“LET US CIRCULATE ON OUR CONTINENT”

This is the heartfelt cry that we, African civil society organizations, would like to address, on the sidelines of the migration week in Marrakech, which will bring together States, international organizations and civil society organizations from December, 4th to 11^th, 2018. As a result of the difficulties encountered in obtaining visas for Morocco by many African civil society organizations wishing to participate in this week of migration, we would not be silent about the discrimination that Africans continue to suffer in their right to mobility on their own continent.

At a time when our European, American or Asian colleagues, using their visa exemption for Morocco, were taking their plane ticket to Marrakech, we Africans, were still waiting for the Kingdom of Morocco wishes to issue us a visa . In the end, our African delegations had to pay more for their airline tickets than the other continents because they had to take them at the last minute. At a time when the United Nations calls in the development plan for 2030 to “leave no one behind”, at the time of the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration, we Africans, continue to suffer security policies to keep us from moving freely relative to other parts of the world.

We are humans like the others. The same blood flows in our veins. We certainly have the same capacities, wealth or intelligence as our brothers and sisters from other continents. We can not understand why so many discriminations against us and so many barriers created against the desire of the African populations to live in fraternity on their soil. We denounce the African states that continue to play the game of the West against African integration in the name of the fight against illegal immigration. We refuse the will to keep Africans in their country by strengthening controls at borders, deserts, seas and airports. We call on all organizations concerned with the right to equality of all on this earth and convinced of the need to put an end to the xenophobic migration policies against Africans to join us by signing this appeal and sending it to their official delegation present currently in Marrakech.

Done at Morocco on December, 4^th, 2018

The Signatory Organizations:

West African Observatory on Migrations, International Trade Union Confederation – Africa, ATTAC-APASH (Congo), Association Marocaine des Droits de l’Homme (Morocco), Centre for Youths Integrated Development (Nigeria), REALIC (Côte d’Ivoire), Libyan Bloggers Network (Libya), Collectif des Communautés Subsahariennes au Maroc (Morocco), Confédération des Organisations Syndicales Indépendantes du Bénin (Benin), Department of Sociology – University of Bamako (Mali), Moroccan Association of South Africa (South Africa), Alternative Espace Citoyen (Niger), Welcome Back Cameroon (Cameroon), Union Démocratique des Travailleurs du Sénégal (Senegal), SIFOS NGO (Gabon), Migrant Workers Association of Lesotho (Lesotho), Confédération des Syndicats Autonomes du Bénin (Benin), ALERT Migration – Afrique (Burkina Faso), The National Association of Women’s Organizations in Uganda (Uganda), Network of CSOs Against Child Trafficking Abuse and Labor (Nigeria), Botswana Labour Migrants Association (Botswana), Réseau Mondial Guinée Nouvelle (Guinea), Oak Foundation (Ghana), Organisation des Migrants de Nouadhibou (Mauritania), Confédération Général des Travailleurs du Bénin (Benin), Network of Ex Asyluum Seekers (Sierra Leone), The Gender Centre for Research and Studies (Sudan) , Ecowas Citizens Union of Liberia (Liberia), Confédération Nationale des Travailleurs du Sénégal (Senegal), Swaziland Migrant Mineworkers Association (Swaziland), Centrale des Syndicats du Privé et de l’Informel du Bénin (Benin), Union of Arab Community of South Africa (South Africa), Centrale des Syndicats Unis du Bénin (Benin), Union Nationale des Syndicats de Travailleurs du Bénin (Benin), Centre Nigérien des Droits de l’Homme pour la Paix et le Développement (Niger), Visions Solidaires (Togo), Association de Recherche de Solutions et d’Informations pour les Migrations (Burkina Faso), Action Internationale pour la Promotion du Développement (Togo), Institut Africain pour le Développement de la Famille (Benin), Droit de l’Homme et Développement (Cameroon), AVOSAH ONG (Benin), Children and Young People Living for Peace (Nigeria), Initiatives Panafricaines de Développement (Benin), ONG LTHP (Niger), Initiatives en Coopération Décentralisée et Développement (Benin), Concertation Nationale de la Société Civile (Togo),  CARDIOP ONG (Benin), ONG Human Help (Mali), Association de Lutte contre l’Exploitation des Employés de Maison (Benin), Jeunesse Active pour l’Intégration et l’Education (Benin), La Diaspora Béninoire au Togo (Togo), Réseau Panafricain des Journalistes pour la Supervision des Elections (Togo), EDI – ONG (Benin), Nouvelles Alternatives pour le Développement Durable en Afrique (Togo), The National Civic Forum (Sudan), Trade Collective (South Africa), South African Women in Dialogue (South Africa), Civil Society Network on Migration and Development (Nigeria), Center for Women Studies and Intervention (Nigeria), Africans Rising for Peace Justice and dignity (Senegal), ONG Maison Mère (Guinea), Aide aux Familles et Victimes des Migrantions Clandestines (Cameroon), Association des Refoulés d’Afrique Centrale au Mali (Mali), Global Humaniste (Togo), Union Nationale des Syndicats Autonomes du Sénégal (Senegal), Internap Cameroon (Cameroon), Association Planet Migrant (Morocco), Un Monde Avenir (Cameroon), Réseau International pour la Promotion de l’Entrepreneuriat (Togo), Social Watch (Benin), Association Nigérienne des Scouts de l’Environnement (Niger), OMANIAE Organization (Ghana)

In solidarity :

Movimiento Migrante Mesoamericano (MMM), Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), Augustinians International (AI), Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS), Plateforme des Organisations Nationales et Territoriales de la Société Civile Haïtienne (PONT-SCH)