Not so trite!
First thoughts du jour:
THOUGHT du jour: HATE – Remember that behind the person who hates you is a complicated story. And it could be one of suffering, confusion, poor judgment, ignorance, undue influence, victimhood…. Albeit no excuse, it is for this reason that we cannot combat hate with more hate, but rather with understanding and compassion. We may not have the solution to stop the hate, though our more fragrant response can filter the stench, and our ability to rise above it, to walk away from the fray, does not mean we remain silent – but rather measured with every response, always seeking a safe and peaceful path to lead into the light…. ek is n vrou wat weet!
THOUGHT du jour: LEGACY: Presidents are remembered either for the VERY BEST or the VERY WORST things that they do in their term. Taking a look at NYT – BUSH saved 25 million lives in Africa during the AIDS crisis for his action and funding. With that my mind is faint on all the crap that I despised him for including the anti-GAY shit that he pulled and harms he caused our LGBTQI+ community and the IRAQ debacle. TRUMP will be remembered for his VERY WORST which at this time stands at JANUARY 6th INSURRECTION that he LED! So …. For me BILL CLINTON is DOMA! Though I loved him for much other stuff. OBAMA is OBAMACARE, rest of it hindered by obstructionists. What are your thoughts? etc etc.. PS This is how we land.., imho … not the complexity of a full analysis.
A Story of FLIGHT with The Love of your Life
Imagine the love of your life. The person who you are snuggled up to right now. Who you track on their way to work to ensure they arrives safe. The person who you will dine with tonight in your warm kitchen. The person who you can’t wait to go to a concert with on Saturday. Many of us have that and more. BUT – you live in a place where your LOVE is considered criminal to such an extent that you can go to jail if outed and even put to death. THEN BAM you are outed! You literally have to drop everything and escape out a back window because there is a mob at your door. You don’t have time to grab your important docs. You grab mobile phone, luckily an ID at hand, and you run! With your LOVE, for your life.
After tenuous attempts to find safe shelter, you do, but then the Government passes a law that targets the safe shelter and shuts it down under threat of arrest of residents and the human rights defenders who manage it. So now another 15 people are on the run, for a second time.
So the couple decide to try other shelters only to find all are under threat and taking mitigation measures and suddenly there are hundreds of LGBTQI+ people, forcible displaced, with nowhere to go, not to mention the many thousand still to be outed in the near future. The Couple – a real couple who we cannot name. And we also cannot name second countries for fear of exposure:
The couple decide they have no choice but to leave the country. There are no choices. There is no VISA to a safe-equality-accepting country. There is NO MONEY. There is the shirt on the back and an ID document, a phone and charger, and that is all. They contact various global organizations as local organizations are shut down, have no funds, or cannot provide exile related help. There are few to NONE.
The couple takes 2 weeks to move through a complex situation to decide their path – and several borders later, only one is permitted into the destination and the other sent back – all the way back – more money – for reasons we will not expose.
IMAGINE THAT!……. The one keeps going with a plan for the one sent back ….. what an awful decision for any couple to make in such short time … but the decision may be life saving, ultimately for both… it is like picking which frying pan to jump into – the one with green bubbles or the one with blue bubbles?
Both members of the couple are still in transition – in desperate need of funds to keep this process going. These funds can be directed through AHRC, as we continue to mitigate the horror of this story, through best we can, unfunded, with direct advocacy on their behalf and small sums along the way. UPDATED: One is in safe hands of UNHCR protection staff, albeit in a country that may be considered a hostile host country. Now the complexity and story of survival continues and it could be for years for this person for advocacy, food, shelter and more….. Let us pray the couple is reunited. The solutions are few and far between: WE NEED HELP
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SPECIAL PATHS BEFORE SUCH EMERGENCY ARISES
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SPECIAL PATHS FOR LGBTQI+ IN THESE SITUATIONS
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SIGNATURES ON PETITIONS HERE and elsewhere
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CASH HERE
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CORPORATIONS TO COME OUT AND FUND THE REAL DOERS – not the chatters – after all corporations are still making money in these venues. Apple has a store in Ghana, Google and Facebook are everywhere… NETFLIX is streaming and talking to Kenya about pulling LGBTQI+ content. Its time to shake to up! “KUK en BETAAL” as we say in South Africa …..
By Melanie Nathan, March 29, 2023, nathan@AfricanHRC.org
AHRC Statement on Ciudad Juárez Tragedy Causing 68 Migrants Deaths
By Melanie Nathan, nathan@AfricanHRC.org March 28, 2023
African Human Rights Coalition is incensed that a fire occurred yesterday in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and condemns the conditions and policies that contributed to its cause.
Immigration authorities illegally deprived 68 migrants of Colombian, Ecuadorian, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Honduran and Venezuelan nationality of their freedom without review of their immigration status, and now 29 people have been reported as injured and 39 migrants have lost their lives. The U.S. has policies that cause back ups contributing to a milieu that can only lead to tragedy.
We hear that these facts show the actions that Mexican authorities in Ciudad Juárez have repeatedly carried out against the migrant population, including “hunts” and inciting discrimination and xenophobia in the Mexican population, thus violating the human rights guaranteed to all people who enter Mexican territory regardless of their immigration status. These rights are established by the Constitution of Mexico and various international human rights accords.
We must note that through these lost lives the evidenced pain and suffering experienced by people with irregular status, who are forced to leave their countries of origin, homes, and families to become migrants overnight. They are further victimized by governments who are supposed to help them.
Advocated who work with these populations and in the region are demanding that Mexico provide:
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Immediate and expeditious psychological, medical and legal assistance to the victims, the latter in order to be informed of the procedures for migratory regularization to which they may have access, as well as the fair compensation for the violation of their human rights;
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Immediate return of the remains of the deceased to their countries of origin, as well as comprehensive reparation for the damage caused to their relatives and fair compensation due to the violation of human rights committed by the immigration, municipal and state authorities;
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Holistic grief accompaniment facilitated to the relatives of these deceased persons, throughout the process of welcoming them to the country to the transfer of their loved ones;
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That the well-being of migrants is safeguarded without resorting to the use of force, taking into account the principles of absolute necessity and proportionality;
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Unrestricted respect for the human rights of each and every migrant, regardless of their immigration status;
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That an exhaustive investigation of the facts be carried out, assuming due responsibility for the decisions made by the personnel of the National Institute of Migration.
This must also been seen in light of the horrendous US policies that have caused gridlocks and bans, through the hand of Donald Trump, much of which has been continued by the Biden administration, which is now proposing even more limiting asylum hoops that effectively are tantamount to BANS. Our opposition to that new proposed rules have been submitted to the U.S. Government, together with 4,000 other opposing commentaries. AHRC’s opposition can be seen here, where we oppose the proposed rules from and African LGBTQI+ perspective. This failed policy is a set up for these types of detentions and general conditions that lead to such tragedy.
African Human rights Coalition joins in the grief of the relatives of the people who died in this tragic event and we reaffirm our commitment to the work we all do for better policy and services that serve to eradicate such tragedies.
African Human Rights Coalition Files LGBTQI+ Focused Opposition to Biden Asylum Proposed Rule
African Human Rights Coalition has filed comments with the U.S. government opposing the Biden administration’s proposed regulations for asylum seekers arriving at the southern border. AHRC’s comments focus on LGBTQI+ asylum seekers from African countries, who we contend to be among the most marginalized within the forced displacement population. Attempting to reach the Southern Border is often the only option, yet most onerous from someone from an African country. They have chosen that most difficult path, due to limited pathways. We also conclude that the rule proposal is incompatible with asylum law and international refugee law. AHRC has also highlighted the inadequacies in the U.S. law and policy to accommodate Africa’s LGBTQI population, with its unique considerations. READ COMMENTS HERE
THATS ALL FOLKS!
Melanie Nathan
Nathan@AfricanHRC.org
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