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Second
Summit: Santiago (1998)
Declaration of
Santiago
We will combat all forms of discrimination in the
Hemisphere. Equal rights and opportunities between men and
women and the objective of ensuring active participation of
women in all areas of national endeavor are priority tasks.
We will continue to promote the full integration of
indigenous populations and other vulnerable groups into
political and economic life, with due respect for the
characteristics and expressions that affirm their cultural
identity. We will make a special effort to guarantee the
human rights of all migrants, including migrant workers and
their families.
Plan of Action
II. PRESERVING AND STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY, JUSTICE AND
HUMAN RIGHTS
The strengthening of democracy, justice and human rights is
a vital hemispheric priority. In this Plan of Action, we
endorse new initiatives designed to deepen our commitment to
these important principles. Specifically, we will intensify
our efforts to promote democratic reforms at the regional
and local level, protect the rights of migrant workers and
their families, improve the capabilities of our justice
systems and labor ministries to respond to the needs of our
peoples, and encourage a strong and active civil society. We
further resolve to defend democracy against the serious
threats of corruption, terrorism, and illegal narcotics, and
to promote peace and security among our nations. Taken
together, these measures consolidate our democratic gains,
reaffirm our commitment to democratic institutions, and
commit us to building a Hemisphere of shared values.
Migrant Workers
Governments will:
- Reaffirm that the promotion and protection of human rights
and the fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction by
reasons of race, gender, language, nationality, or religion,
is a priority for the international community and is the
responsibility of every state.
- Comply with the applicable international human rights
instruments and, consistent with the legal framework of each
country, guarantee the human rights of all migrants,
including migrant workers and their families.
- Seek full compliance with, and protection of, the human
rights of all migrants, including migrant workers, and their
families, and adopt effective measures, including the
strengthening of public awareness, to prevent and eradicate
violations of human rights and eliminate all forms of
discrimination against them, particularly racial
discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance.
- Reaffirm the sovereign right of each State to formulate
and apply its own legal framework and policies for
migration, including the granting of permission to migrants
to enter, stay, or exercise economic activity, in full
conformity with applicable international instruments
relating to human rights and in a spirit of cooperation.
- Seek full respect for, and compliance with, the 1963
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, especially as it
relates to the right of nationals, regardless of their
immigration status, to communicate with a consular officer
of their own State in case of detention.
- Protect the rights of all migrant workers and their
families, consistent with each country´s internal legal
framework, by taking steps, in case they do not exist, to:
1) provide, with respect to working conditions, the same
legal protection as for national workers; 2) facilitate, as
appropriate, the payment of full wages owed when the worker
has returned to his/her country, and allow them to arrange
the transfer of their personal effects; 3) recognize the
rights of citizenship and nationality of the children of all
migrant workers who may be entitled to such rights, and any
other rights they may have in each country; 4) encourage the
negotiation of bilateral or multilateral agreements,
regarding the remission of social security benefits accrued
by migrant workers; 5) protect all migrant workers and their
families, through law enforcement and information campaigns,
from becoming victims of exploitation and abuse from alien
smuggling; 6) prevent abuse and mistreatment of all migrant
workers by employers or any authorities entrusted with the
enforcement of migration policies and border control; and 7)
encourage and promote respect for the cultural identity of
all migrants.
- Support the activities of the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights with regard to the protection of the rights of
migrant workers and their families, particularly through the
Special Rapporteur for Migrant Workers. |
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