Melanie Nezer: The fundamental right to seek asylum
Melanie Nezer: O direito fundamental de pedir asilo
Melanie Nezer is a national leader in efforts to inform and educate individuals, institutions, elected officials and communities about refugees and asylum seekers. Full bio
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from a woman named Ellie.
duma mulher chamada Ellie.
separations at the southern border
de famílias na fronteira sul
what she could do to help.
of her grandfather and his father.
pela segurança dos filhos,
and told them to walk west,
e disse-lhes para irem para o ocidente,
atravessando a Europa.
west across Europe,
sempre para ocidente,
and they got to America.
e seguiram para os EUA.
the stories of the teens
as histórias dos adolescentes
was her grandfather and his brother.
were exactly the same.
eram exatamente as mesmas.
the Hassenfeld Brothers --
os Irmãos Hassenfeld
Mr. Potato Head.
I'm telling you this story.
que estou a contar esta história.
because it made me think
porque fez-me pensar
and I have three of them --
— tenho três —
be safe where we were,
em segurança onde estavam,
at the southern US border,
na fronteira sul dos EUA,
asylum seekers.
da América Central que pediam asilo.
I've been at HIAS,
tenho estado na HIAS,
for refugee rights around the world,
do mundo inteiro,
is that, sometimes,
make us safer and stronger
nos tornam mais seguros e mais fortes
have the opposite of the intended results
têm um resultado oposto ao pretendido
and unnecessary suffering.
tremendo e desnecessário.
at our southern border?
na nossa fronteira sul?
that are coming to our southern border
que chegam à nossa fronteira sul
Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Guatemala, Honduras e El Salvador.
countries in the world.
in these countries,
nestes países,
for yourself and your family.
um futuro para si mesmo e para a família.
women and girls is pervasive.
e raparigas é generalizada.
há gerações.
have been coming to our shores,
têm chegado às nossas praias,
was deeply involved.
amplamente envolvidos.
there's been a spike in families,
tem havido um pico em famílias,
que aparecem nos pontos de controlo
showing up at checkpoints
nos noticiários,
as you see those images.
enquanto veem estas imagens.
of interceptions at the southern border,
um nível historicamente alto
themselves at checkpoints.
nos pontos de controlo.
with the clothes on their backs;
com a roupa que trazem no corpo;
literalmente de chinelos.
powerful country in the world.
mais poderoso do mundo.
of the destination country
do país de destino,
with these questions
com estas perguntas
about their families
very different questions:
and in international law.
e na lei internacional.
na Convenção de Refugiados de 1951
to the Holocaust
would we return people to countries
pessoas aos seus países
de os refugiados chegarem a este país.
refugees come to this country.
Admissions Program.
de Admissões de Refugiados nos EUA.
and selects refugees abroad
e selecionam refugiados no estrangeiro
acolheram menos refugiados
the program began in 1980.
desde que o programa começou em 1980.
ainda serão menos.
mais refugiados no mundo
more refugees in the world
registada na História,
in recorded history,
come to this country is by seeking asylum.
chegarem a este país é pedindo asilo.
who present themselves at a border
que se apresentam numa fronteira
if they're sent back home.
se forem enviados para o seu país.
who's going through the process
por um processo, nos EUA,
the refugee definition.
na definição de refugiados.
more difficult to seek asylum.
que se apresentam nas fronteiras
when they show up at our borders
that they simply can't apply.
que não podem requerer.
e é ilegal.
"Migrant Protection Protocols,"
"Protocolos de Proteção de Migrantes",
they have to wait in Mexico
que têm de esperar no México
through the courts in the United States,
para os tribunais dos EUA
has detained over 3,000 children,
detiveram mais de 3000 crianças,
de quem procura asilo.
de dois anos ou menos,
a six-year-old blind girl.
era uma rapariga cega de seis anos,
in what are virtually prisons
praticamente prisões
the hallmark of our immigration system.
tornou-se a imagem de marca
on a hill or a beacon of hope
ou de um farol de esperança
de que gostamos de falar
about ourselves and our values.
and it always will be.
e sempre estará.
persecution, war, violence,
alteração climática,
what life is like in other places --
nos telemóveis
policies that reflect our values
uma política que reflita os nossos valores
given the reality in the world.
dada a realidade do mundo.
is dial back the toxic rhetoric
é reduzir a retórica tóxica
do nosso debate nacional
debate on this issue for too long.
because my grandparents were.
porque os meus avós foram.
didn't see her kids for seven years,
os filhos durante sete anos
from Poland to New York.
da Polónia para Nova Iorque.
when he was seven
quando ele tinha sete anos
until he was 14.
quando ele tinha 14 anos.
left Poland in the 1930s
saiu da Polónia nos anos 30
the British Mandate of Palestine,
o Mandato Britânico da Palestina
her family and friends again.
a família e os amigos.
to global migration and displacement
à migração e deslocação global
migration something that isn't a crisis
a migração numa coisa que não é uma crise
as a global community.
como uma comunidade global.
to countries in Central America
a países na América Central
we spend on enforcement and detention.
que gastamos com a repressão e a detenção.
have an asylum system that works.
de asilo que funcione.
do custo de um muro,
tenham advogados
de asilo humano.
in the refugee program:
no programa de refugiados,
15,000 Syrian refugees
15 000 refugiados sírios
refugee crisis on earth.
de refugiados do planeta.
esse número foi de 62 pessoas,
e dos esforços para bloquear a imigração,
and efforts to block immigration,
in this country, according to polls,
neste país, de acordo com sondagens,
and faith-based organizations,
humanitárias e religiosas,
or a policy that needs oversight.
ou uma política que precisa de supervisão.
podem fazer qualquer coisa
também podem.
one of these detention centers
um desses centros de detenção
— são prisões —
about my call with Ellie
that the stories of her grandparents
que as histórias dos seus avós
quanto a isso.
for Mr. Potato Head,
a good story to leave with,
and my relatives and your relatives
dos meus parentes e dos vossos parentes
they're all the same.
e são todas iguais.
when it says to the refugee,
"Vai-te embora",
estás em segurança",
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Melanie Nezer - Refugee and immigrants rights attorneyMelanie Nezer is a national leader in efforts to inform and educate individuals, institutions, elected officials and communities about refugees and asylum seekers.
Why you should listen
Melanie Nezer is Senior Vice President for Public Affairs for HIAS, the American Jewish community's international refugee agency. Founded in 1881, HIAS is the oldest refugee agency in the world and has helped refugees from all over the world find safety and freedom. In 17 years at HIAS, Nezer has shaped much of the agency's policy and advocacy agenda and its legal work. She previously served as HIAS's Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, as Migration Policy Counsel and as Director of HIAS's Employment Visa Program, representing at-risk Jewish professionals and religious workers seeking to work in the US during times of instability and crisis in their home countries.
Before joining HIAS, Nezer was the Immigration Policy Director for the organization now known as US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, where -- in addition to conducting advocacy on immigration and asylum issues -- she was co-editor of Refugee Reports and a writer for the annual World Refugee Survey. Prior to her work in Washington DC, Nezer was in private legal practice in Miami, Florida, where she specialized in immigration law and criminal defense.
Learn more about Nezer's work by watching "The Ground Beneath My Children's Feet: Refugees and the Jewish Story," "'We Stand with You'": HIAS Responds to Synagogue Massacre with Message of Hope for Refugees," by listening to "HIAS Responds to Deadly Attack on Pittsburgh Synagogue," and by reading "Refugee Order Demystified, Q&A with Nezer of HIAS," and "The Global Plan for Dealing with Refugees Isn't Broken, It's Nearly Broke."
Melanie Nezer | Speaker | TED.com