Over sixty representatives from immigrant community and immigrant rights groups in the U.S. will travel to South Africa at the end of August to participate in activities for the UN World Conference Against Racism and Xenophobia. They will be joining migrant rights groups from around the world in an unprecedented opportunity to spotlight the growing concerns for the rights of the millions of people who cross international borders every year to seeking a means for survival. They will also have the opportunity to forge relations with anti-racism, anti-discrimination groups from throughout the world, and to begin to identify with being a part of a global movement against racism.

In addition to the migration/xenophobia issues, significant issues of racism have been shaping the preparations: indigenous peoples, reparations and the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the situation of the Roma, the role of gender and numerous other concerns will make the gathering both contentious and enlightening. Among non-governmental groups, efforts have been underway to mobilize for participation - a daunting task given the fact that many participants represent poor and disenfranchised peoples and organizations - hardly a well-funded, jet-setting crowd.

Participating along with the U.S. migrant rights groups will be representatives from Latin America, Asia, Europe, Africa and elsewhere - voices not often present in international fora. Factors of language access, economics, and immigration status are significant impediments to the participation of migrants themselves in international activities as well as in national work. However, with diligent organizing, fundraising and support from the Ford Foundation and others, migrant rights activists and advocates will have a presence in South Africa - and hope to take advantage of the unique opportunity of this international gathering. An international migration caucus of conference participants has been emerging in recent months, and will help to organize migrant rights advocacy, education and networking in Durban.

In South Africa, there will be two important fora for participation - a forum organized for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the governmental world conference (WCAR). In both programs, the issues of "racism, xenophobia, and related forms of intolerance" will be the focus of deliberations aimed at analyzing the scope and scale of the problems and how they need to be addressed, particularly by national governments and international agencies. The NGO forum will be the site of numerous workshops, caucuses and sessions as NGOs share information and analysis and struggle to gain a presence for their respective concerns. They will also prepare for the UN conference, which will produce a declaration and program of action. While there are still several controversies being addressed, by the time of the Durban conference, a draft declaration and program of action is expected that will represent compromises already agreed to by various governmental delegations.

The Battle to Include All Migrants

The role and impact of globalization has already shaped some of the deliberations, and it is in this context that the migration question shows its relevancy: the over 150 million people in migration every year are contributing to a "demographic shift" in countries throughout the world. In white-dominated countries, the influx of migrants has intensified racial hostilities, sometimes resulting in anti-immigrant and racist violence. Migrants have very much become targets for racism, yet their status as migrants - and sometimes without immigration documents - denies them even basic protections. In fact, national immigration policies and laws can contribute to the stigmatization of migrants and fuel anti-immigrant activity and institutional discrimination.

The world conference provides a timely opportunity to expand and to standardize protections for migrants, including those without legal immigration status. Migrant rights groups that have participated in world conference preparations in different regional conferences and in Geneva, have lobbied hard for the inclusion of all migrants among the lists of "victims" of racism and xenophobia in all sections of the draft documents, and have worked to clearly define the protections they should have. A longstanding issue in the application of the various kinds of rights protections - including those in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - is that there has been no agreed upon legal definition, internationally, of a "migrant." Thus, while there is an assumption that everyone enjoys basic human rights - it is actually not the case for migrants, as well as many other groups of people.

Global Convention on Migrant Workers Rights

One of the issues that migrant rights groups will be supporting in Durban is recognition of the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, approved by the UN General Assembly in 1990. Indicative of the international controversy over migrant rights, this agreement still has not been "brought into force," with fewer than twenty countries who have ratified it. Several countries, including the U.S., have indicated that they would not be ratifying it. Yet, the convention stands as one of the few international instruments that can help to clearly define the rights of migrants.

In the case of the U.S., collaborative strategizing and organizing between and among immigrant and non-immigrant, immigrant rights and racial justice, civil rights and human rights groups will potentially yield insightful contributions, strengthening existing relationships and developing exciting new alliances. The international context of the conference also provides the opportunity for U.S. NGOs concentrated in the immigration arena to gain a sense of the "big picture" of international migration and the incredible impact it is having on changing the face of the world. Connecting with organizations working in similar venues in other countries, and traveling to South Africa for the conference and parallel NGO fora, are bound to be incredible experiences that will build the maturity and depth of U.S. NGOs. At the same time, U.S. based activities linked to the conference are sure to provide an avenue to highlight anti-immigrant racism locally.

Catherine Tactaquin is the executive director of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights