On the way to the 7th World Social Forum on Migrations

São Paulo, September 6, 2015

We, organizations of different continents of the World gathered in São Paulo - Brazil, for the meeting of the International Committee of the World Social Forum on Migrations - FSMM, strongly condemn criticism and the unfair situation that affects millions of migrants who have been forced to flee their country to escape war, economic crisis, and the uncertainty of not having a future for themselves and their families. This situation, resulting from the violence unleashed by capital, is currently taking place in a crude, criminal form at all borders in the world.

Beyond the images of the Mediterranean which have outraged and shocked the world, we can see this barbaric situation over and over in many other parts of the planet on a daily basis and with total impunity. This is a war provoked by capital against humanity and nature, in which one of the weakest links is the migrant population, whose rights are continuously violated by States which, even though they have signed multiple treaties of human rights, end up systematically violating international law.

Governments and international organizations are trying to confuse public opinion by establishing differences between refugees and economic migrants, granting rights to some and denying those same rights to others, as is currently happening in Europe. Refugees and economic migrants are the victims of the capitalist system which deprives them of their rights, discriminates, exploits and criminalizes them; and despite that, seeks to transform victims into culprits by criminalizing or condemning them to death. Large corporations, agribusiness, land grabbing, dismantling of industry through robotization and financialization are all part of the structural causes of forced migration.

In this perverse game, the borders of Europe and the United States increasingly extend beyond their geographical boundaries. The militarization of their borders to prevent the arrival of migrants is growing through the outsourcing process of neighboring areas, as evidenced by bilateral agreements between European countries and the countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean and in sub-Saharan Africa.

In the Mesoamerican territory of transit to the "great American dream", human trafficking is a reality, as are the mass graves discovered in Mexico, all under the eyes of, or sometimes even in collusion with governments, state institutions and other stakeholders involved in the violation of the rights of migrants, such as organized crime and drug trafficking mafias. This increasingly reflects the brutality of war against the migrants and the population at large.

Through their policies and concrete practices, Governments intend to stop migration, regulate the flows of people and secure the inflow of cheap labor that is flexible and willing to meet the needs of capital regardless of their rights and their dignity, while ignoring the suffering caused by these policies within families and societies, particularly in the vast global south.

As part of this brutal attack by capital, we also wish to emphasize enforced disappearances that have left deep wounds, as in the case of the students of Ayotzinapa, Mexico; the tragedy of disappearances that in other parts of the World also leave thousands of families struggling to know the fate of their migrant parents.

In this bleak scenario we are also witnessing the birth of new autonomous social movements that, through solidarity, resistance and civil rebellion, are opening gaps and paths for transformation. The solidarity of the Hungarian population towards migrants, the march of freedom to Austria, and other thousands of examples are everyday events that show that a wind of hope is rising, reaffirming the need to create a world that will give way to other worlds, a world in which exploitation, discrimination, dispossession and exclusion do not exist.

We, the signatory organizations of this statement, declare ourselves in permanent rebellion against the system. We shall intensify our struggle to confront and denounce the hegemony of capital, which violates the most fundamental rights of human beings and, in particular, migrant populations; we call upon our brothers and sisters, workers, peasants, indigenous peoples, women and young people to unite in one frontal and daily struggle against this predatory system. Furthermore, we urge States to ratify and implement the various international human rights treaties.

For all these reasons, we renew our commitment to the various struggles that are being fought globally and we express our determination to carry out the 7th World Social Forum on Migrations – FSMM, in São Paulo, Brazil in mid-2016.

We are people, not numbers: stop the massacre!

Appearance alive of the 43 Ayotzinapa students "They were abducted alive, we want them back alive!"

Neither terrorists nor criminals, international workers!

Respect and protection for indigenous peoples!

People on the move for universal citizenship!

Finding alternatives, destroying walls and building alternatives to capital!

Rights of migrant peoples, regardless of their migration status!

We the undersigned,

Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofónica – ALER

Asociación Recreativa Cultural Italiana – ARCI

African Diaspora Forum – ADF, Sudáfrica

Espacio Sin Fronteras - ESF

Grito de los Excluidos Continental

MIREDES Internacional

Plataforma Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo – PIDHDD

Red de Scalabrinianas

Red Internacional de Migración y Desarrollo

Servicio Pastoral de los Migrantes – SPM, Brasil

We adhere,

Albergue “Hermanos en el Camino”, Ixtepec, Oaxaca, Padre Alejandro Solalinde (México)

Albergue para personas migrantes “La 72”, Tenosique, Tabasco, Fray Tomas González Castillo (México)

Albergue “Hogar de la Misericordia”, Chiapas, Padre Heyman Vázquez (México)

Asociación de Inmigrantes por la Integración Latinoamericana y del Caribe, APILA (Chile)

Asociación de Mujeres Migrantes y Refugiadas de Argentina – AMUMRA (Argentina)

Asociación Paraguaya de Apoyo a Migrantes – ASOPAMI (Paraguay)

Asociación Ecuménica de Cuyo, Mendoza, (Argentine)

Capítulo Boliviano de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo – CBDHDD (Bolivie)

Carta Mundial de Migrantes

Centro de Derechos Humanos y Ciudadanía del Migrante - CDHIC, (Brasil)

Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos “Segundo Montes Mozo S.J.” - CSMM, (Equateur)

Centros de Estudio y Apoyo al Desarrollo Local, (Bolivie)

Centro de Estudios Fronterizos, (Bolivie)

Clínica de Migración y Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Nacional de COMAHUE, Patagonia (Argentine)

Centro Sin Fronteras, Familia Latina Unida, Walter Coleman, Emma Lozano; Chicago, Illinois (USA)

Colectivo Pro Derechos Humanos, PRODH (Equateur)

Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos – CDH (Equateur)

Comuna Caribe ( Puerto Rico)

Coordinadora de Abogados del Paraguay (Paraguay)

Cooperativa de Mediadores Interculturales (Diversitas Coop.) Quebec (Canadá)

Diálogos Eco sistémicos, Quinta Colorada, Luis Lopezllera, Cristina Lavalle, Ignacio Peón; Luis Bustamante; Amado Sánchez, Claudia Caballero Borja;

Frente Patria Migrante (Argentina)

El Kolectivo Panamá (Panamá)

Frente Nacional de Sectores Afectados por la Expansión Piñera - FRENASSAP (Costa Rica)

Foro Social Mundial México, Oscar González (México)

Grito Argentino, (Argentine)

Grito Caribe (República Dominicana)

Junta de Perú (Perú)

Movimiento Campesino en Defensa del Río Cobre – MOCAMDERCO (Panamá)

Movimiento Migrante Mesoamericano (M3), Marta Sánchez Soler, José Jacques y Medina, Rubén Figueroa, Elvira Arellano, Adriana Luna Parra y Amarela Varela (México)

Mirada Migrante (Chile)

Mujeres Sin Fronteras – (Uruguay)

Organización Fraterna Negra Hondureña – OFRANEH (Honduras)

Organización de Solidaridad de los Pueblos de África, Asia y América Latina - OSPAAAL

Pastoral de Migraciones, Neuquén (Argentine)

Plataforma de Gestión Cultural Cusuco (Nicaragua)

PRAMI - Universidad Iberoamericana

Red Nacional de Líderes Migrantes (Argentine)

Red de Migrantes y Refugiados en Argentina (Argentine)

Vientos del Sur, (Equateur)

Unión de Campesinos y Emigrantes Mexicanos (UCEM) (México)