TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

Information from the The International Cities of Refuge Network

ICORN [The International Cities of Refuge Network] is an international membership organisation for cities and regions dedicated to freedom of expression. Each ICORN member is a city of refuge and provides temporary shelter through residencies for persecuted writers and artists. The residency is typically for two years.

These cities of refuge are the cornerstones of ICORN and share a common mission: to advance freedom of expression and make a practical contribution to the threats and persecution that writers and artists face in their home countries and beyond.

More than 50 cities have committed to the ICORN charter. The list is continually growing and will soon extend into Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. Our members include Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Mexico City, Krakow, Norwich, Växjö and Bergen.

Any city willing to signify a commitment to freedom of expression and the membership agreement can become a member of ICORN. To be able to offer more residencies to the growing number of writers and artists who apply, the network needs more members. See Cities’ guide to ICORN membership.

PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee annually monitors between 8-900 cases of writers and artists who are persecuted as a direct consequence of their work. Many still need a safe place. Through ICORN, your city could enable these writers and artists to continue their work and keep up the fight for freedom of expression, so vital to the health of a free society.

This commitment by ICORN cities and regions is both very concrete and deeply symbolic: one agent for change (a writer or artist) escapes from imminent threats and persecution; your city offers sanctuary; and the values of hospitality, solidarity and freedom of expression become further enshrined within the ethos of your city.

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The refugee crisis, Who is responsible?

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By joining us, your city becomes part of a dynamic and global network of solidarity, creativity and mutual interaction. ICORN brings together cities and writers and artists in the network and hosts an annual gathering of all parties in one of the member cities. A wonderful assembly of writers/artists, city representatives, partners and human rights organisations from all over the world meet to assess and scrutinize the situation for freedom of expression and to explore new and imaginative ways of confronting repressive regimes and authorities where basic human rights are under attack.

ICORN writers and artists represent a rich resource for the entire network of cities. They bring new impulses to the cultural life of each city; they contribute to enhancing knowledge about different cultures in your city and enrich our debate, our insight and our understanding.

A city of refuge protects and promotes the ICORN writers and artists. In signing the membership agreement with ICORN, your city agrees to:

– arrange for the relocation and reception of the writer/artist to the city;

– facilitate a legal status for the writer/artist;

– provide the writer/artist and his/her family with appropriate accommodation;

– provide the writer/artist with an appropriate scholarship/grant for his/her period of stay;

– help the writer/artist to integrate with the local community, both socially and artistically/professionally;

– appoint a City of Refuge coordinator to support the writer/artist in legal, practical and promotional matters throughout the residency.

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

Statement of the 15th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates

We, the Nobel Peace Laureates and Peace Organisations, in the presence of youth from all over the world, gathered together in Barcelona from 12 – 15 November 2015, have considered issues affecting world peace – with special emphasis on the current refugee and migration crisis.

Women Nobel Peace Laureates: left to right, Leymah Gbowee, Mairead Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams, Tawakkul Karman and Rigoberto Menchu. All but Gbowee and Menchu took part in the Barcelona Summit.

We are profoundly shocked and outraged by the barbaric killing of more than 150 innocent people in Paris on the evening of 13 November. We express our deepest sympathy and solidarity with the families of the victims and with the people of France.

This outrageous attack stresses the urgent need to address the root causes of the current refugee crisis and insecurity in the world. This situation should not be abused to demonise refugees and the Muslim community.

As Nobel Peace Laureates and Laureate organisations we join with millions of individuals, organisations, communities and cities who every day make a difference by working for a better and more peaceful world.

We collectively raise our voices in compassion for the millions of refugees who have been forced to leave their homes. We affirm that the manner in which we honour and protect their inherent dignity and human rights is a measure of our own humanity.

We are particularly concerned about the plight of women and children whose lives have been devastated by conflict, repression and deprivation. We must and can eliminate the conditions that compel people to leave from their homes.

The refugee and migration crisis does not exist in isolation. It is a symptom of the broader problems that confront humanity that include

• continuing conflict in many countries;

• the consequences of militarism, extreme nationalism and the use of force and proxy wars by global powers in pursuit of strategic, financial and ideological interests;

• distorted religious beliefs that lead to horrific acts of violence;

• the failure of governance characterised by rampant corruption, persecution and the absence of democracy, basic human rights and the rule of law;

• the gross inequalities in opportunities and in economic and social wellbeing between and within the so-called developed and developing countries;

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The refugee crisis, Who is responsible?

Readers’ comments are invited on this question and article. See below for comments box.

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• the failure to accommodate, tolerate and appreciate the value of religious, cultural and ethnic diversity;

• the growing impact of climate change that will increasingly threaten food security and disrupt the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the most vulnerable societies; and

• the criminal exploitation of refugees by human smugglers.

We believe that many of these problems can be solved if the international community fulfils its commitment to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that nations have already adopted as the framework for a comprehensive, practical and achievable path to a secure and peaceful future.

We also call on the international community to

• address the root causes of the refugee and migration crisis while assuring access to asylum;

• redouble efforts to bring peace to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Ukraine, Palestine/Israel, Somalia, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and other societies in conflict in a process that includes the peoples involved – especially women – and concerned nations;

• denounce and reject the use of distorted religious doctrines and ideologies to justify violence by placing perverted beliefs above compassion and other universal values;

• ensure that refugee children have adequate access to education and health care;

• promote good governance based on respect for fundamental human rights and the rule of law;

• prevent ethnic conflict and repression by recognising the value of diversity and by protecting the rights of minorities;

• achieve and implement international agreements to combat climate change that bind all elements of society including government, business, finance and the military – with special focus on the forthcoming conference in Paris;

• identify and prosecute those responsible for human smuggling; and

• provide much greater support to countries bordering conflict areas which are hosting refugees – and underfunded humanitarian organisations aiding refugees.

True security will never be achieved by military force or by the possession and threat of nuclear weapons. It requires adherence to international humanitarian law and global cooperation in meeting the authentic needs of humanity. We call on the nations of the world to

• redirect each year at least 10% of annual military expenditure of over 1.8 trillion dollars to implement the programs required for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals;

• implement fully the Arms Trade Treaty and end illicit arms trading;

• put an immediate end to any new arms race – especially the modernisation of nuclear arsenals and the pursuit of fully autonomous weapons systems; and

• fulfil the legal obligation to commence negotiations now to eliminate nuclear weapons.

True personal, national and global security is found in the practical application of compassion.

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article by Dr Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International

I was 22 years old when I had to leave my homeland, South Africa. I had no choice. I was living underground for a year by then, to avoid being arrested. This was 1987, in the midst of one of the most bloody and violent periods in the history of Apartheid South Africa. The green peaceful streets of Oxford, where I was lucky enough to end up, seemed like a cartoon to me. They seemed unreal, while the violence I left behind felt very real and near. I stayed awake at night thinking of friends and relatives left behind.

I remember these feelings now every time I look at the heartbreaking images of people fleeing devastation – whether floods in Bangladesh or war in Syria. The images of desperate parents holding on to their children, trying to get them through barbed wired fences, or off small inflatable boats. I see them and I think about my own daughter. How would I feel if I was one of these parents? When I fled, I had only myself to care for.

‘No one leaves home’ writes Kenyan born Somali poet Warsan Shire, ‘unless home is the mouth of a shark’. ‘No one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land’.

21st September marks the International Day of Peace. And this year, again, there is not much peace around to celebrate.

In Syria alone – according to some estimates one of two Syrians has died or fled home since the war began. According to the UN 7.6 million are internally displaced. 4.1 million refugees are abroad. Most of them in countries surrounding Syria. Some are turning to Europe as a safe haven.

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The refugee crisis, Who is responsible?

Readers’ comments are invited on this question and article. See below for comments box.

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There are times when drawing borders between countries, people, between politics and the environment must stop. There comes a time when all that matters is humanity and solidarity. This is such a time. The acts of courage and compassion shown by so many individuals and communities across Europe I find deeply inspiring.

Many of my colleagues in Greenpeace are also trying to reach out and support refugees. In Hungary and Croatia, volunteers have joined the humanitarian effort, including practical things like setting up a solar charging station in hot spots so that people can recharge their phones and access WiFi. In Greece, our office is in close contact with international relief NGOs ​to support their efforts ​and is working with local groups to collect and send relief packages to the Islands where many refugees are stranded.

I want to personally thank all who are reaching out to help. In this moving ocean of solidarity, every drop matters. We must all join together and say loud and clear: #Refugeeswelcome!

Tomorrow I travel to New York to attend the UN Summit on Sustainable Development Goals. My trip will be an easy one, but I will remember those times when my journeys, too, were journeys of fear. I will think of those facing days, months and years of relentless, life threatening journeys, with no guaranteed safety at the end of the road.

As fellow human beings we owe it to them to raise our voices, to stand in solidarity and to address the root causes of global insecurity. We need to insist on finding real solutions – including getting off fossil fuels. Conflicts are always complex. But looking at current conflicts from Iraq, Ukraine, Sudan, the South China Sea to Nigeria it is clear that the access, the transport and thus the dependence on fossil fuels do play a role.

“Resource wars” are not new. But today we can overcome them. In New York, I will argue for a world powered by 100% renewables for all by 2050. This world is in our grasp, our latest Energy Revolution scenario shows that without doubt. It is also the world we must choose if we want peace. Wind turbines, photovoltaic systems, insulation materials or double glazed windows are the “weapons” we must deploy to help create a safer world.

I was lucky enough to see Apartheid ended by people power and international solidarity a few years after I was forced to leave South Africa. Apartheid was abolished, and I am now free to return. Will those displaced now ever have that privilege? I do not know. But we must work for the peaceful, safe world for all, that would make this possible.