MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Situation of people with albinism in Malawi and other African countries
3.10.2017 - (2017/2868(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Miguel Urbán Crespo, Malin Björk, Lola Sánchez Caldentey, Estefanía Torres Martínez, Tania González Peñas, Xabier Benito Ziluaga, Marie-Christine Vergiat, Eleonora Forenza, Merja Kyllönen, Takis Hadjigeorgiou, Neoklis Sylikiotis, Patrick Le Hyaric, Kostadinka Kuneva, Stelios Kouloglou, Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
B8‑0546/2017
European Parliament resolution on Situation of people with albinism in Malawi and other African countries
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous GUE/NGL motion for a resolution “On the situation of albinos in Africa, notably in Malawi” from July 2016,
- having regard to the resolution A/HCR/RES/28/6 adopted by the Human Rights Council on 10 April 2015 which established for a period of three years the mandate of an Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism,
- having regard to the Report of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on 10 February 2015 the study on the situation of human rights of persons living with albinism,
- having regard to the resolution 23/13 on Attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism adopted by the Human Rights Council on 24 June 2013,
- having regard to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
- having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights,
- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,
- having regard to the Charter of the United Nations,
- having regard to Rule 135 of its Rules of Procedure,
A.Whereas a spike in murders and crimes against persons with albinism in Malawi has been observed since 2017, whereas in January an 18-year-old boy was killed and in the month of February a 31-year-old woman, considering that at least four other people have survived different attacks in the first half of 2017 including a two-year-old kid,
B. Whereas in the last two years 115 people have been attacked in Malawi and at least 20 of them have been killed, whereas the number may be higher because of the people who are missing,
C. Whereas this situation has also worsened in other parts of the continent, such as Tanzania, where there has been a violent death of 35 albino people since 2015, and a total of 180 attacks and 76 deaths since 2000, whereas is the Great Lakes region where this process has been taking place with greater intensity,
D. Whereas 84 per cent of the population in Malawi lives in rural areas and millions of farmers are confronted every year by random weather patterns that trigger long periods of drought and severe flooding which make it very difficult for them to meet the most basic needs, slow down growth, ruin crops and cut crops,
E. Whereas 90 per cent of Malawi's exports come from agriculture, and tobacco, sugar and cotton are among the products with the highest export earnings, there is a high dependence of the local economy on tobacco, which generates almost 70 per cent of exports, and that forest products are also exported to Germany, the United States, Russia and the Netherlands among others,
F. Whereas floods have caused more than 200 deaths in recent years and the displacement of almost 110,000 people, food insecurity is on the rise and Malawi's agriculture-based economy is suffering, whereas the price of tobacco exports fell in this same period since 2012 the 50 per cent, whereas under the tutelage of the International Monetary Fund were imposed measures of austerity that have drowned the lives of the poorest,
G. Whereas Malawi is a country prone to natural disasters and that weather patterns have changed and are unpredictable, with negative consequences for food security and water resources and the sustainable living conditions of the rural world, whereas many people in Malawi have remained in recent years without sufficient food supplies,
H. Whereas agriculture in Malawi poses a great risk due to the effects of climate change, whereas the African continent suffers from these effects with greater virulence even though it only emits the 3 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), whereas Ethiopia and much of the Horn of Africa has suffered since 2016 the greatest drought ever recorded,
I. Whereas the African climate is deeply conditioned by the seas, which are experiencing a continuous rise in temperature and acidification, whereas the increase in the temperature of the Indian Ocean explains the reduction of monsoon and rainfall between March and June that have been observed during the last three decades,
J. Whereas the widespread poverty that is plaguing the people of Malawi is one of the serious problems that trigger famine, social problems and large migratory flows, considering that the effects of global climate change coupled with population pressure will continue to fuel the situation of plunder to which is subjected the African continent and that continues depriving to its population the access of the fundamental resources for its autonomy and survival,
K. Whereas we appreciate the Malawian government's measure to strengthen the penal code and toughen the punishment for murder or possession of body tissues, enabling the Anatomy Law, and the government's awareness of the defense of rights of albino people, the problem is deeper and points to an acute social crisis where people feel desperate in the search for any possibility of eating or earning money for their livelihood,
1. Points the conflict over violence against albino people in Malawi, Burundi and Tanzania, as well as in other territories of the African continent, to evince structural reasons and the results from plundering and international subjection that favors violence, social inequality, hunger and marginalization especially of women and girls,
2. Demands that violence against albino people is the violence of the countries with higher levels of GHG emissions on those countries who have less impact, and they have together with the European Union the responsibility not only to mitigate their emissions but also to demand from its members the same, especially the United States, a country with a notable influence on Malawian politics since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1964,
3. Requires Africans to become active subjects of a change based on climate justice, with special attention to women's empowerment, creating resilient livelihoods, promoting autonomous and grassroots projects that favor resistant systems to climate change, and stimulating food sovereignty,
4. Calls on the European Union and major donors to the country, such as the United States, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands or Canada, to contribute to the full realization of human rights in the region, and to cease their promotion of a model based on oil and natural land grabbing,
5. Evinces that the lack of food and inability to sell family crops is forcing women to resort to prostitution to help feed their families, even as they increase their vulnerability to HIV / AIDS, in this case women are the most disadvantaged, because they take care of the food and have to travel great distances to look for water or firewood,
6. Calls on the United Nations to take action facing the large number of adults infected with HIV in Malawi, between 800,000 and 1 million of people, more than the 14 per cent of the population are living with HIV and 84,000 people die each year, with the packaged drugs (6.5 per cent) being the second most important import, only below oil (9.4 per cent),
7. Urges the Malawi Government and the United Nations to protect albino people who need special health care and are currently suffering social harassment, stresses that it is fundamentally important to take effective measures to ensure the security of albino people even by monitoring them in order to prevent further attacks,
8. Demands the European Union to contribute to the full realization of human rights in the region, especially with the cessation of violence towards the albino population, especially women and girls who are doubly marginalized, and with any form of violence that threatens the common goods and the autonomy of the population,
9. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the African Union, the ACP-EU Council, the Secretary-General of the UN, the UN Human Rights Council and the President and Parliament of the Republic of Malawi.