Frères des Hommes - www.france-fdh.org

 PDF version

 Version française

 Versión en español

 Print this page

Subscribe, Unsubscribe

 Archives


EDITORIAL

Haïti not only is one of the poorest countries in the world, it is also the first republic to have been born from the slaves’ will of emancipation. Over 200 years later the heirs to this history still have a lot to teach us, notably as regards migration: a universal phenomenon which, of all times, has incited populations to go “somewhere else” and, very simply, get what’s necessary for them to live in dignity, as do now more and more young French people, for instance, who go abroad to get work.


Migration becomes a problem, however, if it has not been a chosen option, and, even more so for the people concerned, who, far too often are the victims of villainous trafficking - and this takes place not only between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In France, like everywhere else in the world, criminal networks of this type are a fact of life, a reality which is all the more disturbing as it exists side by side along with a strong migratory flow that provides very cheap labour in some sectors of the economy (agriculture, catering and hotel business).


Despite this huge traffic in human beings, despite the criminal nature of such infringements of human rights, surprisingly the media are extraordinarily discrete on the subject. This discretion comes in brutal contrast with the violence employed in dealing with children or adults who have no papers; these people who, even though their situation is “irregular”, can in no way be described as delinquents, much less criminals. We must resist the temptation to confuse or amalgamate such people, if we want a fairer world.



Frères des Hommes

PARTICIPATING [citizen involvement]

In Haiti, migrant rights are established at the border
Human rights education teams travel along the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, presenting various artistic and educational activities such as dice games, “human rights hopscotch”, a theatre forum on people-trafficking and smuggling, a militants’ circle on the importance of providing human rights assistance, etc.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

DEMONSTRATING [public activism]

A new social movement in the streets of Mexico City
15th September, 2006 – following weeks of siege in the streets of the Mexican capital, the camps have now broken and hostilities have ceased. Throughout the summer, some hundreds of thousands of Mexicans, the public, NGO members, rural associations, popular movements, trades unions and partisans of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) [..] have been demonstrating against the way in which Felipe Calderón, candidate of the National Action Party [..] achieved victory.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

TRAINING [knowledge for action]

Brazil, children at the land less workers’ travelling school
“In town, there is major discrimination against the children of the Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement (MST)”, explained Olavo Rubens Pereira, a young inhabitant of the Chapadão acampamento. This point of view is shared by all MST militants, like Geni Batista Faltering: - “In town, even the teachers and the other pupils treat the children differently because they are people “without land”.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

COOPERATING [sharing resources]

Guatemala: women do not remain victims
As Hilda, 12, was on her way to meet her mother who was out gathering wood, one of the village-men attacked her with a machete. He didn’t succeed in raping the girl but tried to kill her with his weapon. Hilda recovered from that situation, even if she now has a huge scar across her belly.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

INFORMING [exchanging ideas]

Bolivia: Radio Yungas, acts as a mediator
In the Valley of Yungas, in Bolivia, community life is governed by the rhythm of the radio. In this hilly region, where travel is extremely difficult and where telephone access is rare, the radio has become the best remedy for geographic isolation. It also plays a part in people’s education, in a region where most children do not go to school.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

TESTIMONY [culture and solidarity]

Identities and cultures in the shantytowns of Peru
Luis Buezo and Emilie Doré, from the Sururbano collective , rose to a great challenge by organising the first “Meeting on urban popular cultures in Latin America” in Lima, in partnership with the ADEC-ATC association. The challenge was to organise a festival of documentary films to discuss marginality and urban cultures in Peru and make people aware of the reality of popular neighbourhoods in Latin America.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

PORTRAIT [a meeting with ...]

Barbara Luna supports the associations of Argentina and the world
From her American Indian roots, Barbara Luna, an Argentinean singer, has her heart set on promoting Latin America’s traditional and popular music. An engagement that we can see throughout her songs and her actions as a citizen.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article