[STATEMENT] Celebrate the collective resistance of migrants and refugees amid neoliberal attacks, racism and war
The International Migrants Alliance (IMA) commemorates the International Migrants Day by celebrating the global movement of migrants, refugees and displaced people who are steadfastly organising, forging solidarity with workers and peoples, and building collective mutual support while resisting the onslaught of imperialist exploitation and war.
Our movement continues to resist wars of aggression and occupation by imperialists, chiefly, the United States, and denounce the coercive measures such as blockades and sanctions, against those who do not submit to their dictates, Migrants and refugees join millions of people across the globe who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people while also expressing support to the struggles of peoples in Burma/Myanmar, West Papua and many other territories. The solidarity formations and linkages built with and by Palestinian, Myanmese, Rohingya, Western Sahara, Sudanese, and West Papuan diaspora, among many show the strong connections of these people to their motherlands even if they are miles away.
With continuing wars, rise of militarism and conflict, we expect more death, devastation and displacement. In 2024 alone, the number of refugees grew up to 35.4 million and internally displaced peoples reached 71.4 million.
Our movement continues to resist racist, xenophobic and fascist attacks. Migrant and refugee groups from around the world have joined with social and grassroots organizations in destination countries to condemn discrimination and violent attacks on their human dignity, challenge anti-immigrant policies, and call for respect for the human and fundamental rights of migrants, refugees, and their families. An end to discriminatory practices and hate speech and violence against migrants, especially the most vulnerable and in the most precarious situations, indigenous people, Afro-descendants, children, women, and people of sexual diversity.
With the rise of right-wing governments, more anti-migrant policies have been strengthened, more visa restrictions have been introduced, movements and freedoms of peoples have been denied. With Donald Trump in power, migrants in the US will face more anti-migrant violence, crackdown and deportation. This administration's anti-immigrant and anti-refugee rhetoric and policy will pave the way for more hatred and racism towards migrants. Their example will be replicated by many governments in Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Our movement continues to fight trafficking and calls for its resolution. In recent years, our alliance and many groups have witnessed the alarming increase in cases of labor trafficking and emergence of new forms of trafficking, such as education trafficking and cybertrafficking. To this day, many in our alliance are handling these cases while initiating cross-country collaborations to support the victims and demand justice for them.
Meanwhile, temporary migrant workers in regular situations remain at risk. Seasonal migrant agricultural workers, seafarers and migrant fishers have shared stories of exploitation and neglect while oppressive climate prohibits migrant workers to organise, has even put migrant leaders in danger, and has forced them to become undocumented.
Towards 2025, we fear that his panorama of risks will continue due to the situation of indebtedness, impoverishment, unemployment and landlessness in poor and underdeveloped countries caused and intensified by neoliberal impositions. With no decent employment opportunities with living wages to support their families, many will be forced to venture overseas and try their luck. Labor export programs, however, continue to fail as migrant workers are peddled like commodities and subject to worsening exploitation, criminalisation and dehumanising conditions.
In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, the multidimensional crisis – economic, political, social, health, climate – has been accentuated in the last year by a widespread public security crisis, due to the extension of the operation of organized crime mafias, which the political elites seek to confront by strengthening militarization and repression and restricting public freedoms.
The story of Filipina migrant worker Mary Jane Veloso is the story of many of us. Human traffickers took advantage of her desperation to provide for her family and contributed to the suffering she has experienced in Indonesian prison for almost 15 years. The IMA is part of the movement that called on the Indonesian government to spare her from the death penalty in 2015 and continues to call for justice for her. While many of us are happy that she is finally going back home to the Philippines through transfer of prisoner agreement between Philippine and Indonesian governments, Mary Jane will remain in jail. We will not rest with our campaign until Mary Jane is granted immediate clemency by the Philippine government, set free and be reunited with her family.
This fighting stance that our movement has for Mary Jane Veloso and for many struggling migrants and refugees is a testament of our commitment for justice, rights and to end forced migration. Many of us remain standing and are not backing down. Many of us continue to assert our rights, find creative means to organise, mobilise and speak up. Many of us continue to raise awareness, study our situation together with other peoples, and find long-term solutions to systemic problems.
We have no one else to rely on but ourselves and one another. We need to strengthen our ranks and reclaim our dignity in every possible way. Let us step up our organizing, outreaching, awareness-raising, campaigning and networking at all levels. Let us foster closer cooperation with workers and peoples in both host and home countries. This is the sure way to move forward and confront all forms of attacks on us and our families, and finally achieve a world in which migration is a free choice, and not of necessity.
ONLY OUR COLLECTIVE UNITY AND STRUGGLE, WITH THE BROADEST SOLIDARITY FROM THE PEOPLES, WILL GUARANTEE OUR RIGHTS TO STRENGTHEN THE MOVEMENT OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES TO FIGHT THE WAR AND IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION.
