Who are we?

Background

The Collectif was created in August 2001 and incorporated as an association in March 2002.

As well as raising public awareness and making political demands, the Collectif’s office hours are used to listen to people and redirect them to partner organisations.

The Collective is open to any individual or legal entity.

The Collectif de soutien aux sans-papiers de Genève defends the rights of people without legal status. We want these people to have more rights and to have their situation regularised.

We also bring the problems faced by these people to the attention of the public and the authorities. We are working to improve their living conditions.

Although the collective calls itself ‘Collectif de soutien aux sans-papiers’, we use the term ‘people without legal status’ in our communications. This term was chosen because, in the 2000s, people without residence permits but with passports asked to be recognised with dignity and identity.

Our aims

• To promote, stimulate and coordinate activities aimed at defending and recognising the rights of these people.
• Defend the rights of people without legal status in the face of the discrimination that this situation entails;
• Inform people without legal status, their families and the institutions in direct contact with them about regularisation procedures, access to health, education and training, social insurance and administrative and judicial institutions;
• Fighting for collective regularisations and recognition of the rights of people without legal status and their families;
• Lobbying political and administrative authorities to find concrete, pragmatic solutions to improve the living conditions of workers without legal status in Geneva;
• Raising awareness in civil society of the problems faced by people without legal status living and working in Geneva;