A/HRC/21/59
action, whereas the paper of Human Rights First focused on the national level. It was
uncertain whether these national measures suffice the magnitude of the phenomenon. He
supported the role of political and religious leaders, but this should be complementary to
legal and administrative procedures.
61.
Egypt appreciated the practical approach; however, if xenophobia encompassed
several types of crimes it would be unclear adding that that there was no agreed definition
of a bias-based crime. He said that xenophobia was against a foreign individual and not
groups and that the minimum agreed definition refers to foreigners.
62.
Ms. Fanny Dufvenmark and Ms. Christine Aghazarm from IOM made presentations
at the 6th meeting, on international migration issues, later that day. With respect to
xenophobia and migrants, Ms. Dufvenmark stated that as a starting point, it was important
to understand that, although they often overlap, racism and xenophobia are two distinct
phenomena. There is no international definition of what constitutes xenophobia; however,
IOM had chosen to use a definition describing the phenomenon as: ―(…) attitudes,
prejudices and behaviour that reject, exclude and often vilify persons, based on the
perception that they are outsiders or foreigners to the community, society or national
identity.‖
63.
All forms of discrimination could not be classified as xenophobia, but it was
apparent that migrants often are directly and indirectly discriminated against because of
xenophobic attitudes and as a result they may not be able enjoy and exercise their human
rights. They stated that xenophobic attitudes against migrants were becoming more
prevalent and all States are affected by this negative trend to varying degrees. Xenophobic
attitudes were often based on misperceptions about migrants and migration. Dispelling
several common myths/misunderstandings about migrants and migration is one step in
combating negative perception and xenophobia.
64.
International migration law extended over various branches of international law and
most of migrants‘ fundamental rights are protected therein. However, the protection of
rights for certain groups may require more attention as demonstrated by the implementation
of additional human rights treaties such as: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (1979); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989);
and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). The rights provided
by these instruments apply to migrants regardless of migratory status. The International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their
Families which entered into force in 2003 provided a comprehensive legal framework for
the protection of human right for migrants. It does not create any new rights for migrants,
but it ensured that the already existing human rights applied to migrants as well and it
protected regular and irregular migrants from xenophobia.
65.
Ms. Aghazarm explained that IOM worked directly with its partners to address the
challenges posed by xenophobia in four major ways: policy dialogue such as the
International Dialogue on Migration (IDM), on the ground programmes, media engagement
and engaging directly with migrants. The activities were based on the premise of fostering
an informed debate on migration and the challenges of cultural diversity as well as
enhancing the knowledge base on migration issues more broadly.
66.
On the ground, IOM had been programming, informing and educating policymakers
and the wider public about migration and was also facilitating the integration of migrants –
both key in combating xenophobia. One good practice example was that through directly
working within the educational system in countries of destination on toolkits, teacher
trainer manuals inter religious dialogues, trainings and curriculum materials. IOM also
directly engaged with the media to promote balanced reporting and analysis on migration to
combating misperceptions of migrants and xenophobic attitudes. It was also a significant
32
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