Drawing inspiration from the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, members of the AC convened an ad-hoc Working Group on Race and Migration which set for itself the task of unpacking the myriad layers of how racial injustice is manifested in migration governance and policy. This working group aims to reflect, inform and improve our own policies and practices within civil society spaces and to deepen and focus our joint global policy advocacy on race and discrimination in partnership with Member States and other stakeholders.
After a series of civil society dialogues with global and regional experts on race and discrimination from September-December 2020, the AC’s Civil Society Policy Brief Addressing Racism in Global Migration Governance and Policy was published in March 2021.
Today, the Working Group continues to work on long-term advocacy for racial justice within global migration governance and policies in conjunction with and based on first addressing the internalised and institutionalised racial injustices within the civil society movement’s own structures and practices.
Members of the Working Group are also actively engaged in the UN Network on Migration’s GCM Workstream 11 on Enhancing the application of anti-discrimination dimensions, including against racism, xenophobia and intolerance into the work of the Network.
In March 2024, the AC and its Working Group on Race and Migration submitted a concept paper for the CERD-CMW Joint General Comment/Recommendation on Obligations of State Parties on public policies for addressing and eradicating xenophobia and its impact on the rights of migrants, their families, and other non-citizens affected by racial discrimination.
Other activities of the Working Group:
- It Takes a Community (#ITAC)
- People’s Migration Challenge (PMC)
See the #ITAC Live chat on Culture and Racial Justice Scenarios below: