Migrants and refugees protesting in Calais in September 2014. Gareth Fuller/Press Association. All rights reserved.
The refugees currently arriving in Europe are often treated as passive beneficiaries of aid who should be grateful to receive the basics necessary for survival. In reality, they are guaranteed the same human rights as the established residents of the places in which they arrive but are denied the agency to claim these rights. Certain rights are reserved for citizens, particularly rights of institutional political participation and representation. Without the ability to participate or be represented in governments, refugees’ voices are ignored and they have limited fora in which to take political action. This is that gap that the nascent International Committee of Refugees (ICR) seeks to fill.
The ICR is a network of refugee and citizen activists working together to create “a directly elected, democratically accountable, representative body for internally displaced persons, refugees and people living in exile”. It is envisioned as a global movement, but in its current early stages it is focusing on Europe.
