Communiqué of the IMA Solidarity Conference on War, Militarism and Displacement
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
October 26/27, 2024
End the genocide against the Palestinian people! Resist imperialist war!
The International Migrants Alliance (IMA), together with Sekretariat Solidariti Palestin (SSP) and TENAGANITA, successfully held the Solidarity Conference on War, Militarism and Displacement, to commemorate the first anniversary of the attack on Gaza by the Zionist Israeli Forces. This conference was organised to strengthen unity and solidarity against imperialist war, exploitation and plunder. It was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 26 and 27, 2024.
Attended by 25 participants from 11 countries, the conference was highlighted with:
Sharing and discussion on the ongoing US-backed Israeli-led genocide and occupation of Palestine;
peoples’ struggles against militarism and conflict in West Papua, Myanmar, Kurdistan, Philippines, US, Colombia/Latin America and Japan;
situations and challenges faced by asylum seekers and refugees, and;
a solidarity cultural festival to express Malaysian and international people’s solidarity with Palestine.
With the theme, “Migrants, refugees and advocates: Forge a strong unity in calling for end to genocide in Palestine and resist imperialist war!”; participants shared with one another their experiences, insights and analyses on current global wars, and the multiple crises they are confronted with. Many consolidations were made in terms of learning, sharing and gathering of new friends who will help make our Alliance a more powerful advocate for grassroots migrants, refugees and displaced peoples everywhere.
The conference was concluded with the approval of a unity statement against imperialist war and militarism with an emphasis on Palestine, and our next steps as an alliance to continue our campaigns against war, militarism and displacement.
IMA chairperson Eni Lestari opened the conference by laying down the objectives of the conference and calling for stronger unity to understand the ongoing conflicts that beset the Palestinian people and many peoples across the world and build a movement for justice and peace. She was followed by keynote speeches by Cody Urban of the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS) and Tian Chua of SSP.
Urban is the Treasurer of the Global Secretariat of the ILPS, and is in the Global Secretariat of the Resist US-Led War Movement. He opened with a general overview of the current state of war and militarism around the world today, and the ways in which people are impacted. He mentioned the impacts of war on migrants and all those experiencing forced migration and displacement. A framework for peoples’ movements was presented, to understand how wide-ranging the movement for a just and lasting peace can be, and where migrants fit into the leadership of this movement.
Chua, the spokesperson for SSP, connected the history and current conditions in Palestine to the struggles of migrants and refugees around the world, calling the migration system a form of ‘apartheid’ in itself. He says we must fight any system which uses oppressed peoples to oppress other peoples. Videos of solidarity messages from the International Women’s Alliance and IMA Europe were played, while the solidarity message from IMA USA was read.
During the two days of the conference, participants engaged in four panel discussions;
Plenary 1: On war, conflict and displacement
The first panel on war, conflict and displacement was facilitated by IMA Chairperson Eni Lestari, and focused on three genocides currently happening; against the Rohingya, West Papuans and Palestinians. The speaker from the Rohingya community, Hafsar Tameesuddin of Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), presented the history of oppressions against Rohingya in Myanmar, Rohingya displacements in the region and responses from the diaspora. They shared their experiences of displacement, seeking asylum and the difficulties of navigating government bureaucracy with xenophobic misinformation circulated by the Myanmese and international media.
The speaker from West Papua, Victor Yeimo of Komite Nasional Papua Barat (KNPB), says West Papuans are also experiencing extrajudicial killings, arrests and forced displacement by the occupying Indonesian forces. He is concerned over the media silence on the West Papuan people’s struggle, and stressed the necessity of international awareness and solidarity for West Papua against the Indonesian military.
A video of Leila Khaled addressing a recent ILPS webinar was also played to highlight the recent attacks by Israel on Palestine and its global impact. She described the horrors continuing on the ground in Palestine, such that even financial support is no longer helping since there are no products entering Palestine.
The common calls to raise awareness and end the genocide of their respective peoples are; mutual solidarity, collective leadership among their own communities, and socio-economic inclusion by the international community to enhance their growth and resilience.
Plenary 2: On situation and struggles of asylum seekers, refugees and displaced people
The second panel was facilitated by Elise Arya Chen and Jaw Tu Hkawng of Asylum Access Malaysia, and focused on grassroots refugees. The panellists were asylum seekers and refugees in Malaysia from different communities; Cameroon, Liberia/West Africa, Sudan, Iran and Afghanistan. All are active educators in their respective communities, and they shared their personal stories and experiences of their treatment as refugees.
Alice Taja from Cameroon reported that armed conflicts in her country since 2016 have shut down healthcare centres for women and girls, and many skilled workers are fleeing to the French region of Cameroon. She stressed the need to strike the root causes of displacement, and advocate for humanity, peace and safety. Comfort Wobil Brima was born in Liberia, but has been internally displaced in West Africa since an infant. She hopes to go back to her home community, and spread more awareness of the root causes of war and conflict so people do not become soldiers. She has founded an organisation which provides reproductive health education for youth and women, called ‘Teen Health International” in her current community in Malaysia.
Ahmad (Tim) Jorfi described the political crackdown by the State in Iran, and their current government spending billions of dollars on war armoury. He says the biggest challenges as a refugee is access to education, healthcare and obtaining a work permit. Mohamed Ali Elduma from Sudan says ongoing armed conflict since the colonial era still continues in his home community. He says refugees should be able to work and contribute to their host society, and that we must break the cycle of false information about refugees and asylum seekers. He founded an initiative last year for mental health support and other services where there are gaps in his current community.
Masuma Tavakoli was born a refugee in Iran, being displaced from Afghanistan. She is of the Hazara people, who have long been persecuted by several political groups and recently, mass executed again by the Taliban since their takeover of Kabul in 2021. Her experiences as a refugee include language, cultural and religious differences, and many suffer from mental illness and discrimination. She says collective action and leadership is needed for refugees, and has her own Afghan women’s group in her current community.
The speakers’ common campaigns are for job security, access to essential services such as health and education, and the right to travel. They are also calling for the de-stigmatisation of ‘refugees’ and ‘asylum-seekers’, and want to be seen as the same as everyone else with a hopeful future. Some have started grassroots refugee organisations to support their communities however they can. The IMA is looking forward to working with their organisations.
Serving the refugee community comes in many forms, and both host and migrant communities must work together. Refugees must voice what they need themselves. It is important for the refugee movement to document and keep their own stories and narratives. The internet and social media are important tools to mobilise people, and so members of IMA have started a citizen journalism course so that the grassroots can document and speak for themselves.
Plenary 3: On violence against women and the impacts of war and militarism on women migrants
The third panel, facilitated by Gayatri Kandiah, focused on women affected by conflict and displacement, and the struggles that migrant women face in particular. The first speaker was María Elena Osorio, a Colombian refugee living in Chile, who explained the history and current trends in irregular migration of millions of Latin Americans due to poverty and violence, felt especially by women and children. She says that in the face of violations caused by conflicts and wars, women are always more affected because they bear the pain of the violence received on their own bodies, plus the pain of the violence inflicted on their families.
Joanna Concepcion of Migrante International explained the dangers of foreign military bases and their negative impacts on women in the surrounding communities. She also highlighted how the US government continues to place its military bases and positions in Asia and the Pacific, and asserted that the Philippine democratic and revolutionary movement is contributing its part to prevent and resist a full scale imperialist war in the region.
Şilan Ergin, a second-generation Kurdish living in Germany, provided alternative practices that her organisation implements to ensure the development of women’s rights and liberation in a progressive society. She explained that Kurdistan is occupied by four states—Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria—and each of these occupied regions faces its own unique conflicts and wars. Nevertheless, the repercussions of these conflicts and wars on women are systematic and widespread.
The final speaker, Farwina Faroque from BDS-Malaysia, also provided ways to support women in various conflict areas including Palestine, and how best to show our solidarity. She says we must demand Israel’s accountability for its violations of international law, impose sanctions and end economic cooperation with Israel, and support Palestinian women journalists and activists to ensure their stories are heard so the international community cannot ignore the truth.
Plenary 4: On building solidarity and resistance
The fourth panel focused on the experiences, challenges and lessons on building solidarity and resistance movements globally. Yoshio Nakamura of AWC-Japan, shared his experiences in coordinating anti-war campaigns across the Asia-Pacific, and emphasised the importance of mutual solidarity in maintaining an organisation. He says that in order to expand people’s resistance to the US-Japanese military buildup and ongoing war preparations; we must form the broadest united front and coordinate our actions, seek to raise people’s class consciousness, and lead the struggle toward an anti-imperialist line.
Khairul Falah Bin Shamsul Bahrain of Belia Harmoni Malaysia, stressed the importance of the role of students and the youth in building solidarity campaigns to carry forward into the future. He stressed the need of more youth activists who are committed to continuing the struggle for human rights and justice, instead of volunteers who only provide temporary help.
The conference closed with fruitful discussions on our points of unity against war and militarism, and our next steps in developing campaigns and actions to address displaced peoples’ concerns.
In the afternoon, the conference participants actively joined and enjoyed a cultural solidarity event for Palestine organised by SSP. The solidarity event featured performances by local artists, poets, former politicians and social influencers of poetry reading, musical pieces and speeches. Both the conference and cultural event were a great success, with many consolidations made in terms of learning, sharing and gathering of new friends who will help make the migrants and people’s movement for just peace happen.
