Philosophy 09

Quote:

“No Human Being is Illegal.”

Source:

Quote: Flyer "National Campaign for the Civil and Human Rights of Salvadorans", 1988. Picture: photo©ErlingMandelmann.ch, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia. Creative Commons.

Author Bio:

Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) was a Jewish American-Romanian publicist, author, university lecturer and Shoah survivor. He wrote books on the Shoah and was a campaigner against racism and misanthropy until the end of his life.

Context:

"No human being is illegal" is a political slogan that is directed against deportation policies, restriction of asylum laws and racism in the US. Today it is used in the context of deportation policies, borders and asylum law debates also in Germany. It criticises deportation policies that make people illegal and deny them basic human rights. Elie Wiesel, who is said to have introduced the slogan as part of a civil and human rights campaign for Salvadorans in the USA, is regarded as the originator. Since 1997, there exists an international academic network called "No human is illegal" that supports illegalized people.

Further Reading:

*Isabel Johnston (May 20, 2019): Words Matter: No Human Being is Illegal. Immigration and Human Rights Law Review Blog. *Berger, A. L. (2021). Elie Wiesel: Humanist Messenger for Peace. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.

Year:

1988