rights transcends boundaries and sectors intertwining the efforts of governments, civil society, private enterprises, and international organizations.
Photo: Fikremariam Beyene
Editor: Abraham Girmay