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	The rights of children must never be open to negotiation by IOM, Unicef, SOS Children's Villages, agencies   July 2018   The rights of children must never be open to negotiation - Norbert Meder, Chief Executive Officer of SOS Children's Villages International   If there is anything to be learnt from how the United States is treating migrant families, surely one clear message is that we need to redouble efforts to protect the rights of migrant and especially refugee children.   Thanks to a global outcry, the White House has reversed the heartless practice of forcibly separating children from their parents along the border between Mexico and the United States. It continues, however, to defend its "zero-tolerance" policy on immigration that risks de-humanising parents seeking a more secure life for their children.   But the US government does not have a monopoly on callousness when it comes to migrants and refugees. Europe's failure to agree on a coherent refugee approach has fuelled resentment and fear, giving fresh momentum to populism around the bloc. With much of the world tuned in to the men's football World Cup in Russia, the leaders of Austria and Germany have been locked in their own competitive matches to toughen border and immigration controls, risking their countries hard-earned reputations for compassion and humanitarianism.   For too many children caught up in such political gamesmanship, the damage has been done. When children are unwillingly separated from their parents, whether crossing a border or in times of war, they are subject to irreparable harm. Traumatising events such as displacement, loss of home and loved ones, destroy a child's sense of security and can have life-long effects on their wellbeing.   International agreements like the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child are intended to reduce these risks. As one of the most successful and widely endorsed global agreements, the Convention calls for the protection of all children from harm; a right to care, shelter, and education; and the opportunity to grow up with their loved ones whenever possible. More than just words on paper, the Convention recognises the basic human instinct to protect children from adversity.   Politicians who think that "being tough on migration" will make today's challenges go away are living in a fantasy world. The number of people displaced by war or instability reached a record 68.5 million last year, according to the United Nations refugee agency. The number of refugees, 25.4 million, has more than doubled since the turn of the century and at least half are children.   Contrary to some alarmists, most people fleeing conflict and instability are neither in nor heading towards the United States or Europe. One-third of the world's refugees live in Turkey, Uganda, Pakistan, Lebanon and Iran. Millions more migrate to other countries to achieve the dream of a better life for their families.   What can be done to counter the move towards higher fences, more restrictive European borders, and the imbalanced negative reporting on the impact of refugees and migrants which too often is "fake news"?   First, there is an urgent need for a global action on refugees and migration, especially for the most vulnerable groups such as children who are separated from their loved ones. Just as nations have worked together to develop the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals aimed at eradicating poverty and inequality, international collaboration is needed to protect the rights of refugees and migrants.   The ongoing discussions over the United Nations Global Compact on Refugees offer an opportunity to create awareness and a call for action.   Second, in these times of record displacement, global leaders must be prepared to free up resources for host countries and communities that are most affected by refugees and migrants. This includes more investment in schools, health care and infrastructure, as well as creating employment opportunities so that all families have the potential to earn a living and contribute to their community.   Third, US President Donald Trump should champion the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by the US Senate. The United States is the only UN member not to have ratified the 1989 accord. By ending America's isolation on such a fundamental issue as the rights of children, the American President would send a clear message that his administration cares about creating a better world.   Today's refugee and migration challenges are global. Meaningful political debate about how to manage these challenges is needed. But the rights of children - no matter where they live or move - must never be open to negotiation. Nor must we forget that compassion, love and respect are essential to ensuring that these children have a better future.   http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/   UNICEF calls for six actions to protect all refugee and migrant children   Around the world, millions of families are fleeing their homes to escape conflict, persecution and poverty.   There are millions of refugee and migrant children in Europe and Central Asia. For example, more than 72,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece, Cyprus and the Balkans alone, including more than 22,500 children. Turkey is now home to three million Syrians, the largest refugee population in the world.   Many of these children face danger, detention, deprivation and discrimination, and the world must stand up for them.   Protracted conflicts, persistent violence and extreme poverty and disadvantage drive millions of children from their homes. UNICEF calls for greater efforts to protect children from conflict and to address the root causes of violence and poverty. Such efforts should include increasing access to education, strengthening health and child protection systems and social safety nets, expanding opportunities for family income and youth employment, and facilitating peaceful conflict resolution and tolerance.   Many refugee and migrant children miss out on an education and many lack access to health care and other essential services. UNICEF calls for increased collective efforts by governments, communities and the private sector to provide uprooted children with access to an education and health services, and to shelter, nutrition, water and sanitation. A child's migration status should never be a barrier to accessing basic services.   Keep families together and give children legal status   Children who are travelling alone or who have been separated from their families are more easily preyed upon and more vulnerable to violence and abuse. UNICEF calls for stronger policies to prevent the separation of children from their parents and other family members in transit; and faster procedures to reunite children with their families, including in destination countries. All children need a legal identity and should be registered at birth.   End the detention of refugee and migrant children by creating practical alternatives   Detention is harmful to children's health and well-being, and can undermine their development. UNICEF calls for practical alternatives to detention for all children. Unaccompanied and separated children should be placed in foster care, supervised independent living, or other family or community-based living arrangements. Children should not be detained in adult facilities.   Combat xenophobia and discrimination   Uprooted children are often victimized by discrimination, xenophobia and stigma - both during their journeys and at their final destinations. We all have a part to play in welcoming uprooted children into our cities and communities. UNICEF calls on local leaders, religious groups, non-governmental organizations, the media and the private sector to combat xenophobia and nurture a greater understanding between uprooted children and families and their host communities. Governments should also set up stronger measures to combat discrimination and marginalization in countries of transit and destination.   Protect uprooted children from exploitation and violence   Refugee and migrant children are extremely vulnerable to violence and abuse, and to being preyed upon by smugglers and even enslaved by traffickers. UNICEF calls for more safe and legal channels for children to migrate and to seek refuge. Cracking down on trafficking, strengthening child protection systems and expanding access to information and assistance can help keep children safe. Children and families should never be returned to face persecution or life-threatening danger in their countries of origin.   http://www.unicef.org/children-uprooted   Child and Youth Protection (UNHCR)   Over half of the world's refugee population is made up of children. Youth (aged 15-24) also constitute a large proportion of populations affected by forced displacement. Many will spend their entire childhoods away from home, sometimes separated from their families. In situations of crisis and displacement, children, adolescents and youth are at risk of various forms of abuse, separation from their carers, neglect, violence, exploitation, trafficking or military recruitment.   UNHCR is committed to ensuring that children, adolescents and youth are protected from harm and that their rights are upheld through the provision of support and targeted programmes to meet their specific protection and developmental needs. We work with families, communities, national authorities, other international and local organisations, and with children, adolescents and youth themselves.   http://www.unhcr.org/child-and-youth-protection.html http://www.wvi.org/it-takes-world/publication/road-somewhere http://www.unhcr.org/left-behind/ http://www.unhcr.org/emergencies.html http://www.nrcstories.no/the-global-displacement-figures/   Mar. 2018   Coercion of Children to obtain fingerprints and facial images is never acceptable (IOM).   IOM, together with other UN agencies and NGOs issued yesterday (12/03) a joint statement raising concerns ahead of the EU institutions negotiations on 27 March on the EURODAC Regulation.   The statement warns that the proposed system would inappropriately allow the use of coercion to take the fingerprints and facial images of children.   Established in 2003, the EURODAC Regulation establishes an EU asylum fingerprint database. When someone applies for asylum, no matter where they are in the EU, their fingerprints are transmitted to the EURODAC central system. The proposed changes to the system aim to expand the current database of asylum applicants to better identify - irregularly staying third country nationals using biometric data.   The joint statement stresses that coercion of children in any manner or form in the context of migration related procedures violates children's rights, which EU Member States are committed to respect and uphold.   IOM and its partners urge the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the European Commission to exempt all children, no matter their age, from all forms of coercion in the EURODAC Regulation, in full compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.   # Signatories: UNHCR, UNICEF, OHCHR, IOM, Save the Children, Missing Children Europe, Terre des Hommes, World Vision, Caritas Europe, Danish Refugee Council, International Commission of Jurists, PICUM, Child Focus,Act Alliance, CIRE, Flemish Refugee Action, Kopin,The Smile of the Child, CIRE, European Evangelical Alliance, Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, Astra   * Read the joint statement: http://bit.ly/2GlWVVO   * UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: http://bit.ly/1fGCcXV Visit the related web page
	Australian First Peoples call for treaty, first nations voice enshrined in the Constitution by Jackie Huggins National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, agencies   Aboriginal leaders call for treaty, first nations voice enshrined in the Australian Constitution.   Indigenous leaders from across Australia have called for an indigenous representative body to be enshrined in the nation's constitution and a process established working towards treaties between Indigenous peoples and local, State and Commonwealth Government.   The Constitutional Recognition forum held at Uluru attended by 250 Aboriginal leaders from across Australia called for a treaty commission to be established and for a truth and justice style commission to be set up.   Co-chair of the Government-appointed Referendum Council, Pat Anderson said, "In the discussions that we've had over the last six months across Australia, Aboriginal people have said clearly they want a treaty and a truth and justice commission, and a representative voice to Government".   "When the referendum council finishes its work on June 30, we've got a whole range of people who will bring this whole matter forward."   Cape York leader Noel Pearson said the delegates agreed that a parliamentary voice was needed "to have a practical impact on Aboriginal people's place in the democracy".   Les Malezer an Australian delegate to the UN permanent forum on Indigenous issues, said Indigenous people needed a genuine voice in parliament to be able to direct and inform policy designed specifically to apply to Indigenous peoples.   The council hasn't ruled out additional forms of symbolic acknowledgement of the 60 thousand-year history of First Australians and their rights.   Australia is the only Commonwealth country that does not have a treaty with its Indigenous peoples.   The 'Uluru Statement from the Heart' was developed over three days of consultation among 250 Indigenous leaders.   Uluru Statement from the Heart:   "We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart:   Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs.   This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from time immemorial, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.   This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or 'mother nature', and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.   How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years?   With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia's nationhood.   Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.   These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.   We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.   We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.   Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.   We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.   In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future."   (Makarrata, a Yolgnu word for treaty)   http://ulurustatement.org/ http://sydneypeacefoundation.org.au/peace-prize-recipients/2021-uluru-statement-from-the-heart/ http://www.referendumcouncil.org.au http://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/dialogues.html   Aug. 2018   A truth and justice commission would provide a public space for our voices, says Jackie Huggins, co-chair of National Congress of Australia's First Peoples.   'Truth-telling is not just an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issue. Truth-telling is, and always has been, a national issue. Historically and contemporarily, much of Australia has been blind to the experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.   Over a year ago, I was one of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates who gathered at Uluru to deliver the Statement from the Heart.   In the lead-up to this gathering, there were extensive consultations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the country. The Statement of the Heart was the culmination of these consultations. It contains the collective wisdom of first peoples from different nations, language groups and walks of life.   The Statement requested three things: a truth-telling process, agreement making and a constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament.   The theme of this year's Garma festival is truth-telling. This theme is timely. The time to tell the truth is long overdue.   A truth and justice commission would tell our stories; the atrocities of the last 230 years, yes, but also our stories from the beginning of time. It would provide a public space for our voices, our cultures, our stories, our grief, our histories, our trauma and our successes.   A truth and justice commission could fundamentally change the course of Australia's history. It could fundamentally shape our national identity, moral character and the direction we take as a nation.   How can Australia truly own its national identity without properly knowing and celebrating its history? Without facing up to its past and making reparations?   Australia is home to the oldest living continuing culture on Earth. Remains of first peoples have been dated to between 60,000 and 85,000 years old.   Thousands of Australians travel to Rome and Greece each year to learn about their ancient societies and visit historical sites. These 'ancient' cultures existed around 3,000 years ago.   We have an incredibly rich national heritage on our doorstep but all too often it is ignored. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are often thought of as a 'problem' to be solved. While we face a number of challenges, our cultures are intricate, ancient, ongoing, evolving and, in some places, thriving.   Part of the truth and justice commission's mandate would be to unearth the cultural histories and traditions of various Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations. 230 years of colonisation has led to significant loss of culture for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. While some of this can never be retrieved, much remains to be revived and rediscovered through truth-telling.   We are here. We have survived. We form the basis of Australia's national and cultural heritage. And it is about time that our histories, cultures and stories are told and celebrated on a national level.   While no one alive today is to blame for the atrocities meted against us by their ancestors, many Australians feel a sense of sadness for what made this nation possible.   Every non-Indigenous person in this country today has benefited from our dispossession, whether they realise it or not. They are on our land.   Publicly acknowledging past wrongs and holding public space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples histories is a way for contemporary Australia to reconcile with its violent past, knowing that today's society is doing what it can to redress historical wrongs and move forward towards a more positive future.   Engaging with our history provides an opportunity for national reflection about the kind of nation we want to be. Learning from the mistakes of our past in order to prevent repeating them is a critical part of consciously shaping our future.   Truth-telling is also a necessary precondition to our healing from the past and moving forward.   Intergenerational trauma, often misunderstood or dismissed by non-Indigenous people, is all too real for my peoples. Sometimes I hear, 'Well that happened so long ago, isn't it time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples got over it?'   To that I say: the stolen generations officially ended in 1967, but continued in some places into the 1970s. That's 50 years ago. Many peoples living today were forcibly removed from their families or had family members forcibly removed. Their children watched their suffering, and inherited their grief and trauma.   This is not to mention dispossession, massacres, violence, rapes, discriminatory policies, mass incarceration, desperately overcrowded housing, racism, and countless other social wrongs.   How do you expect us to even begin the healing process if our circumstances are unknown and our stories are not publicly told and acknowledged?   Unaddressed trauma directly contributes to poor social outcomes. It is a source of great national shame that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are left with this burden, with little to no assistance.   I end with an appeal to non-Indigenous Australians. To my mind, it is simply unfair that in a country we have inhabited and protected tens of millenia, our voices are routinely and systematically silenced. But this is the reality in which we find ourselves.   Support our request for a truth-telling process. Not just for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but for all Australians. Take a stand for our nation's future'.   * Jackie Huggins is a Bidjara and Birri-Gubba Juru woman from Queensland.   VOICE. TREATY. TRUTH. (NAIDOC Week)   We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.   The Indigenous voice of this country is over 65,000 plus years old.   They are the first words spoken on this continent. Languages that passed down lore, culture and knowledge for over millennia. They are precious to our nation.   It's that Indigenous voice that include know-how, practices, skills and innovations - found in a wide variety of contexts, such as agricultural, scientific, technical, ecological and medicinal fields, as well as biodiversity-related knowledge.   They are words connecting us to country, an understanding of country and of a people who are the oldest continuing culture on the planet.   And with 2019 being celebrated as the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages, it's time for our knowledge to be heard through our voic   For generations, we have sought recognition of our unique place in Australian history and society today. We need to be the architects of our lives and futures.   For generations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have looked for significant and lasting change.   Voice. Treaty. Truth. were three key elements to the reforms set out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. These reforms represent the unified position of First Nations Australians.   However, the Uluru Statement built on generations of consultation and discussions among Indigenous people on a range of issues and grievances. Consultations about the further reforms necessary to secure and underpin our rights and to ensure they can be exercised and enjoyed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.   It specifically sequenced a set of reforms: first, a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution and second, a Makarrata Commission to supervise treaty processes and truth-telling.   (Makarrata is a word from the language of the Yolngu people in Arnhem Land. The Yolngu concept of Makarrata captures the idea of two parties coming together after a struggle, healing the divisions of the past. It is about acknowledging that something has been done wrong, and it seeks to make things right.)   Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want their voice to be heard. First Nations were excluded from the Constitutional convention debates of the 1800's when the Australian Constitution came into force. Indigenous people were excluded from the bargaining table.   Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have always wanted an enhanced role in decision-making in Australia's democracy.   In the European settlement of Australia, there were no treaties, no formal settlements, no compacts. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people therefore did not cede sovereignty to our land. It was taken away from us. That will remain a continuing source of dispute.   Our sovereignty has never been ceded - not in 1788, not in 1967, not with the Native Title Act, not with the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It coexists with the sovereignty of the Crown and should never be extinguished.   Australia is one of the few liberal democracies around the world which still does not have a treaty or treaties or some other kind of formal acknowledgement or arrangement with its Indigenous minorities.   A substantive treaty has always been the primary aspiration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander movement. Critically, treaties are inseparable from Truth.   Lasting and effective agreement cannot be achieved unless we have a shared, truthful understanding of the nature of the dispute, of the history, of how we got to where we stand.   The true story of colonisation must be told, must be heard, must be acknowledged. But hearing this history is necessary before we can come to some true reconciliation, some genuine healing for both sides.   And of course, this is not just the history of our First Peoples, it is the history of all of us, of all of Australia, and we need to own it. Then we can move forward together. Let's work together for a shared future.   http://www.naccho.org.au/naccho-honours-naidoc-week-2019-calling-for-voice-treaty-and-truth/ http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/the-end-of-silence-part-1/11678696 http://coalitionofpeaks.org.au/priority-reforms/ Visit the related web page
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