European Alternatives speaks to David Yambio, a community advocate, spokesperson and President of Refugees in Libya.
David became displaced at birth and lived in refugee camps across multiple countries in Africa, including Libya where he faced severe dehumanization and inhumane treatment.
In 2021, he co-founded the movement Refugees in Libya which over the years has grown to be the only voice for refugees who are stuck in the North African regions. David Yambio is an advocate for the Pact for Equality campaign and will be speaking during this year’s TRANSEUROPA Festival.
As a migrant’s human rights advocate what type of discrimination have you faced and that you wish the EU would change? How is the work you are doing with Pact 4 Equality advocates helping to improve the situation?
As a refugee and human rights advocate, I have had innumerable experiences of discrimination in Libya where I was tortured, commodified and dehumanized. Presently in Europe I face racial profiling, exclusion from governmental institutions and all forms of racism. I have been rejected and attacked at European internal borders, I have been attacked by law enforcement without any access to legal protection. I wish fundamentally for the EU to change its approach to migration policies and humanize the human beings who are behind this word *migration* . I wish that they will end their cooperation with Libya and Tunisia’s repressive regimes where migrants and refugees are constantly detained under brutal and inhumane conditions as part of the EU externalization strategies. I am also an advocate for greater accountability within the EU for violations against migrants in Libya and Tunisia. We have cases at the ICC and the European Court of Justice against Frontex, for example.
My work with Pact for Equality aims to address these injustices by pushing for policies that recognize the dignity of all migrants. The Pact for Equality advocates for the recognition of migration as a human right and challenges discriminatory structures that limit migrants’ legal protections. Through this advocacy, I aim to shift the narrative from criminalizing migration to protecting human rights and ensuring that migrants and refugees have equitable access to justice, services, and employment across Europe.
How is climate change affecting your home country? Are you aware of EU policies or other policies that are being put in place?
My country, South Sudan, is severely affected by climate change. In 2019 alone there were devastating floods that swallowed and submerged great regions which led to the displacement of millions of people who were already experiencing the 2013 civil wars. My country has been experiencing droughts, desertification, land degradation, heatwaves and increasing temperatures. As a refugee from South Sudan I felt and lived the direct consequences of forced migration, although I initially left due to wars I have and still witness hundreds of thousands who are forced to migrate due to climate change. The EU policies and its approach may have a few initiatives in my country aimed at addressing climate change but it is proven to be insufficient since it fails to create a framework that supports climate adaptation and to recognize the impact it brings. I am aware of this not only in my country but several countries across Africa.
The EU claims to be the defender of democracy. How can democracies be more inclusive for migrants and refugees?
Yes, the EU claims to be a defender of democracy but lets ask the simplest question: Are they inclusive of migrants and refugees? Do they see us as humans rather than commodities to own and negotiate about? For me a true democracy is about being involved in my community’s affairs regardless of my being South Sudanese or other, simply because I actually live in the EU on a daily basis and that I interact and evolve within the EU and that won’t change. We, migrants and refugees, are excluded entirely from political participation, there are no mechanisms which grant us the right to vote and participate in local decision-making processes. Should there be these few mechanisms in place, we will truly have a taste of democracy in European societies.
Migrants and refugees have very non-existing voting rights: how do you think this can be changed?
As I just explained above, we need the EU to introduce equal mechanisms which grant us the right to vote. We need legal reforms at the EU level to ensure long-term residency permits which would allow most of us who are not citizens to engage in voting and local decision-making processes. Why do I ask for long-term residency? Well, most migrants across Europe have resident permits of 6 months to 2 years maximum which therefore renders their voting rights null.
Do you think popular assemblies can be an alternative to voting for migrants and refugees?
Definitely, popular assemblies are of the people and for the people, I come from the streets and it is from popular assemblies that I believe we can build trust and hope. Most of us who are crippled by these policies and the hypocrites of democracies often find ourselves at home with assemblies as such. It gives us the space to participate in decision-making even when we do not have formal voting rights. In these spaces our perspectives are considered in policy discussions and beyond.
In the context of the Transeuropa festival, you are a panelist in a debate with mayors and EU representatives. What kind of policies or practices are being done at the city level that can help to have spaces more inclusive for migrants and refugees?
At the city level, there are promising initiatives that help create inclusive spaces. For example, many European cities in 2015 or 2016 declared their intentions to act as the “Cities of Welcome” which then saw thousands of Syrian and Afghan refugees arrive and get welcomed in Europe. This was the power of the cities which transcended beyond the power of the politicians, the cities too introduced programs that supported migrant’s integration through language training, housing assistance, and legal aid. These cities started to ebb with time and I would like to see these initiatives revitalized once again. That’s why earlier this year we launched our Human Rights Defenders Evacuation Campaign from Libya in Bologna. During the Transeuropa festival, I would amplify and highlight the importance of city-level collaboration in this time of crisis.
David Yambio is a community advocate, spokesperson and President of Refugees in Libya. He became a refugee from birth and has lived in several refugee camps across Africa with the toughest being Libya where he was subjected to inhumane treatments and severe dehumanization for 4 years. In 2021, he co founded the movement Refugees in Libya which over the years has grown to be the only source of voice for refugees who are stuck in the North African regions.