WMCW Statement on the International Migrants' Day - 2024
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The Migration, understood here, as "the movement of people from one place to another to settle in a new place[1]," is a natural phenomenon that has existed since the beginning of time. Nevertheless, the dramatic increase in the number of asylum seekers that the world is experiencing today underscores the catastrophic living conditions of our time. Indeed, "migrants often flee situations of oppression, abuse, insecurity, discrimination, and lack of development prospects”[2].
On International Migrants Day, the member movements of the WMCW reflect on the situation of migrant workers. For this year 2024, our reflections and actions proposed by the LOAC Maurice movement focus on the living and working conditions of migrants on the island.
A group of migrant workers takes part in the May 1, 2024 demonstration in the streets of Paris
Republic of Mauritius is a settlement country with its diverse population from Europe, Africa, Madagascar, Asia and China. Mauritians carry with them a history of colonialism, slavery and indentured servitude[3]. The country was built on migration and this phenomenon continues to this day, in various forms...
It is challenging to determine the exact number of migrants in Mauritius! This is because temporary or long-term settlement in the country is managed by different entities without any real coordination: the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Education, the Board of Investment, the Prime Minister's Office and more. Furthermore, when it comes to this migratory phenomenon, the common language speaks volumes: "expatriates" for those from developed countries and "migrants" for those from Third World countries...
INFOR October 2024: "Our Fight against an Inhuman Policy"
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At a time when, in Europe, America and Asia, the rise and attempts by the far right to come to power are being decried, in East, Central and West Africa, to name but a few, we are experiencing totalitarian, corrupt and repressive regimes.
Unfortunately, the rise of extremes comes at the expense of the poorest. We appropriate power, wealth, economic power. We plunder natural resources for our own needs or desires to the detriment of the local people.
The political landscape is no longer shaped by the traditional poles of «left vs. right», «socialism vs. capitalism», or «communism vs. fascism». It has instead been replaced by a representation of the extreme center dynamic: «center vs. extremes». This amounts to erasing what substantially differentiates the left from the right in favor of a neutral perspective of politics where any social problem finds its technical solution.
The real failure is that of capitalist democracy or the «market economy» that promised prosperity for all at the end of the last millennium. Neoliberalism, an ultra-sophisticated version of the capitalist mode of accumulation and whose triumphant impetus has been called «globalization», has brought us to the brink of the disaster. Whether we take it from the perspective of inequality, precariousness, poverty, or the environment, we come to the conclusion of a resounding failure of our economic model.
The political consequences are immense. In both the United States and Europe, people regurgitate neoliberal policies by voting for xenophobic, ultranationalist or ultraconservative political parties. They are increasingly supporting megalomaniac buffoons like Donald Trump because it is probably less humiliating for a dispossessed citizen to line up behind a disoriented rebel than to give in once again to the blackmail of the so-called «least bad» option put forward by the neoliberal establishment. Should we continue to put up with the alternation in government between left-wing neoliberals and right-wing neoliberals, as we have seen for the past thirty years, despite the civilizational dead-end to which these policies have led us?
There is only one option left: To continue to work for radical and democratic transformations on the ground, to build social justice in an economy that values life, where every person is worth more than all the gold in the world. This is what WMCW members have done and continue to do around the world to enable every person to regain their dignity and nurture the hope of another possible world!
Louise Paré, WMCW International Council
Message from the World Movement of Christian Workers (WMCW) on the World Day for Decent Work 2024
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The promotion of social justice and an economy for life to which our movement is committed for the next 4 years is only possible if every man and woman has access to decent work, i.e. a job, appropriate remuneration (in cash or in kind), safety at work and healthy working conditions. Unfortunately, trends in the current global political situation seem intent on wiping out the few gains and small steps made so far in terms of personal rights and freedoms. The spectacular rise to power of extreme right-wing parties poses an unprecedented threat to the values of democracy, the rule of law, equality and fairness.
On the celebration of the World Day for Decent Work on October 7, 2024, we join the movements of Europe in their declaration against the rise to power of extreme right-wing parties and their effects on the enjoyment of personal rights and decent work.
