by Giovana Oaxaca, Program Director for Migration Policy

The allegations of medical neglect and invasive gynecological procedures in a privately-run detention center in Irwin County, Ocilla, Ga.—including coerced sterilization—quickly drew disbelief and condemnation worldwide this fall. Far from unique, these shocking allegations echo the historic and current reality of cruel and inhumane treatment towards migrant women. At every stage and step of their lives, migrants, immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers are at special risk of having their fundamental human rights violated.

GBV as a migration driver

What drives people to migrate will vary from person to person, but one of the most cited reasons is to escape from domestic abuse and violence. For countless women, girls, and LGTBQIA+ persons in the Northern Triangle of Central America–El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—sexual- and gender-based violence (GBV) is inescapable reality. Every day, over 100 cases of violence against women are filed in Guatemala. In 2018, a woman was killed in Honduras every 18 hours. El Salvador, which has the highest rate of femicide in Latin America, reported 84 femicides in an 8-month span of time in 2020 at the height of pandemic quarantine measures. Globally, gender-based violence is widely recognized as a key human rights issue, as highlighted in the international 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign.

These figures likely do not capture the full scope of the violence experienced by women. Social stigma, fear of retribution and lack of confidence in authorities often contribute to underreporting.

Shifts in U.S. Policy Toward Asylum Seekers

The United States has a policy of granting limited humanitarian protections to persons fleeing gender-based persecution and violence. Unfortunately, overtime, these protections have become harder to access. Under President Trump, the U.S. government has undermined protections for people fleeing domestic abuse and gang violence and turned away asylum seekers, trapping families, men, women and children in precarious conditions without any meaningful access to protection. People at risk of GBV thus contend with persecution at home, in transit, and even from U.S. authorities.

ELCA responds to human need

While working with migrating, returned and deported women, civil society organizations and faith-partners have expressed the need for services geared at empowering women socially, politically and economically. The ELCA’s AMMPARO strategy (Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities) has placed a special emphasis on working with advocates in Central America who give witness to these perilous conditions and supported their advocacy efforts.

“Migrants, immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers often suffer more when they are women, girls, or gender non-conforming people” notes the ELCA social statement Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Call to Action.” “Women, girls, and people who identify as non-binary must not be deprived of their human or civil rights.” When the disturbing account of human rights violations against immigrant women in custody of the privately run Irwin County Detention Center surfaced, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton stated, “As the ELCA we strongly condemn gender-based violence and violations of human rights wherever they occur.”

Threats in U.S. detention

Abuse of women is widespread in immigration detention centers and constitutes a serious threat to the civil and personal liberties of migrants. The detained population has multiplied over the last 30 years under a U.S. government policy to apprehend and detain increasing numbers of immigrants. Alternatives such as community-based alternatives to detention, although humane, less costly and more effective, have not been pursued, overburdening an already strained system at the expense of the people detained.

The United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) guidance says that all immigration practices should implement special measures to protect women from sexual and gender-based violence and exploitation in detention. According to the UNHCR, other groups that are vulnerable to abuse, like children and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, should also be afforded special measures to guarantee their safety. The UNHCR mainly advocates that detention should be used as a measure of last resort and asylum seekers should be given every opportunity to seek protection. The U.S. government must do more to meet even this basic standard of care.

In fact, the U.S. federal government has become one of the most egregious perpetrators and accessories of GBV. Between 2010 and 2017, there was a staggering 1,224 complaints of sexual assault abuse in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention yet only 43 investigations. Based upon known patterns, these numbers likely reflect underreporting. We know people don’t come forward out of fear of retaliation and are not consistently supported by confidence in prosecution of perpetrators. Like most cases of GBV, these acts are committed in nearly total impunity.

What can we do?

Increased scrutiny at Irwin creates new incentives for advocacy

• Supporting policies that aim to curb profiting from people’s suffering are one way to stamp out immigration practices in the U.S. that deprive women of their liberty and rights.
• Restoring the asylum system so that victims have access to humanitarian protections goes without saying—though the underlying definition of gender-based asylum could stand to be improved.
• Supporting survivors of violence at the onset through advocacy in their home countries, so that they do not feel obligated to flee, must also be an objective of any strategy to prevent and mitigate acts of GBV. The escalation of intimate partner violence, evidenced by the spike in femicides in El Salvador, signals the need to expand local programs for women in need of protection in their homes.
• The Keeping Women and Girls Safe from the Start Act of 2020 (S. 4003) includes some important measures to expand the U.S. government’s ability to prevent gender-based violence and provide early interventions at the onset of humanitarian emergencies.

These are just a few examples of systemic and institutional changes that can be made, and they are very likely to take some time to come to be implemented. However, these lay the groundwork for a just and compassionate solution to the unacceptable reality of sexual- and gender-based violence.

Click image to view larger.

Here is a very good history of immigration which helps us to see the whole picture:

History of U.S. Immigration

Here is link to a spreadsheet developed by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition continually updated to show resources available to migrants suffering from the pandemic:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18p9OSlLpSYanIoUC-gEbhVbRMYVUfw4wyrixa9ekGdc/htmlview?usp=embed_facebook

“Governmental oppression, war and famine send historic numbers of people streaming via dangerous routes into nearby countries that are overwhelmed and often reluctant to accept them. People are treated as “suspicious” or are brutalized simply because of their gender, race, ethnicity or religious beliefs”.

A Social Message on Human Rights, 2017

An unprecedented global pandemic that knows no border has brought into sharp focus the intersection of immigration and public health policy, and the unique challenges that immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers face throughout the world today. This pandemic is on track to exacerbate the vulnerabilities of some of the 272 million international migrants worldwide. Persons displaced internally and across borders are particularly at risk – and the majority of the world’s 25.9 million refugees and 41.3 million internally displaced persons are in developing countries that are being affected by the pandemic, where government institutions and medical facilities won’t be able to cope with the disease due to lack of infrastructure, resources and human capital.

https://assets.weforum.org/editor/responsive_large_webp_gKyssTbK1uVQQcxOsKfhCaQkB-v0IUg9HL_wHf-uQO8.webpGovernments are increasingly introducing measures to ‘flatten the curve‘ as infections are detected in a growing number of countries. As of 26 March, over 180 countries, territories and areas had passed travel restrictions due to COVID-19, including prohibitions of entry of nationals from other countries. These measures are complemented by the closure of borders in several countries, as well as the temporary suspension of labor migration from South Korea to Argentina, though the epidemiological research on pandemic travel bans show that they are ineffective and do not prevent the spread of disease particularly when the pandemic has already spread. A virus spreads among citizens just as fast, without selecting who to target. 

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-is-throttling-vital-migration-flows/

Migrants living in camps at the doorstep of Europe or the United States face the possibility of a devastating virus outbreak given their proximity to highly affected countries and their often-cramped living conditions, coupled with already stretched healthcare services. According to AMMPARO companions, serious outbreaks have already happened among migrants and shelters that are Covid-19 free are no longer accepting new residents for that reason. Physical isolation is not an option.

While the coronavirus pandemic has eclipsed a recent crisis at the border between Turkey and Greece, the situation of facilities in the Greek islands is alarming, leading some to call for the immediate evacuation of migrants. Similar fears of a COVID-19 outbreak have been expressed over a makeshift migrant camp at the US-Mexico border.

20,000 people are currently living in and around Moria refugee camp on Lesbos. Photograph: Miloš Bičanski/Getty
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/mar/11/lesbos-coronavirus-case-sparks-fears-for-refugee-camp-moria

The ELCA continues to  and related matters in Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Central America through the AMMPARO program and its advocacy work.

The plight of migrants in camps is not only at stake in those regions worst affected by the pandemic. As the virus progresses, it will endanger the lives of many in countries that host a large number of displaced persons, such as Jordan, Lebanon, Syria or Bangladesh. Resettlement is even more remote as the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have been forced to temporarily suspend refugees’ resettlement travels due to states’ mobility restrictions and concerns over exposing refugees to COVID-19. Developing countries will need the support of the international community to combat the virus for all who live in their communities.

https://www.csis.org/analysis/can-i-stay-or-can-i-go-now-longer-term-impacts-covid-19-global-migration

Coronavirus is also exacerbating the vulnerabilities of migrants working in destination countries. Questions are being raised about the risks for migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, as most of them live in highly populated migrant labor camps with insufficient sanitary conditions and pre-existing health issues caused by their work. In addition,  detained administratively in cramped facilities are at greater risk of becoming infected. Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have released some irregular migrants from administrative detention given the inability to proceed with deportation under the current state of emergency. The same pledge is being done in the United States, especially after the death of a 57-year-old man in immigration custody held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego and a second death of an immigrant detained at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia

More generally, the lockdown of some countries is impacting all state services, slowing down both migration processing and assistance provided to asylum seekers. Some essential migrant support services are simply being closed until further notice due to the prohibition of social gatherings, as is the case with a migrant kitchen at Colombia’s border that normally feeds around 4,500 Venezuelan migrants every day and offers basic medical services.

In the United States, migrants including unaccompanied children are being turned back at the border or deported back to countries of origin despite their well-founded fear of persecution. All immigration cases except of those detained are being adjourned to new dates. 

United States Southern Border – Mexico
https://oecd-development-matters.org/2020/04/02/covid-19-consequences-for-international-migration-and-development/

Migrants’ socioeconomic status may negatively impact their ability to take all precautionary measures against COVID-19 and to receive medical care if contaminated due to lack of or inappropriate health insurance and insufficient financial resources. Among these migrants, those in an undocumented   are often uninsured and may be reluctant to enter medical facilities for fear of being reported if no appropriate firewalls exist regarding data sharing with the immigration and law enforcement authorities. From China to South Africa, and the United States, calls are being made for inclusive COVID-19 responses to ensure migrants are incorporated not only into public health strategies and planning around the world, but also in their national economic relief responses.

Our Church, Our Social Statements, Our Actions During Times of Coronavirus

A longer-term impact of COVID-19 may be on the future of migrants’ integration and social cohesion. Feelings of distrust and instances of discrimination exacerbated by fake news, misinformation and the politicization of the issue have already emerged. The spread of the virus in some countries in Western Africa has even been referred to as the ‘coronization of populations’ – that is, a new form of colonization through the coronavirus, exposing a deep-seated xenophobia as well, especially an Anti-Asian sentiment.

Uncertainty and anxiety should not become justifications for scapegoating migrants, but rather should be an opportunity to better display empathy and solidarity. The loss of control being felt across communities in the United States and elsewhere – related to the inability to cross borders, the restrictions on freedom of movement, displays of extreme panic buying, and feelings of physical isolation – provide insights into the daily struggles faced by displaced persons around the world every day. As church, we should use this understanding to ensure migrants are not left behind and address the scourge of racisms within the policies that sustain our country and communities as well as those in other countries. Lutherans have a long history of supporting migrants in the US (e.g. 2019 Churchwide Assembly actions through the adoption of the AMMPARO strategy in 2016 and becoming a sanctuary church body in 2019 as well as CA19.03.11 and CA19.05.31). The ELCA Human Rights Social Statement encourages us to draw attention and find courage, and act with discernment and action to promote and protect human rights.

In recent years, migrants are often treated as “suspicious” or are brutalized simply because of their gender, race, ethnicity or religious beliefs. And the root causes of their migration journey usually lie because of war, extreme poverty, lack of access to basic services, such as clean water, and environmental degradation, which doesn’t allow them to flourish within their communities. Our church teaches us that “through Jesus, our relational God took on the vulnerable and finite human form of a Jewish man, a group oppressed by the Roman Empire. The Word’s embodiment in concrete, finite form teaches that recognizing the multidimensional needs of human bodies is one means of honoring God’s creation. Working to uphold rights is a concrete way to respond to the neighbor’s need”.

                                             REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Genesis 12:1 – The call of Abram:  “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

Look for more information about how the AMMPARO network is responding to vulnerable communities both international and in the US in upcoming blog posts.

Welcome to the ELCA AMMPARO blog. For those of you who have discovered this and are not familiar with the ELCA AMMPARO strategy, it the ELCA strategy to accompany migrant children and families with protection, advocacy, representation and opportunities. As a holistic, whole church response, AMMPARO accompanies migrants in countries of origin, transit, destination and return!

We look forward to using this space to share in a deeper and more substantial way, our current analysis of the issues we are facing around immigration issues as well as a place to access the many immigration advocacy initiatives that we are a part of as ELCA AMMPARO. Stories of migrants will also be shared here.

Our hope is that this will lead to greater understanding, increased advocacy and thus justice for these very vulnerable children of God!