agenda for the city of the future
Migration
The city is a safe haven with full civic rights for everyone living there.
These are the results of dozens of conversations, discussions and exchanges of Cities for Change. Door uiteenlopende deelnemers en organisaties uit Amsterdam en andere steden in Europa.
Transition
The city is a just and inclusive place: everyone living here is a full citizen enjoying full civic rights. This includes refugees with a residence permit, undocumented people or migrant workers. And the city is a safe haven for refugees, journalists, writers, representatives of the LHBTIQ+ community, lawyers, artists and scientists who are being prosecuted or under threat in their home countries.
‘Nothing about us, without us. Undocumented people appear invisible, but we are here. And we need access to information and a say in policies that affect us.’Hidaya, undocumented person in Amsterdam
‘Nothing about us, without us. Undocumented people appear invisible, but we are here. And we need access to information and a say in policies that affect us.’Hidaya, undocumented person in Amsterdam
‘The undocumented in Italy and the Netherlands are not so different. That is to say: they lack basic rights in both countries’Liza Saris, City Rights United
Recommendations
Cities for Change mainly featured programmes about the rights of undocumented people and refugees. This explains the focus on these groups in the recommendations.
- An urban network. Of municipal departments, the municipal health service, libraries, groups of activists, NGOs and other initiatives working with and for the undocumented. Such a network has easier access to funds and is better placed to influence municipal and national policies with a coordinated urban agenda. Barcelona has already embraced this approach.
- Political participation. The city’s administration sees undocumented people living in Amsterdam like full-fledged Amsterdammers. This can be extended: undocumented people and refugees are invited to the table to decide on issues that concern them.
- An inclusive approach to the housing shortage. A roof over their heads for refugees, undocumented persons and migrant workers, and access to housing is an integral part of plans to combat the housing crisis.
- Information for policymakers and citizens with an without papers. Amsterdam City Rights is developing an app that informs undocumented people about their rights. Plus a toolkit with methods and best practices for cities and grassroots organisations. A strong solidarity network of European cities. Cities are ideally placed to shape an inclusive society because they are taking in the bulk of migrant workers, refugees and undocumented persons.
- A City Passport. Such a passport provides access to all urban facilities: medicines, health care, education, work, housing, libraries, transport, vaccinations, Covid tests, food banks…all the places requiring identification. This ensures every resident, including those living without papers, is a full-fledged and informed urban citizen enjoying equal rights.
- Progressive cities unite in a European urban migration pact to set up a stronger lobby for a different migration policy in their own countries and at the European level.
- Progressive cities share a joint form of shelter. In the migration pact mentioned above, European cities develop a community sponsoring. In this approach, refugees can safely resettle and connect to their neighbourhood and city through family and local residents, which facilitates easier and faster integration.
- Local GPs, dentists and other care professionals share information. So that every care professional is aware that there are compensation schemes for taking on undocumented persons as patients or clients.
‘The undocumented in Italy and the Netherlands are not so different. That is to say: they lack basic rights in both countries’Liza Saris, City Rights United
Which problems are the recommendations an answer to?
Close to 80 million people worldwide are displaced by conflicts, floods, droughts, poverty, repression and despair. Looking for safety and a humane future, a number of them find their way to Europe, to Barcelona, Naples, Berlin, Hamburg, Athens, Amsterdam and other cities.
Meanwhile, the European Council wants to strengthen its border management and expand detention of refugees on Europe’s borders, while thousands of refugees are drowning in the Mediterranean, tens of thousands end up in overcrowded camps, and European border guards engage in illegal pushbacks. Once they have arrived in the city, refugees and undocumented people are devoid of information and vulnerable to exploitation.
What is happening in other cities?
- Municipal approach. The Barcelona Ciudad Refugio (Barcelona City of Refuge) programme guarantees refugees, documented or not, their rights. It comprises an emergency shelter policy, care for refugees, civic participation and information and collaboration with social organisations. Plus actions to build a network with other European cities.
- Unite. The Athens Coordination Center for Migrant and Refugee issues (ACCMR) brings together 92 key national and international organisations, smaller grassroots organisations and municipal institutions. The ACCMR has developed a strategic action plan for the integration of refugees and migrants, which serves as a template for municipalities throughout Greece.
- Many American cities have an urban passport or City ID, which enables undocumented people as well as registered citizens with a means of identification. This ID protects and provides access to health care, education, work, housing, transport, etc.
Continue reading, listening or watching
- Watch the Cities for Change session Refugees & the City
- Meet undocumented Amsterdammer Hidaya
- Here to Support collaborates with refugees and undocumented persons in education, art projects, lobby and advocacy.
- Amsterdam City Rights is an independent think tank for and the undocumented and refugees in limbo, and advocates for fundamental rights such as the right to housing, education and self-fulfilment.
- City Rights United brings together activists and organisations from all over Europe in a joint campaign for city rights for people without papers.
