OBMICA contributes to expert consultation to address xenophobia and anti-migrant racism

Xenophobia has become increasingly evident in many societies, seriously affecting migrants, their families, and communities both in the Caribbean and in other parts of the world. To address this trend, the UN Committees on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, CERD, and on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, CMW, have increasingly formulated recommendations to States parties to prevent and combat xenophobia, racism, and their effects. They have set themselves the challenge of redoubling efforts to confront this "social and political pandemic" that fuels discrimination, hatred, social exclusion, and inequality.

Against that backdrop, a regional expert consultation was held in Toronto, Canada, from October 17 to 18, 2024, in which two OBMICA representatives participated: director Bridget Wooding and associate researcher Allison Petrozziello. The regional consultations inform the process of drafting two joint General Recommendations that the two Committees are developing, CERD GR 38 and 39, or in CMW terminology General Comments 7 and 8, on principles relating to comprehensive public policies to address and eradicate xenophobia and its impact on the rights of migrants, their families, and other non-national groups, or groups perceived as such, affected by racial discrimination and all intersectional grounds of discrimination.

"Xenophobia and racism are manifested not only interpersonally but also structurally," commented Dr. Petrozziello. "It is therefore important that States recognize racism in all its forms and intersections, and take proactive measures to combat it."

She praised the fact that the new guidelines adopt an intersectional approach to xenophobia and racism. Intersectionality is a basic concept for understanding the scope of State obligations regarding the protection of human rights and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against migrants. From this perspective, one can perceive, for example, how racial discrimination intersects with gender-based discrimination, within xenophobic and anti-migrant discourses, to block access to sexual and reproductive health for Black migrant women.

For her part, OBMICA director Bridget Wooding pointed out the negative consequences of using migrant workers as scapegoats in times of climate crisis or disasters of natural origin. She argued that "this practice can exclude them from humanitarian responses and, on the contrary, expose them to discrimination, thereby making possible arbitrary detention or even deportation." Thus, this was not merely a hypothetical scenario but a reality, for example, when Haitian migrant workers were deported from the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian in 2019, regardless of their documentary status, which in many cases was positive.

With respect to the right to health, the Committees affirm that migration control must never be carried out in hospitals or health centers, including maternity wards, so that every person can access services without fear of being detained, deported, or denied care.

The CERD General Recommendations 38 and 39, to be published in 2025, will provide guidance for the elaboration of public policies that will be useful for both governmental actors and civil society. The principal goal is not only to eradicate xenophobia, but also to promote social cohesion and intercultural integration through the development of a rights-based narrative on migration.