Treaty of Middelburg
I am very passionate about the rights of people on the move and given the growing restriction and authoritarian trend of European migration policies, I strongly believe there is a lot of work to be done in drafting and pushing for critical, bottom up, intersectional and local-regionally defined approaches to more humane and secure migration policies. Additionally these policies should not only focus only asylum seekers, but rather include and take into account the real shift in the diversity of migrant profiles and ensure safe and context based safeguards for people on the move.
Team members
- ■ Marta Garcia Diaz
Why do you want to participate?
Given the rise of far right discourse in European democracies and the shifting transatlantic foreign policy negotiations with Trumps government, it is becoming even more important to create civic spaces with youth led proposals that adhere to international law and humane public policies. Specially in the field of migration, growing internal displacements induced by climate change and critical efforts to secure the rights of families, marginalised communities and people on the move need to be met with actionable and realistic joint action. Forming part of this conference would be a great step to jointly take action.
What does freedom mean to you?
Freedom only exists with minimal state intervention in the every day life of people, that allows for the enjoyment and pursuit of opportunities without unnecessary state impediments. Moreover, freedom can only prevail if all individuals are subject to equal treatment and non-discriminatory practices.
What are the biggest challenges?
There’s many obstacles to freedom starting with the impact of large tech companies and their exclusionary, hate speech driven language on social media platforms, which increasingly affects youths right to freedom of association and expression. At the same time, as a result of technology and online social spaces, the ability of youth to gather and be represented in physical public spaces has shrank. This means that new forms of tackling youth political representation demand the inclusion of youth voices to form new spaces of dialogue and policy development.
Do you have a message?
Freedom is a very broad and all in compassing concept but in regards to migration ( a very complex subject in itself) integrated and humane opportunities for all should take into account the knowledge and solidarity practices that take place at the local level, to inform higher level policy development. Without grounded knowledge from border cities, for instance, the creation of conviviality between diverse groups of people, higher up policy makers cannot even begin to grasp the challenges and obstacles of migration regulations or security driven agendas.
