While wealthier countries scramble to secure their borders, the majority of refugees around the world try to survive in camps or in urban centers in poorer countries.1often those on the other side of the border of the country they had to leave.
However, the media attention and the current discourse – for example, because there are others – such as that of PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon regarding Roxham Road reinforce stereotypes regarding people who migrate. to Quebec.
Using terms like “rise of extremism” or “social crisis” when discussing migrants at borders2, he nurtures a worrying identity-based nationalism, distorts reality and tries to create for himself political capital concerning issues of which his understanding is incomplete. One of the reasons that explains why every year people risk their lives by taking dangerous routes, which often require the help of smugglers, is precisely the excessive closure of borders3.
According to the 1951 Geneva Convention, a refugee is a person who fears (well-founded) persecution because of “race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or opinion policies4 “.
In addition to carrying the burden of proving the persecution experienced, it must project the image that the host countries have of a “good” refugee, that is to say that he is vulnerable and must be rescued by the so-called developed”.
In addition to the difficulties experienced by all asylum seekers, there is specifically, for women, the absence of gender-related persecution in the definition of the Geneva Convention. It is through the lens of “belonging to a social group” that it is taken into consideration. Yet there is no consensus or common understanding of what a “social group” represents, so its application is unclear.5.
Flaws in the Geneva Convention
In addition to concealing certain types of violence experienced by women, this definition has the effect of categorizing plural and complex realities that cannot be “treated” as being the same since 1951.
I am not saying here that the Geneva Convention has no merit, but although it has flaws that are amplified by governments and procedures that treat migrants as criminals or without agency, thereby feeding their exclusion and stigmatization.
Barsalou and Sipowo explain in their article “Global migration crises in the light of sovereign reason”, that ” [d]n international migration law, the concepts often connote more the significance of sovereignty than the desire to protect individuals. Categories allow the State to limit its liability by qualifying, requalifying or creating new categories6 “.
The institutionalized path of asylum applications is thus covered with obstacles. Women must, for example, provide material evidence of the violence they experience – violence still treated as a private “matter”, which means that they do not reveal their experiences, and when they do, they are not taken seriously. However, it is their credibility in particular that is at stake.
To add to the irony, some women who are victims of domestic violence are interviewed in the same room as their partner.7. How can they really tell their story in such conditions? Unfortunately, this is only a small part of the inconsistencies in the application of migration laws.
To all those with political, social and economic power who will never experience forced migration, a call of conscience is needed. Given your privileges and your obtuse view of the world, you could start by listening to the voices of those people who really live these migratory journeys so that they teach you a little about humanity. They were 89.3 million worldwide at the end of 20218.
1 Jane Freedman. (2019). “Grand Challenges: Refugees and Conflict. » Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 1, p. 1-3.
2 CogecoMedia -98.5 FM, January 26, 2023: Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (Leader of the Parti Québécois) talks about Roxham Road and immigration to Quebec.
3 Jane Freedman. (2019). “The uses and abuses of “vulnerability” in EU asylum and refugee protection: protecting women or reducing autonomy. » Papeles del CEIC, 2019(1), p. 1-15.
5 Jane Freedman. (2019). “The uses and abuses of “vulnerability” in EU asylum and refugee protection: protecting women or reducing autonomy. » Papeles del CEIC, 2019(1), p. 1-15.
6 Olivier Barsalou and Alain-Guy Sipowo. (2018). “Global migration crises in the light of sovereign reason. » International studies, 49(2), p. 231-260.
7 Jane Freedman. (2019). “The uses and abuses of “vulnerability” in EU asylum and refugee protection: protecting women or reducing autonomy. » Papeles del CEIC, 2019(1), p. 1-15.