Press Release | Undocumented migrants told to assert rights in forum in Amsterdam; human rights advocates slam “mos maiorum”

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing

Rome, Italy October 17 1014

PRESS RELEASE
15 October 2014

“There should be no panic. Especially in Amsterdam, there is no policy to hunt down illegals. That is the experience I have, and that is, I hope, the experience I will have for the next two weeks. If the police stops you they must have a reason and explain to you the reason why they should be asking for your identification.”

Thus explained Dutch immigration lawyer Martijn Strooij of the Hamerslag and van Haren Advocaten to several dozens of Filipino, Indonesia and African migrants and Dutch migrant rights advocates during an information afternoon held Oct. 12 at the Old Catholic Church in Amsterdam, on the planned Joint Police Operation to be conducted by the EU Council fromOctober 13-26, reportedly to gather intelligence information and apprehend undocumented migrants in several EU countries.

The EU-wide police operation called “mos maiorum” (ancestral custom) was contained in a memorandum issued by the EU Council last July, purportedly to crackdown on human and drug traffickers in countries in the EU, but targets to apprehend undocumented migrants in order to gather intelligence information to apprehend the traffickers.

Organizations of migrants and refugees, and human rights advocates have voiced deep concern over the intentions and conduct of the joint police operation, and have argued that this action is actually a part of the EU Return Directive which seeks to unjustly deport undocumented people from the EU and criminalize the undocumented.

During the information afternoon at the OCC, Mercedes Milleti of the Brussels-based Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) came all the way from Belgium to express deep concern over the planned crackdown on the undocumented and voice solidarity with migrants and refugees. She said the best way for undocumented people to protect themselves is to assert their rights and organize themselves.

Filia den Hollander, a Dutch artist and a strong advocate of a support group for women without a residence permit (SVZV- Steungroep voor Vrouwen zonder Verblijfsvergunning) also expressed concern on the impending police operation that would target undocumented persons. She offered her organization's modest support in terms of informing other concerned individuals including artists in the campaign to respect the rights of the undocumented and to stop the crackdown on undocumented persons.

Grace Punongbayan of Migrante Europe and the Filipino Parish in Amsterdam, explained that the “mos maiorum” is a continuation of similar EU-wide police operations launched earlier in several EU countries that have targetted undocumented migrants and refugees. She said the operation is actually part of the bigger framework of criminalizing undocumented migrants and refugees, which she said goes against many important international conventions on human rights and respect for an individual's civil, political, social and economic rights.

Apart from explaining to the migrants present at the forum of their legal rights, Martijn Strooij also urged them to assert these rights even in a situation when they have already been arrested and taken into custody. He said his law office is always ready to assist migrants and refugees who might be affected by the police operation, and strongly reiterated an individual's right to have a lawyer before the police could extract information from them.

A letter sent to the European Parliament from the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL), a progressive political group in the European Parliament, was read which called for the cancellation of the “mos maiorum”.

Also, a letter of concern from Bishop Dirk Jan, Bishop of Haarlem of the Old Catholic Church was read during the event. Bishop Jan said: It is with great distress that the Old-Catholic Church of the Netherlands heard of the upcoming Joint Police Operation ‘Mos Maiorum’, that will take place next week. While recognizing the huge problems involved with the international trafficking of human beings and drugs, we do not see how this police operation will catch those who are really guilty of these crimes. On the contrary, we notice the insecurity and great fear especially among the undocumented people, who are likely to be criminalized and arrested without any other reason than their so-called illegal status.

“We as the Church of Christ therefore protest strongly against all violence against innocent  people, who come to our part of the world to try to make a living overhere. We fear that this  police action makes these people more vulnerable than they already are. In prayer and action  we do our best to give shelter and protection to those who are in fear and danger,” the Bishop of Haarlem stressed.

The Bishop of Haarlem also offered the OCC as a “zone of safety and peace” for undocumented migrants.

At the conclusion of the forum, participants agreed to come together again on November 16, at the OCC in Amsterdam to share experiences during the two-week police operation in Amsterdam, and plan for a more vigorous campaign to uphold the rights of the undocumented and their regularization.

The information afternoon was organized jointly by the Filipino Parish in Amsterdam, Stichting Migrante Europe, and Migrante-Netherlands.#

Reference:

Grace Punongbayan
office@migrante.eu