Melanie Nezer: The fundamental right to seek asylum
Melanie Nezer: O direito fundamental de buscar exílio
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.
de uma mulher chamada Ellie.
separations at the southern border
a separação de famílias na fronteira sul
what she could do to help.
of her grandfather and his father.
do seu avô e do irmão dele.
and told them to walk west,
e disse pra seguirem pro Oeste,
pela Europa Ocidental.
rumo ao Ocidente,
west across Europe,
and they got to America.
e chegaram aos Estados Unidos.
the stories of the teens
as histórias dos adolescentes
was her grandfather and his brother.
era em seu avô e no irmão dele.
were exactly the same.
eram exatamente as mesmas.
the Hassenfeld Brothers --
o Sr. Cabeça de Batata.
Mr. Potato Head.
I'm telling you this story.
contando essa história a vocês,
because it made me think
and I have three of them --
e eu tenho três deles,
be safe where we were,
seguros onde estávamos,
at the southern US border,
na fronteira sul dos EUA,
asylum seekers.
vindos da América Central.
I've been at HIAS,
for refugee rights around the world,
direitos dos refugiados no mundo todo,
is that, sometimes,
make us safer and stronger
mais seguros e mais fortes,
have the opposite of the intended results
têm resultados opostos aos pretendidos
and unnecessary suffering.
tremendo e desnecessário.
at our southern border?
têm vindo pra nossa fronteira sul?
that are coming to our southern border
chegando à nossa fronteira sul
Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Guatemala, Honduras e El Salvador,
countries in the world.
in these countries,
nesses países,
for yourself and your family.
para você e sua família.
women and girls is pervasive.
e meninas é difundida.
have been coming to our shores,
têm chegado às nossas costas,
was deeply involved.
tiveram um profundo envolvimento.
there's been a spike in families,
tem havido um aumento nas famílias,
nos pontos de controle fronteiriços
showing up at checkpoints
nos noticiários ultimamente,
as you see those images.
enquanto veem essas imagens.
of interceptions at the southern border,
historicamente alto na fronteira sul,
themselves at checkpoints.
em pontos de controle fronteiriço.
with the clothes on their backs;
com nada além da roupa do corpo;
powerful country in the world.
mais poderoso do mundo.
of the destination country
do país de destino
with these questions
e tomam as decisões sobre a família delas
about their families
very different questions:
and in international law.
próprias leis e nas leis internacionais.
sobre Refugiados de 1951,
to the Holocaust
would we return people to countries
que nunca mais mandariam de volta
prejudicadas ou mortas.
de várias maneiras.
refugees come to this country.
de Admissão de Refugiados nos EUA,
Admissions Program.
and selects refugees abroad
e selecionam refugiados no exterior
reassentaram menos refugiados
the program began in 1980.
desde o início do programa em 1980.
more refugees in the world
mais refugiados no mundo
registrado na História,
in recorded history,
come to this country is by seeking asylum.
virem para cá é buscando asilo.
who present themselves at a border
que se apresentam numa fronteira
if they're sent back home.
se forem enviadas de volta pra casa.
who's going through the process
passando pelo processo nos EUA
na definição de refugiado.
the refugee definition.
more difficult to seek asylum.
elas chegam aos pontos de controle
when they show up at our borders
that they simply can't apply.
e que elas não podem se candidatar.
"Migrant Protection Protocols,"
"Protocolos de Proteção aos Migrantes"
they have to wait in Mexico
que devem esperar no México
through the courts in the United States,
nos tribunais norte-americanos,
has detained over 3,000 children,
já deteve mais de 3 mil crianças,
para evitar pedidos de asilo.
a six-year-old blind girl.
uma menina cega de seis anos.
in what are virtually prisons
chamar de prisões para deter pessoas
the hallmark of our immigration system.
do nosso sistema de imigração.
on a hill or a beacon of hope
numa colina ou um farol de esperança
about ourselves and our values.
de dizer sobre nós e nossos valores.
and it always will be.
e sempre estará.
persecution, war, violence,
da perseguição, da violência,
what life is like in other places --
como é a vida em outros lugares,
policies that reflect our values
que refletem nossos valores
given the reality in the world.
considerando-se a realidade mundial.
is dial back the toxic rhetoric
a retórica tóxica que tem sido a base
debate on this issue for too long.
sobre esta questão há muito tempo.
because my grandparents were.
porque meus avós eram.
didn't see her kids for seven years,
não viu seus filhos por sete anos,
da Polônia para Nova York.
from Poland to New York.
when he was seven
e só o viu novamente quando ele tinha 14.
until he was 14.
a Polônia na década de 1930
left Poland in the 1930s
the British Mandate of Palestine,
de Mandato Britânico da Palestina,
her family and friends again.
e amigos dela novamente.
to global migration and displacement
à migração global e ao deslocamento
migration something that isn't a crisis
da migração algo que não era uma crise
as a global community.
como uma comunidade global.
to countries in Central America
a países da América Central
we spend on enforcement and detention.
que gastamos com fiscalização e detenção.
have an asylum system that works.
um sistema de asilo que funcione.
do custo de um muro,
de asilo tenham advogados
com um sistema de asilo humanitário.
no programa de apoio aos refugiados:
in the refugee program:
15,000 Syrian refugees
15 mil refugiados sírios
refugee crisis on earth.
de refugiados do mundo.
and efforts to block immigration,
para bloquear a imigração
in this country, according to polls,
neste país, de acordo com pesquisas,
and faith-based organizations,
humanitárias e baseadas na fé,
à qual vale a pena se opor,
or a policy that needs oversight.
que precisa ser supervisionada.
one of these detention centers
você jamais será o mesmo.
about my call with Ellie
a minha conversa telefônica com Ellie
that the stories of her grandparents
que as histórias dos avós dela
for Mr. Potato Head,
do Sr. Cabeça de Batata,
a good story to leave with,
and my relatives and your relatives
dos meus familiares e dos de vocês
they're all the same.
e elas são todas iguais.
when it says to the refugee,
diz ao refugiado: "Vá embora",
cuidaremos de você. Está seguro aqui".
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