“It has been a constant frustration to be a worker since this government took office. Fighting discrimination we also began to suffer discriminatory acts directed at public employees,” he told the Brazil in fact, on condition of anonymity, an employee of the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism of Argentina (Inadi), which had its closure announced this Thursday (22) by the ultra-liberal government of Javier Milei.
Created in 1995 by the Discriminatory Acts Law (24,515), Inadi is a decentralized government body linked to the Argentine Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and aims to develop national policies to combat “all forms of discrimination, xenophobia and racism” .
Despite the commitment to offering public assistance to vulnerable groups, with action focused on human rights, she points out that the work has become more difficult since Milei took office in December.
“As workers, we are not only being discriminated against, but we see that discrimination is growing in the country, because it’s not just numbers, it’s people we talk to, we know their situation, we get closer. The very closure of Inadi means giving a message to society to naturalize discriminatory acts, so that they are not reported or rejected. The message is that each person follows their own criteria in relation to social treatment”, the Inadi employee told the report.
Facade of the Inadi headquarters building in Buenos Aires / AFP PHOTO / TELAM / Nacho SANCHEZ
The body’s responsibilities include receiving and centralizing complaints about discriminatory conduct, providing comprehensive and free advice to people or groups who are victims of these practices; plan and execute awareness campaigns on these issues, as well as provide specialized technical advice to the Public Ministry and courts of Justice on these issues.
The worker reports that the workers’ feeling of frustration reached its peak this Thursday when they found out about the closure of the institute through the press, in a statement from the Milei government spokesperson, Manuel Adorni. “The decision was made to move forward with the dismantling of institutes that serve absolutely no purpose, such as Inadi,” said Adorni when announcing the closure of the organization, as part of the ultraliberal government’s state reduction plan.
“It is very frustrating to experience these situations and today this feeling was especially strong, being in the media with so many lies about us, so much speculation and news without any type of proof, but which harm us with this bias that it is an organization that it is useless, it must be closed and the workers don’t matter, the human capital that is inside doesn’t matter.”
The argument used by the Milei government to close Inadi that it “is useless” was based on the idea that Justice exists to deal with cases of discrimination and, therefore, the existence of a body with this role would not be necessary. The Inadi employee, however, points out that this statement shows the government’s ignorance about the right to migration.
” Justice deals with evidence, presentation of testimonies, among other mechanisms. Migrants rarely report, as they are in a vulnerable situation. They end up not using the resource of accessing Justice for fear that making a complaint could result in harm for them, with the threat of expulsion from the country. It is important to raise awareness in society that migrating is a human right.”
Editing: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
