HUMAN RIGHTS, HUMAN MIGRATION, FREE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE in the EU, ASYLUM |
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These ideas of human rights lay at the core of the American and French Revolutions which occurred toward the end of that century. Documents asserting individual rights, such the:
are the written precursors to many of today’s human rights documents. Democratic evolution through the nineteenth century paved the way for the advent of universal suffrage in the twentieth century. Two world wars led to the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). |
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(GLOBAL) JUSTICE and HUMAN RIGHTS (Graça Machel, Margaret Atwood, United Nations, Madeleine Albright († 23 March 2022), ECHR, EU-LEX, Russia, European Commission) |
On 27 October 2023, Graça Machel lectured in the Great Auditorium of the Academy Building of Leiden University
On 8 February 2021, Leiden University had the honour to bestow an honorary doctorate upon Graça Machel, prominent former stateswoman from Mozambique. She received this doctorate because of her significant role in advocating for the rights and well-being of women and children in Africa and beyond. Dr. Machel's influential work has led to concrete and lasting change for women and children in Africa, making her a global inspiration. Under the theme of Intergenerational justice and human rights in a time of planetary crises in Africa, researchers from Leiden University Law School, the United Nations and the Africa Study Centre convened in two sessions of cross-disciplinary and reflective discussions on the intergenerational dimensions of health, development and well-being in Africa. Graça Machel is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the widow of former President of Mozambique Samora Machel (1975–1986) and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela (1998–2013). Machel is an international advocate for women's and children's rights and was made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for her humanitarian work. Graça Machel is a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. As a panel member she facilitates coalition building to leverage and broker knowledge, and convenes decision-makers to influence policy for lasting change in Africa. The speech “Intergenerational Justice and Human Rights in a Time of Planetary Crises in Africa” can be found here
"Standing on the shoulders of giants" session at African Youth Summit 2018, together with Wole Soyinka -> |
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Margaret Atwood, writer of great imagination and an influential political activist, addressed the topic of human rights during a lecture in 2018 organized by the NEXUS Institute. |
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GREETINGS EARTHLINGS! What are these Human Rights of Which You Speak? |
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On June 16, 2015, a Report of the Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance was launched at the Peace Palace in The Hague. Its Co-Chairs, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright († 23 March 2022) and former Nigerian Foreign Minister and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari, presented the document and its key findings and recommendations. “Much more is needed from the United Nations and, indeed, other global institutions dealing with, for example, security sector reform and the rule of law to economic and social recovery and the promotion of human rights,” noted Professor Gambari in his remarks.
The report, entitled Confronting the Crisis of Global Governance, reflects the global perspective of commission members that have served in leading government and non-governmental positions. |
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In addition, the letter restricts free movement to those "wishing to work, study or set up a business". By implication other EU citizens would no longer fall under free movement rules but within the scope of immigration rules. This approach would be contrary to the evolution of the Treaties and of the European Union law in the past 20 years, according to which free movement, even if not unlimited and subject to conditions, is a fundamental right of all EU citizens and their family members.
Last but not least, this concerns an area where there is already secondary EU legislation [1] and solid case law in place, with the Commission monitoring compliance and implementation. EU legislation explicitly allows national law to provide for sanctions in case of abuse or fraud but it does not allow general prevention measures such as expulsions or exclusion orders for all persons in a given situation. The European Union is a community based on the rule of law and this means that the revision of legislation cannot take place just because of a perceived problem based on statements which are not founded on facts but emanate from populist rhetoric, coming from just a small number of EU Member States.
EU Ministers debate the issue Ireland, who holded the EU Council Presidency, considered that having a narrow discussion feeding into prejudices and fuelling xenophobia, was counterproductive. Each Member State has citizens of their own who claim welfare benefits when they shouldn’t and in that context fighting abuse of social welfare rules should be no different as far as citizens of other EU Member States are concerned. The Irish stressed that all Member States need to deal with it in a proportionate and balanced way and argued that the debate should be based on factual evidence. The European Commission of Migration, Home affairs and Citizenship was asked to look at the implementation of free movement rules together with Member States’ experts and present an interim report to the Justice and Home Affairs Council in October 2013 and a final report in December 2013. In parallel the Citizenship Report, which deals with some of these issues, will be examined in the Council. At the end of the meeting the UK and Germany tried to argue that the discussion constituted an acknowledgement of a wider problem, than just an issue faced by 4 Member States, and welcomed the commitment to look for EU-wide solutions. This interpretation was denied. There was no conclusion as to whether the problem existed or not, whether it was as large-scale as claimed or not. The only follow-up would be to look at the issue further on the basis of factual data.
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MIGRATION |
Belarus migrants: EU and Nato members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have all seen a surge in the number of people trying to enter their countries illegally from Belarus in recent months. Activists say they are being used as pawns in a political game between non-EU Belarus, run by authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, and its neighbours. EU officials complain of a continuing hybrid attack by Belarus. |
GLOBAL COMPACT ON REFUGEES |
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Building confidence and striking a new balance between responsibility and solidarity / The European Commission’s legislative proposals in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum |
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The free movement of persons is a fundamental right guaranteed by the EU to its citizens. It entitles every EU citizen to travel, work and live in any EU country without special formalities. Schengen cooperation enhances this freedom by enabling citizens to cross internal borders without being subjected to border checks. The border-free Schengen Area guarantees free movement to more than 400 million EU citizens, as well as to many non-EU nationals, businessmen, tourists or other persons legally present on the EU territory.
The principle is one of the four basic freedoms of the EU and is at the very core of the European project. The right to move freely is one of the most tangible rights that EU citizens enjoy [2]. With 2013 being the European Year of Citizens, free movement and mobility of EU citizens deserve special attention. Studies show [3] that even if the mobility of EU citizens has slightly increased over time, it still remains a phenomenon which concerns only a minority of the population in the EU; around 3% of all EU citizens move to another Member State, the vast majority of whom move in order to seek employment in another part of the EU. Studies also confirm that most intra-EU mobility is driven by economic and job-related reasons and not by motivation to benefit from or "abuse" the social system of another Member State [4]. |
The letter and the ensuing debate has the effect of undermining the free movement and ends up being a "name-and-shame" operation, indirectly targeting the citizens of all 2004 enlargement countries as well as countries in severe economic crisis and creating the impression of "second-tier" citizens. Whatever the economic context, the political motivations or the point in the electoral cycle when such a debate is started, it must not become a witch-hunt or a fig leaf, used inopportunely and irresponsibly. While discussion on intra-EU mobility is to be welcomed and any abuses dealt with, the angle should rather be on the opportunities presented by free movement for EU citizens and for the EU economy as a whole and the way labour mobility can help fill gaps and shortages in the employment market. |
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Directorate-General for internal policies of the European Parliament devoted a study on citizens' rights and constitutional affairs, named 'Implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and its Impact on EU Home Affairs Agencies Frontex, Europol and EASO.
The European Commission quite clearly sees a role for EUAA (European Union Agency for Asylum) in this difficult area. In the section on asylum (page 9), the working paper refers to EUAA's recent opening and states that: "The Regulation...states in Article 3 that "The Support Office shall organise, promote and coordinate activities enabling the exchange of information and the identification and pooling of best practices in asylum matters between the Member States." This could in the future include best practices in the area of integration of beneficiaries of international protection." |
EUAA can truly offer added value if it focuses on a "permanent support system" building on a "community of values". To do this, the following key target areas are indentified:
But, France, Germany and Spain refuse plans by Brussels to limit their ability to reimpose borders within the European Union, amid growing tensions around the impact of migration into the bloc. The interior ministers of the three large European countries pre-emptively attacked a proposal set to be unveiled by the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, which would put it in the driving seat when dealing with internal borders.
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