Article text
Every year, on December 18, the United Nations, along with all its member states, observes International Migrants Day to recognize the efforts, contributions, and rights of migrants around the world.
The presence of migrants in our societies speaks to us about economic, social, and political realities or about legitimate, urgent reasons for study and research. However, beyond these, their presence and ceremonial recognition should remind us of the humanity within us. Why do we need to deeply understand the commercial delivery person who brings food to our door? Why do I need to know about the Asian working in construction or the woman who takes care of the neighbour's children? Why should I understand the sensitivities of a Muslim or the culture and integration challenges of a Hindu? Why do I need to know the rights of someone who doesn't speak the same language as me, doesn't share my religion, or doesn't have the same culture as mine? Why should I know about a distant culture, and why can it be a moral or ethical duty to read about someone I know nothing about?
In times when the assault on democratic values such as freedom of thought and conscience, pluralism, and respect for diversity is defiant, we must look back at history with objectivity and understand why humanity has failed at certain moments. History has shown that those who are in the minority, sometimes vulnerable or unaware of their rights, can quickly become victims. "Destroying" the other does not start with concentration camps or mass murder, civil war, or genocide. It always begins with words, stereotypes, clichés, and prejudices. From these, the step toward dehumanizing the other can be just a matter of time. It is easier to make radical generalizations about others if we know almost nothing about them. If they remain abstract, others can be more easily ignored and excluded, as the lack of direct interaction maintains mental and cultural barriers. To overcome such moments of social or political tension, we must reverse the process: we need to start rehumanizing those who have been dehumanized. For this, we need to learn about them from them, to research, to study how integrating and accepting the other among us means respecting their rights, but especially their human dignity.
When minorities fall victim to the extremist practices of the majority and ultimately suffer by being marginalized and treated as "the other," it is not just they who suffer, but the entire society. Perhaps a starting point for a dignified tomorrow for all would be to begin not with the question "Who is the other?", but with the question "Who are we together with others?".
We salute the efforts of all immigrants, their contributions to the development of host societies, as well as the efforts of all institutions, not easy at all, in an increasingly dynamic world trying to face waves of illiberalism and open attacks on democratic values. Only united in diversity can we be stronger!