International Day Against Racism: Racial discrimination against migrants and refugees

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21, we had the opportunity to talk to Dr Ibrahima Guissé, member of the CERD Committee, to discuss the specificities and systemic nature of racial discrimination, as well as the current relevance and potential challenges of the general comment.

Racial discrimination is both a cause and a product of forced displacement, making refugees and migrants particularly vulnerable and at risk of discrimination. What are the characteristics of racist discrimination?

Ibrahima Guissé: Racial discrimination and related forms of intolerance can be a source of forced displacement as well as undermine the protection afforded to refugees and asylum-seekers. Racist ideology developed and systematized in the nineteenth century, with approaches centred on attempts to explain the differences between human groups. The racist doctrine remains based on a postulate of the sacralization and absolutization of physical or cultural differences between human groups. In its deployment within our current societies, racism reveals its complex and multidimensional character including attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and prejudices that manifest themselves in various modes of stigmatization and violence such as insults, hate speech, or hate crimes. It is further marked by the denial of identity and humanity through the negation or inferiorization of groups of people who are perceived as different.

The broad scope of the definition of racism is reflected in Article 1.1. of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which defines it as "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life". Discrimination, whether direct or indirect, is about rights, and the racial variable illustrates the indivisibility and interdependence of rights.

Addressing the persistence of racism in 2025, the year which commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Convention, implies raising the question of the historical and structural injustices that have presided over the architecture of the current multilateral system as well as the complex challenges related to exclusion and social and racial inequalities.

To what extent is racial discrimination against refugees and migrants a systemic problem? What are the responsibilities of host countries and civil societies in combating this phenomenon?

Discrimination, whether systemic or not, is part of social relations that reproduce inequalities and oppressive relationships. Systemic discrimination against refugees, ethnic minorities, migrants, and asylum seekers is fuelled by harmful narratives that permeate policies and procedures which ultimately institutionalise discriminatory practices that can be voluntary or involuntary. The symptoms of this discrimination are manifested in the socio-demographic reality of ethnic minorities, including migrants or asylum seekers, who for various reasons are over-represented in the statistics of precariousness, vulnerability, and difficult living conditions. Bridging the gap between the normative discourse on legal equality and its concretization towards de facto equality to counter the effects of systemic discrimination requires political and legislative measures by States.

States Parties or host countries have a responsibility to comply with their obligations under various international treaties. In this regard, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination consistently expresses its concerns and provides recommendations to States parties. For example, it urges them to take measures to ensure that refugees and asylum-seekers have access to and enjoy their rights without discrimination, in particular housing, health services, and education, and to enact legislation prohibiting racial profiling by law enforcement bodies during police stops.

It is unfortunately easy to note that for several decades now we have been witnessing a gradual dismantling of the right to asylum, collective expulsions, and refoulements, the excessive use of force and violence, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment inflicted by law enforcement officers against migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Civil society organizations and national human rights institutions do considerable work in collecting data on violations of the human rights of these people exposed to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.

We are currently witnessing an increasingly heated and emotional debate on migration in many national contexts, particularly in the US and the EU. How do you assess the implications and dangers of this for the fight against racial discrimination?

Above all, we must recognize and accept the fundamentally pluralistic character of our modern societies. As a result, any attempt to refuse or deny the cultural heterogeneity of nations, our cities, our neighbourhoods, leads to the production of mechanisms of exclusion of certain groups of the population. The emergence of structured movements of extremist and nationalist tendencies that articulate a discourse that is both xenophobic and racist towards social or minority groups perceived as a threat, constitutes an existential challenge to the democratic ideal. In a democracy, there should be no difficulty, much less danger, in articulating issues of racial justice.

The fight against racial discrimination is thus inseparable from the fight for human rights. However, it is impossible to detach human rights of national contexts, whether in the United States or in Europe, unless these two geographical and historical groups, that have fertilized modern democracy, betray their heritage. It is simply to say that the fight against racial discrimination must be a fight for all, because it is a fight for equality, justice and human dignity. Indeed, the world is currently going through a collective anxiety attack, but those who experience existential anxiety on a daily basis, namely the most vulnerable in society and subject to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, should not be the victims of atonement.

You are currently working on a Joint General Comment of the CERD and CMW Committees to promote the rights of refugees and migrants and to combat xenophobia against these groups. What are the contents, perspectives, and recommendations this document highlights?

The overall objective of the joint general comment of CERD and CMW is currently being drafted to provide States Parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and/or the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families with authoritative guidance on policies for the prevention and eradication of xenophobia and its impact on those groups. The joint comment, once approved by the committees, will present concrete recommendations dealing with specific thematic guidelines for the eradication of xenophobia as well as concerns related to rights-based narratives about migration, hate speech, the role of media and education in building cohesive and inclusive societies.