Austin City Council World Refugee Day Resolution

Austinites! Contact your councilperson and urge them to support refugees, migrants, and the rights of children in Austin and around the world. Special thanks to Free the Children for their advocacy!

Free the Children
Proposed Draft World Refugee Day Proclamation
Revised June 8, 2009

Be it known that,

Whereas

The City of Austin recognizes that the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas

On World Refugee Day, we turn our attention to the millions of refugees who live without material, social and legal protection.

Whereas

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is an internationally recognized agreement between nations that establishes a comprehensive set of goals for individual nations to achieve on behalf of their children.

Whereas

We are willing to join in harmony with voices worldwide to claim more reasonable and humane immigration policies.


The City of Austin, as a leader in the global community of urban centers, does

Proclaim

1. June 20 the day to recognize and celebrate World Refugee Day;

2. Support for the ratification of the United Nations Covenant on the Rights of the Child; and

3. Compassion for a just and viable alternatives to institutional detention of children and families within these United States and elsewhere, while such families await administrative resolution of their immigrant status.