Because Political Participation is a Human Right

Alexandre Beddock · Adam Elsod (Voicify)

For the past years, the gap between the EU countries and their citizens is getting bigger and bigger. Europe failed to include its inhabitants in its decision-making processes. Majorities in France (62 percent), Germany (55), Italy (57), Spain (52), and Austria (51) now hold the view the “European project” as such is “broken". Youth with migratory experiences, as many discriminated groups, such as youth, women, LGBT+, are even more concerned by this lack of political inclusion.

Most of the attempts to open the space for “migrants” to have a say fall short. Still in 2021, when one is invited to speak in front of a camera, take the microphone at a conference or a political rally, it will merely be as a storyteller. And the same stories would be repeated over and over. The narrative of a very rough boat ride or desert crossing is on repeat. The same is true for the poor living conditions on the arrival to Europe. And we’ve heard the stories before: the explanations on how hard life was back home when the family had to endure war, starvation, persecutions, or misery….

Even in so-called progressive parties, or in the NGOs sphere, “migrants” keep on being excluded, or even worse, tokenized. They are being used to give a false impression of diversity and inclusion: always presented as beneficiaries of policies and charities, very rarely included as equal partners, and almost never considered for leadership roles. Voicify wants to put an end to this.

Never at the table, often on the menu

We are YREMASUD. An inclusive acronym that significates Young refugees, Exiled, Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and UnDocumented, representing diverse groups of people experiencing migrations.

However, some of the challenges we face are common. When establishing in one country, a number of barriers drive us away from any kind of political activities: the legal status, and of course many discriminations, that could be based on ethnicity, culture, language or religion.

Regardless, our lives are affected daily by policies decided upon without our involvement. We don’t sit at the decisions table, but we are often on the menu.

At the European level, the figures are striking. You must also be aware that 22 million nationals from developing countries are living in the EU. If this population was represented as a country, it would make up the 6th largest EU country by population, ranking right between Romania and Poland. These 22 million are excluded daily from decision-making processes that directly affect them. Would you imagine that Poland would be excluded from EU decision-making?

What kind of democracy keeps millions left out from its institutions? Whilst “migrants” are often associated with the right to freedom of movement, the right to security or to live with dignity, their right to political participation is constantly being denied and ignored.

Not only the largest consultation of YREMASUD self-led organizations ever done across Europe

This situation needs an urgent fix. But not a quick one. In July, we will launch the largest consultations of youth with migratory experiences ever done across Europe. This is not just another consultation of “migrants”.

To be genuine. this consultation has to be self-led. For us, by us. Only organizations and networks established by YREMASUD themselves can carry it out and be part of it. A self-led consultation means that YREMASUD actually are the ones deciding on the consultation focus, and subsequently influencing the political agenda, rather than being mere respondents. The consultation will take place in Spain, Italy, Malta, and Greece as arrival countries and Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, The Netherlands, and Belgium as destination countries of many YREMASUD across Europe. This process will lead to the publication of clear policy recommendations on key EU policy areas in October 2021.

Challenge the status quo with a holistic approach

This is where Voicify disrupts the systems. In the past, many consultations had failed. And we learned from those. We don’t only consult youth with migratory experiences: we build their political power.

Next month (July 2021),  Voicify will start a long-term online capacity building and mentorship program for YREMASUD. This program covers topics such as human rights, participation, advocacy, organization development, the program aims to strengthen their competencies and organizations, create connections between them, give them the opportunity to exchange on best practices, and develop their abilities to intervene in decision-making at the European level.

An ecosystem for participation

And because Voicify works on both sides of the same coin: we are not only mobilizing a new generation of YREMASUD advocates, but we are also creating a real ecosystem to make their political participation possible.

“We have already worked on that for years and we are determined to continue with Voicify” explains Adam Elsod the Project Manager of Voicify. “For instance, the founding organizations of Voicify - The Young Republic and Voices of Young Refugees in Europe, are both recognized self-led organizations. They were also represented in the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe where they successfully advocated for the adoption by Council of Europe of the first recommendations on young refugees transitioning to adulthood”

And because we can only build an inclusive Europe if we are together: for the past years, our founding organizations have tied links with key European allies, actors of the civil society, institutions, or politics. They also believe that political participation is a human right and that YREMASUD must be meaningfully involved in shaping the many policies that affect them. They are also committed to erase discrimination practices within their own organizations.

They will amplify the voices of YREMASUD towards EU bodies and institutions, work with us to remove the barriers of YREMASUD political participation, and ease the access of YREMASUD advocates to key decision-makers, for a face-to-face meeting and genuine dialogue for example.

Through these key processes, Voicify challenges the status quo and institutionalizes the political participation of YREMASUD in the long run. It also lays the foundation for the creation of the first-ever umbrella organization for youth with migratory experiences. For the first time in Europe, millions of youth with lived migratory experiences will be structurally represented at the European level, and not only invited on an ad-hoc basis.

If you also believe that people must have a say in policies that affect them.

If you want to build an inclusive Europe with us.

Start today by thinking about YREMASUD differently, as young people with dignity and agency over their own lives.

And join us online & watch these spaces for the launch of our future campaigns. Stay tuned!

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We will publish the policy recommendations from the consultation towards the end of the year, and we will launch a series of local and national events, as well as an online campaign to disseminate them and advocate for the political participation of YREMASUD across the EU.