The Third Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations examines the role of migrants as agents of change and development

The Third Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations of the United Nations was held between May 27 and 29, 2010, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The meeting brought together over 7,000 participants from 120 countries and from all continents. Among them were: the Secretary General of the United Nations, nine heads of state, 50 ministers of state, 21 international organizations, businesses, universities, research centers, civil society organizations and religious groups, which discussed, in several meetings, the roots of global conflicts between different cultures and how to reach a solution to the problems through dialogue. The Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN) was also represented at this Forum with its Executive Director, Fr Leonir Chiarello.

During the Forum, participants discussed issues that ranged from a new map of global powers to the utilization of crisis as factors of change; cultural diversity as a path to peace; democracy; good governance; human rights and ethics in the solution conflict; employment and poverty reduction; the role of the media, women and religious leaders in promoting human development and peace.

At the opening session of the event, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Mon, after putting today's main conflicts and wars in their context, invited the Heads of State and all political and social actors to engage in building societies more inclusive, based on peaceful coexistence, without the imposition of one group over another or one nation over another. In this task, according to Ban Ki-Mon, education has an essential role because it allows us to "un-learn" certain behaviors in order to appreciate others and their diversity. "We are one big family with different members and a common faith: we believe in a better world for everyone," assured the UN Secretary General.

Among the discussions, a special session was dedicated to "Migrants as agents of change and development." During the session, coordinated by the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), William Lacy Swing, the Minister of Justice of Brazil, Luiz Paulo Teles Ferreira Barreto, pointed out the important role that immigrants have had and still have in the development of the country and in the building of intercultural dialogue. Recognizing this important role of migrants, the Minister said that Brazil was opposed to the current negative and restrictive trends in most of the countries receiving migrants and that Brazil had passed legislation to make it easier to regularize the situation of immigrants living in the country irregularly. According to the Minister, the policies of liberalization of goods and capital, and at the same time restriction and harassment of those who migrate are unsustainable and obsolete. Considering the positive reaction of the international community before the Second World War, when governments created an international legal system inspired by the protection of human rights of all people, the Minister acknowledged that the reaction against the attacks of 2001 and 2004 was a regression to the national rights with the purpose of protecting national security. In this context, the legal framework applies the criminalization of migrants, without respecting their human rights: migrants changed from victims to victimizers. Along the same line, the journalist of The Independent, of London, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, said that the current categorization of migrants in category A and category B was unsustainable. She asked, "Why British migrants have the right to come and go anywhere in the world without problems and immigrants arriving in Britain are treated from the moment they arrive at airport custom as potential terrorists?" The solution of these unsustainable problems, demands the commitment of all social and political actors to ensure an equitable and peaceful coexistence for all.

For more information on the Alliance of Civilizations, consult: www.unaoc.org.

For more information on the Third Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations (held in Rio de Janeiro), consult www.unaoc.org/rioforum.

The Fourth Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations will be held in Doha, capital of Qatar.

Official picture of the participants to the Third Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, Museum of the Modern Art (MAM), Rio de Janeiro. (Foto: Ricardo Stuckert/PR)