A panel discussion on the Objective 8 of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM),‘Save lives and establish coordinated international efforts on missing migrants’, was jointly organized by Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT), Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA),Cross-Regional Centre for Refugees and Migrants (CCRM) and Civil Society Action Committee (CSAC), on 20th October 2020.
The moderator, Ms. Paddy Siyanga Knudsen, Migration Governance Analyst, initiated the conversation by asking Dr. Elisa Ortega-Velázquez, Professor at Institute of Legal Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), to give acritical view on the gaps and challenges in achieving international cooperation for realizing Objective 8 of GCM.
Negligence of Missing Persons and Mismanagement of Deceased Bodies
Dr. Elisa Ortega-Velázquez said, “The three elements that Objective 8 consist of are- saving lives of migrants and preventing their deaths and injuries, identification of the missing and the dead, and provision and assistance to their families”. Dr. Velázquez, from the perspectives of Mexico and the United States, stated that despite the commitment of these states to international laws and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provide everyone right to life, liberty and security, and the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution, they have failed to implement these laws.
Dr. Velázquez claimed that the migrants and asylum seekers die as a result of multiple failures of the States in protecting their right to life. The government responses towards the migrant deaths are manifested in strict border control policies and anti-smuggling strategies, which turns a blind eye to the deceased or missing migrants and their families.
For instance, the names of the deceased and their families are not traced. Several times, the dead bodies are often found piled in morgue or buried in unmarked graves without family’s knowledge. The pain and suffering of the migrants and their families are the result of inadequate or antagonistic State practices, Dr. Velázquez pointed out.
“Objective 8 recognizes that it is not solely criminalization of humanitarian assistance that undermines the rights of migrants, but the deliberate and disproportionate use of civil law and legal obstacles to render humanitarian assistance, unlawful for non-compliance”: Dr. Elisa Ortega-Velázquez
Need for Establishment of Protocol for Identification
Mr. Eduardo Canales, Secretary &Executive Director of South Texas Human Rights Center, focused on migration from perspective of the South Texas, which is close to Mexican border. According to Mr. Canales, South Texas is the hotspot where the high numbers of deceased and missing irregular migrants can be compared to that of Mediterranean regions, which is aggravated by hot and humid climatic conditions and thick vegetation. The major inflow of migrants is from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. There are 128 border checkpoints which the migrants try to circumvent in order to get into big cities and find the essential work. However, these checkpoints are hard to pass due to strict surveillance, leading to displacement of migrants.
Mr. Canales highlighted the contributions of his NGO in providing relief to the migrant’s families. Protocols were established to identify the dead bodies in South Texas, and process to follow protocol after bodies were recovered was instituted, by taking them to medical officers and establishing a forensic border coalition for identification and repatriation purposes. The water stations were installed and made accessible to migrants to help them survive in humid climatic conditions. A hotline was also started so the migrant families could report missing persons.
“113 dead bodies were recovered from Brooke county just 75 miles away from the border, and were buried without DNA being taken in 2013…. 200,000 people have been expelled since March this year without hearing asylum cases after Public Law 42 was imposed by Trump administration”: Mr. Eduardo Canales
European Migration Policy is not Saving Life.
Mr. Filippo Furri, PHD Candidate in Anthropology at University of Montreal, exclaimed that the European Migration policy is not helping to save life. Mediterranean, being the natural network between Europe and West Africa, is popular among migrants who look for an escape from unfavorable conditions in African countries, such as Libya, by entering the European countries. However, these routes are dangerous and risky, as shown by the rise in shipwrecks claiming the lives of migrants.
Another issue Mr. Furri pointed out was the criminalization of civil societies which are providing humanitarian assistance to these irregular migrants. Civil Society Organizations provide vital services to aid the migrant workers, which includes provision of guides as tools to the families of migrants and associations to search the missing persons. Mr. Furri traced upon the Catania project, in which burials of migrants were being mapped in Catania. During the investigation, a local database was created by collecting information of 270 bodies buried by Catania municipality.
Mr. Furri suggested measures that can help identify the missing migrants. First, there is a need to strengthen the capacity to collect information and to organize it in the forensic system. This information is to be made accessible to all the concerned bodies. Secondly, provide protection to the witnesses and survivors as they have maximum information. Third, make connections with the diaspora to build the trust of migrants. Last, to create a firewall, a platform to enable communicate between the families and illegal migrants.
Why do Migrants go Missing?
Mr. Rafeek Ravuther, Founder & Executive Director of Centre for Indian Migrants Studies (CIMS), India, stated the reasons behind missing migrants in context of Keralites migrating in large numbers to the Middle East. There are three stages of migration during which migrants go missing- during transit, after migration and post migration. An important reason is forced labor or Kafala systems in which employers keep all documents of migrants with them. If the migrant tries to escape abusive conditions, he ends up in an absconding situation. In majority of times, they are lost in desert or isolated regions. Owing to the fear of ending up in jail, they do not appear in front of society and remain invisible. Similar is the case with the female domestic workers, as they have a very limited chance of communicating with their families. The migrants also come to the Middle East with forged documents and remain invisible on purpose throughout their journey, which makes it difficult to trace their whereabouts. Along with trafficking, the biggest challenge posed is the lack of co-ordination between the origin and host countries regarding migrant issues.
“There is no coordination between origin country and destination country. The data regarding the number of migrants are not matching between sending and receiving countries. There is a mismatch in data and no sharing of data between embassy missions and the destination country”: Mr. Rafeek Ravuther
Mr. Ravuther also emphasized on the motivations of migrants who are alive but living invisible. According to him, the migrants do not wish to contact home from the destination country, due to miserable conditions back home and shattered hopes of building a better life in the destination country. Often giving up, they refuse to share their experience with their family and want to remain absconded.
Countries Failing to Act Upon Missing Migrants Issue
Ms. Julia Black, Project Coordinator of ‘Missing Migrants Project’ (MMP), IOM, emphasized on the need of collecting data on missing migrants, which shall counter the invisibility of people who die during the migration and provide information to the families. Ms. Black stated that the MMP defines the ‘missing migrant’ to constitute deaths at the external borders during transits as well as disappearances during migration in which people are presumed to be dead. However, Ms. Black also acknowledged that there are a lot of challenges in collecting data.
“Data on fatalities during migration is challenging to collect due to invisible nature of irregular migration, under-reporting of deaths and disappearances, remote topography and missing information in case of deaths in rivers, lakes or at seas, where remains are not recovered”: Ms. Julia Black
On the dynamics of the government’s role, Ms. Black criticized the resistance of destination countries to look into these issues, with a few countries unaware about the missing migrants’ issue. This does not feature in their priorities list, with some countries even receiving funds to work against interests of migrants. These States lack the acknowledgement that missing migrants is a human rights issue, Ms. Black concluded.
The webinar thus brought the vital issue of missing migrants to the center of discussion and called for measures to protect them.
Snehal Mutha, is a Pune based journalist doing her little and loves to read books, finds her peace in food. Her areas of interest are gender studies, international migration and social issues. She wants to be a pantomath who loves to explore and travel the world. She loves to express herself in the form of creative writing and digital art.https://twitter.com/SnehalMutha?s=08