Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Concluding observations on the combined twenty-third and twenty-fourth periodic reports of Ecuador *

Addendum

Information received from Ecuador on follow-up to the concluding observations

[Date received: 14 December 2018]

I.Introduction

1.On 15 September 2017, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued its concluding observations on the combined twenty-third and twenty-fourth periodic reports of Ecuador. In paragraph 40 of its concluding observations, the Committee requested the State party to provide information on the progress made in follow-up to the recommendations in relation to paragraphs 13 (Indigenous and ordinary justice), 20 (Human rights defenders) and 32 (c) (Human mobility). The Ecuadorian State hereby submits the information requested to the Committee.

II.Information relating to application

Recommendation contained in paragraph 13: The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (CERD/C/ECU/CO/20-22, para. 19) that the State party expedite the adoption of the bill on coordination and cooperation between indigenous and ordinary justice that is pending before the National Assembly.

2.The Standing Committee on Justice and Structure of the State of the National Assembly has reported that, in a session held on 9 August 2012, it requested the Legislative Council of the National Assembly to consider the bill on coordination and cooperation between indigenous and ordinary justice, with a view to holding a pre-legislative consultation.

3.On 5 October 2012, the then-Secretary General of the National Assembly informed the Standing Committee of the Legislative Council’s decision of 3 October 2012, by which the Council had ordered the request for a pre-legislative consultation to be considered and decided by the plenary National Assembly.

4.According to official communication No. SAN-2018-1117 of 10 July 2018, submitted by the Secretary General of the National Assembly, to date, the plenary of the National Assembly had not taken up the matter.

Recommendation in connection with paragraph 20: Even though the Constitution recognizes that individuals have an equal right to organize, assemble and protest freely and voluntarily, the Committee notes that human rights defenders and members of indigenous organizations continue to be the target of attacks and threats. In many instances, attacks and arrests have occurred in connection with conflicts linked to the exploitation of natural resources. The Committee is concerned that protests often lead to criminal proceedings being brought against activists on charges such as terrorism, sabotage, attack and resistance, or paralyzing of a public service, resulting in conviction and hefty fines completely out of proportion with the seriousness of the acts (art. 5 (b)).

5.In 2017 and 2018, the policy of dialogue pursued by the Government led to seven pardons of indigenous leaders and activists who had been tried before the current government was formed. First, a presidential pardon was granted to Mr. Meza Saltos Patricio Marcelo by Executive Decree No. 32 of 14 June 2017. Then, by Executive Decree No. 51 of 23 June 2017, presidential pardons were granted to Mr. Guamán Cuvi Elvis Javier, Mr. Pilatasig Quishpe Segundo Santiago, Mr. Tubón Guano José Rodrigo and Mr. De La Cruz Sánchez José Manuel, all of whom had been convicted of the crime of “attack or resistance” – a punishable offence under article 283 of the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code – by the Tribunal de Garantías Penales (criminal trial court) in Pastaza canton. The aforementioned presidential pardons were requested by the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Religious Affairs in official communications No. MJDHC-MJDHC-2017-0282-OF of 13 June 2017 and No. MJDHC-MJDHC-2017-0307-OF of 21 June 2017, respectively, in which the Ministry stated the reasons for its requests.

6.By Executive Decree No. 56 of 4 July 2018, the President of Ecuador pardoned Mr. Tomás Felipe Jimpikit Tserempm, who had been found guilty of “paralysing a public service”, a crime punishable under article 346 of the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code. On 3 October 2018, by Executive Decree No. 530, the President pardoned Mr. Pepe Luis Acacho González, who had been found guilty of impeding free transit, a crime under article 129 of the Criminal Code in force at the time of the events.

7.Furthermore, the President of the Republic repealed Executive Decree No. 16 of 4 June 2013 through Executive Decree No. 193, published in Official Gazette No. 109 of 27 October 2017. Executive Decree No. 193 sets out regulations that afford legal personality to social organizations. These regulations, which defend the right to organize, assemble and protest freely and voluntarily, are meant to govern, simplify and streamline the requirements for competent State institutions to afford legal personality to citizens’ social organizations upon their request. The regulations set out clearly the specific grounds for the dissolution of social organizations: (1) if an organization deviates from the purposes and objectives for which it was established; (2) if an organization reduces the number of its members to fewer than the minimum established in these regulations; (3) if an organization’s mandate, as established in its by-laws, expires; (4) if an organization engages in partisan political activities, which are reserved for political parties and movements registered with the National Electoral Council; (5) if an organization engages in unlawful activities or fails to comply with its obligations under the Constitution, the law and the present regulations; and (6) any other grounds established in the by-laws.

8.In 2015, the Ombudsman’s Office submitted to the National Assembly a bill providing for the establishment of a system for the promotion and protection of rights, in compliance with the ninth interim provision of the Organic Law on the National Equality Councils, which instructed the Ombudsman’s Office to submit a bill that would establish and provide a framework for the promotion and protection of rights.

9.Based on the foregoing, the Legislative Council adopted decision No. CAL-2017-2019-343, dated 23 May 2018, thus combining the 2015 bill providing for the establishment of a system for the promotion and protection of rights, and the bill bearing the same name, but submitted by former Assembly member Marisol Peñafiel, so that both bills might be considered by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Collective Rights.

10.The purpose of the combined bill is to establish the structure, organization and functioning of a system for promoting and protecting the individual and social rights of persons and groups, as well as the collective rights of communes, communities, peoples and nationalities; to lay down the powers and responsibilities of such a system’s institutions; and to identify the coordination mechanisms at the various levels of government that deal with development and buen vivir (“good living”) and seek to promote and protect the rights recognized in the Constitution and international human rights instruments. According to official communication No. AN-CDCCI-S-255, dated 9 July 2018, which was submitted by the Secretary-Rapporteur of the Standing Committee on Collective Rights, the bill is currently being considered by the Standing Committee.

11.In addition, through Decision No. 057-DPE-CGAJ-2018, the Ombudsman issued regulations on the establishment and operation of councils of defenders of human rights and of nature, which report to the Ombudsman’s Office. The regulations were published in Official Gazette No. 293 on 27 July 2018.

12.Among the powers attributed to these councils of defenders, which have been set up at the provincial and national levels, is to make proposals to improve the processes within the Ombudsman’s Office for promoting and protecting human rights and nature’s rights; to sound the alert regarding violations of human rights and of nature’s rights; and to help to identify violations of human rights, collective rights and the rights of nature, to recognize patterns of violation and to assess the situation of defenders.

13.Now that the councils of defenders have been established (24 provincial councils and 1 national council), the Ombudsman’s Office is developing guidelines for the protection of defenders of human rights and nature’s rights. One of the aims of the guidelines is to begin recording information on the underlying causes of rights violations and on the situation of defenders of human rights and of nature’s rights.

14.Moreover, through decision No. 073-DD-DPE-2018, the Ombudsman issued a public statement urging the national Government to implement United Nations General Assembly resolutions 68/237, adopted in 2013, and 69/16 on the International Decade for People of African Descent. In this statement, the Ombudsman calls for the establishment of a technical secretariat for the International Decade to coordinate the policies, plans and programmes to be carried out by various State institutions.

15.As for the safety of human rights defenders, the President has called for strategies that contribute to the mandate of the group Amazon Women Defenders of the Rainforest against Extractivism. The Ministry of Environment is leading that process, in collaboration with the relevant institutions, for example, the National Police, which is involved in carrying out strategies of safety and security.

16.As set out in the report of the National Police included in official communication No. 2018-060-P3-SZZCH-19, a number of initiatives have been carried out within the framework of these strategies: identification and reporting of domestic violence in the communities of Tundayme and Shaimi in the Ecuadorian Amazon; ongoing coordination activities for the effective management of the services provided by community policing units, in order to ensure, in particular, the safety and protection of women leaders, their families and the community in general; promotion of the activation of phone applications to alert first-responders in cases of gender violence; and institutional coordination to approve administrative measures for immediate protection and emergency police action with a gender focus.

17.The Council of the Judiciary, through the National Directorate for Access to Justice, carries out activities to effectively protect the rights of indigenous individuals, peoples and nationalities, with the aim of promoting access to judicial services and eliminating structural barriers of a legal, economic, social, generational, gender and cultural nature.

18.To this end, 10 meetings on indigenous justice were held with indigenous leaders in 2017. The following conclusions were drawn: the lack of interest in the justices of the peace mechanism; the need to encourage participation by the indigenous sector through calls for dialogue and the establishment of a committee for discussing specific cases; the development of mechanisms to determine the competence of the indigenous and ordinary justice systems; the relationship between the indigenous justice system and the services provided by the Civil Registry and the Property Registry; the role of the indigenous justice system in expert testimony; and the development, in collaboration with the Judicial Training College, of training modules on legal pluralism and indigenous justice.

19.The Council of the Judiciary has developed tools for justice officials, such as a guide to mainstreaming the principle of interculturality in the ordinary justice system, as approved by decision No. CJ-DG-2016-055. The guide provides detailed information on how to facilitate and enhance the work of the judicial authorities, taking into consideration the special situation of indigenous individuals, peoples and nationalities when dealing with the ordinary justice system. With regard to the certification of experts who participate in judicial proceedings, the Judiciary Council has certified 11 expert interpreters of Ecuadorian ancestral languages (Kichwa, Wao, Tsáfiqui and Shuar) and 1 anthropological expert; it has, moreover, appointed six indigenous prosecutors in the provinces of Bolívar, Guayas, Morona Santiago, Pastaza, Pichincha and Zamora Chinchipe.

20.In addition, the Ministry of the Interior, as the governing body of the public security forces, has taken steps to apply a more intercultural approach by incorporating a greater number of indigenous people into the ranks of the National Police. During the period from 2017 to 2018, 107 men and 119 women representative of indigenous peoples and nationalities of the Amazon were registered as candidates for the posts of Operational Technician (police officer) and Director (senior officer).

21.To promote interculturality within the Ministry, from 9 to 13 April 2018, during the induction of new police candidates, an effort was made to raise awareness about interculturality and about the presence and importance of peoples and nationalities in Ecuador. A total of 2,619 new candidates benefitted from the new component in their induction, held in the facilities of the Police Intervention and Rescue Group in Pusuquí, Pichincha province.

22.The Directorate for Human Rights and Gender Equality, within the Ministry of the Interior, worked with technicians in charge of the information technology system of the National Police to conduct a survey and set up a database on ethnic self-identification. The survey is being distributed to 47,652 police officers, who will be asked to indicate whether they belong to an indigenous, Afro-Ecuadorian or Montubio people or nationality; the results will then be used in considering future affirmative action within the institution. As of February 2018, a total of 45,935 police officers have been registered in the system. Of these, 2,156 self-identified as Afro-Ecuadorian; 815, as indigenous; and 647, as Montubio.

23.In compliance with articles 57 and 171 of the Constitution, which recognize and uphold the right of indigenous communes, communities, peoples and nationalities to exercise judicial functions based on their ancestral traditions and their own law within their territory, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police have issued a guide for the police on how to establish harmonious relations, interact and cooperate with communes, communities, peoples and nationalities. The guide describes the actions and mechanisms that the police can use to establish harmonious relations, interact and cooperate with the authorities of indigenous communes, communities, peoples and nationalities, in the context of programmes and operations in Ecuador, while upholding the rights and guarantees enshrined in the Constitution and international instruments. It is expected to be approved and issued this year, the aim being to train 86 police officers and human rights instructors on 3 and 4 December 2018, so that the information can be disseminated nationally to all police personnel through the 2019 in-service training programme.

24.The Ministry of the Interior worked with the National Directorate for National Police Instruction on the 2017 curriculum for the in-service training programme, in order to include training on collective rights, the regulations on the progressive use of force, protocols and actions with priority groups, strategic procedures for the community police, international human rights standards (a study of the rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights) and other issues relating to the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. In 2017, a total of 44,174 police officers were provided training in the aforementioned areas.

25.In addition, a course on the collective rights of indigenous, Montubio and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples and nationalities was held from 8 to 11 May 2018. In total, 38 police officers took the course, which had a duration of 40 academic hours.

Recommendation in connection with paragraph 32: The Committee notes the adoption of the progressive law on human mobility and welcomes the recently adopted regulations in this regard as well as the closure of the Hotel Carrión detention centre. It commends the State party on its numerous awareness campaigns concerning decent conditions for domestic workers and school bullying. However, the Committee is concerned by: (a) discrimination, stigmatization, prejudice and stereotypes in relation to migrants; (b) the administrative barriers many migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, face in accessing health care, education, employment, the family support programme and the Human Development Bond Cash Transfer programme; (c) delays in the registration of refugees and the issuance of identity documents which are required to access public and social services; (d) discrimination against and bullying of children in school on account of their nationality or refugee status, which in many cases leads to them dropping out; (e) the unstable and discriminatory working conditions of many women refugees; and (f) the lack of a regulatory framework on a statelessness determination procedure under the Organic Act on Human Mobility (arts. 2 and 5). The Committee further notes the lack of information from the State party on the discrimination and racism often experienced by migrants (arts. 1, 2 and 5).

26.Ecuador has been recognized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as receiving the highest number of refugees of all the countries in the region. As of October 2018, Ecuador had granted refugee status to some 64,634 persons, most of them Colombian nationals, according to the records of the International Protection Directorate of the Office of the Deputy Minister for Human Mobility.

27.The conditions of refugees in Ecuador meet the highest international standards. There are no refugee camps. Moreover, the Government’s vision applies the pro personae principle and upholds rights advocacy: it prohibits discrimination against people on grounds of their migratory status; guarantees freedom of movement; rejects the criminalization of migration; and recognizes migrants’ contribution to development. This vision has made Ecuador a reference for good practices in the matter. In line with the foregoing and by way of example, article 9 of the Constitution provides that foreign nationals in Ecuador “shall have the same rights and duties as Ecuadorians” and article 40 recognizes the right to migrate and provides that “no human being shall be identified or considered illegal on the basis of his or her migratory status”.

28.In relation to the administrative barriers to employment, in April 2017, the Ministry of Labour reinstated the Human Mobility Committee, which is composed of representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide assistance to migrants, refugees and trafficking victims. The Committee established a number of focus areas to ensure access to employment, including training, audits and strategic alliances with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility.

29.With regard to access to school in Ecuador, foreign students are enrolled in the computerized registration system using their identity card (database of the Directorate General for Civil Registration, Identification and Certification), passport or refugee card. Foreign students who have none of these identification documents will be enrolled with their first and last names. Therefore, there is no administrative barrier to access to education, nor is there an additional financial burden based on immigration status.

30.As for parents, who are the legal representatives of foreign applicants, the National Directorate for Education Oversight is making changes to the computerized enrolment application to allow for the registration of persons who have regularized their immigration status in the country and are in possession of an identity card. These changes will be effective for the coastal region’s 2019/20 academic year.

31.Pursuant to article 105 of the Organic Act on Human Mobility, from 13 November 2017 to 31 May 2018, the Directorate General for Civil Registration, Identification and Certification has issued 1,909 Ecuadorian identity cards to refugees and persons in need of international protection.

32.In addition, mechanisms have been established to ensure access to the Ecuadorian education system for foreign applicants who cannot provide supporting documentation for the studies they undertook or completed in their country of origin. One such mechanism involves giving placement tests to applicants, as provided for in article 167 of the implementing regulations of the Organic Act on Intercultural Education.

33.For the coastal region’s 2018/19 academic year, such tests took the form of an accredited assessment, with general content covering several countries, taking account of the various backgrounds of the migrant population. The tests were given online, thus requiring less time and resources. The same enrolment process will be used in the highland region.

34.In addition to the placement exams, which are part of the “Global Student” project, a citizenship module will be adopted by 140 educational districts so as to provide flexible, high-quality support to the population.

35.Regarding the Human Development Bond Cash Transfer programme, the beneficiaries are required to have an Ecuadorian identity card and to be registered in the social registry. Without prejudice to the foregoing, the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, in seeking to support other vulnerable groups, has carried out a joint pilot project of the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on family support and so-called “graduation models”. The project’s aim is to improve the quality of life and social and economic mobility of Ecuadorian families, refugees and asylum seekers in situations of extreme vulnerability, and to reduce barriers to social protection programs operated by the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion.

36.The project is being run in the border area of the districts of Tulcán and San Lorenzo, where families have been given priority preventive health-care cards. The project also provides for the delivery of a UNHCR-funded voucher, which is to be delivered to refugee families by the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion. Families are expected to graduate from the project within 18 months.

37.On the registration of refugees, a new admissibility process has been developed, under the Organic Act on Human Mobility, for applicants for refugee status within the international protection units of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility at the national level; this process is detailed in the implementing regulations of the Organic Act on Human Mobility and in the instructions for determining the status of refugees and stateless persons in Ecuador.

38.In accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the aforementioned instructions, applications for refugee status must be admitted or rejected within 10 days of submission by a substantiated decision of the International Protection Directorate. In cases that are admitted for processing, under article 83 of the regulations, foreign persons are provided with a provisional certificate that immediately entitles them to a humanitarian visa; their immigration status is therefore considered regular, pending a final decision on their specific case. This ensures that applicants for refugee status can effectively exercise their rights and fulfil their obligations under the Constitution and the Organic Act on Human Mobility.

39.A procedure for establishing statelessness is described in chapter XII, articles 66 to 84, of the aforementioned instructions. The procedure involves reception, admission, registration, documentation, technical analysis, the lead unit and the exceptions that might be encountered as part of the procedure.

40.With regard to social security, article 2 of the Social Security Act states that all persons who receive income in return for performing a job or for providing a physical or intellectual service, whether or not there is a formal employment relationship, must join the compulsory insurance scheme. In other words, foreigners who are considered employees necessarily subscribe to the insurance through their employer.

41.Furthermore, any person of legal age who is in Ecuador may join the voluntary insurance scheme, in accordance with the Social Security Act and the regulations on insurance, collection and portfolio management of the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute.

42.With regard to access to health care, the Ministry of Public Health, through the Directorate for Human Rights, Gender and Inclusion, examines cases of migrants who have had problems in accessing health services. If any irregularities are identified, it follows up with the respective health teams to ensure compliance with the obligation to provide care to all persons without discrimination. The services provided by the network of health centres and hospitals overseen by the Ministry of Public Health are free of charge and thus guarantee the universal availability of free health services, in accordance with article 361 of the Constitution. In addition, for the purposes of establishing a medical history, persons who do not have an identity card are assigned a 17-digit identifier pursuant to Ministerial Agreement No. 00004939, article 1 (1.2).

43.In this way, there are health professionals who manage cases of human mobility and the specific needs involved, by following up with and ensuring the compliance of health institutions.

44.As a preventive health measure given the influx of Venezuelan migrants in border areas, a plan for ramping up the response to the regional alert concerning measles, diphtheria and yellow fever was developed by the district health authorities. The plan provides for a series of measures for early detection and diagnosis of suspected cases of measles; the proper handling of cases; and the implementation of immediate control measures to halt transmission and prevent deaths, without discriminating in any way against non-nationals.

45.With a view to addressing discrimination and school violence and to developing inclusive and respectful spaces for diversity within the education system, a methodological approach for educators, developed by UNHCR and the Ombudsman’s Office, has been introduced in order to strengthen the capacities of the staff of the Ministry of Education. This approach is being used in 85 educational institutions in districts 1, 8 and 9. In June, training and assistance will be given to 40 professional support staff involved in the student counselling services provided by the district authorities, with the aim of replicating this approach in educational institutions whenever cases of discrimination are identified. By 2019, all professional support staff involved in the district’s student counselling services are expected to have been trained, with the support of international cooperation (UNHCR).

46.In June 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility introduced a national human mobility plan, which takes a holistic approach to public policy on human mobility. The plan reaches beyond a purely sectoral vision and considers human mobility as the responsibility of various actors, from civil society to the international community and the State. It is hoped that, as a result of the plan, public policies as a whole will better reflect the principles on human mobility as enshrined in the Constitution, the Organic Act on Human Mobility and its implementing regulations, and the gender equality policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, which includes a commitment to work especially closely with migrant and refugee women in Ecuador and abroad.

47.The plan sets out four policies on human mobility: (1) promote universal citizenship and free mobility internationally; (2) better protect migrants’ rights; (3) create conditions that foster orderly, safe and regular migration; and (4) defend the diversity, integration and coexistence of migrants. The strategies introduced under policies (2) and (4) include the development and improvement of teaching methods to incorporate immigrant children and adolescents into the Ecuadorian education system and the inclusion within the curriculum of the topics of human mobility and the prevention of risky migration; the facilitation of administrative processes for the admission of immigrants to the various levels of education available in Ecuador; the simplification of the formalities for migrants’ access to the health system; and the expansion of the campaign against discrimination and xenophobia at all levels of government, including training for female and male civil servants.

48.The national human mobility plan provides for the introduction and promotion of the four policies according to the management model of the Office of the Deputy Minister for Human Mobility, at all government levels and in such a way that it addresses migration situations comprehensively.

49.Furthermore, the Government has introduced a comprehensive plan to uphold and protect rights in the context of the influx of Venezuelan migrants in Ecuador, taking as its basis the constitutional principle that all persons are equal before the law and enjoy the same rights, duties and opportunities. Its implementation ensures compliance with the regulations in force, even as the State continues to carry out comprehensive public policies to protect and uphold the rights of Ecuadorians, as well as those of migrants who are in Ecuador, without distinction as to their nationality. The plan focuses on several strategic areas:

1.Humanitarian action;

2.Integration, role of the host community and the prevention of and protection against discrimination and xenophobia;

3.Prevention of and protection against human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants;

4.Coordination and cooperation.

Implementation, planning and budgeting

50.The legal support for human mobility and human rights draws on international and regional instruments, national regulations and public policy. Ecuador is one of only five countries in the world that has ratified all 18 core international human rights instruments; it has, moreover, ratified other instruments relating to migrants. In addition, there are some 10 national legal institutions working to improve the situation of migrants in Ecuador; all of these institutions have established agendas and action plans.

51.On 1 October 2018, a framework agreement on inter-agency cooperation was signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, in order to provide adequate protection for child and adolescent migrants, especially those who are unaccompanied and/or do not have the necessary documents. The purpose of the agreement is to ensure the proper management of migratory flows while maintaining a focus on the human rights of non-nationals and of children and adolescents entering Ecuador, with special reference to nationals of other South American countries. On the basis of this agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, the Ministry of the Interior and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) endorsed a procedure for assisting migrant children and adolescents and their families in Ecuador. This action protocol will allow the authorities to respond in an coordinated manner to real cases involving the human mobility of children and adolescents and their families, especially at border crossings.

52.The Directorate for Inclusion of the Foreign Community, within the Office of the Deputy Minister for Human Mobility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, carried out, with the support of UNHCR, a campaign against discrimination and xenophobia to young people in the first, second and third years of high school. In 2016, it reached 9,062 students and, in 2017, it benefited 6,613 students. The programme is to be extended to new educational institutions in 2018. Some examples of campaigns against xenophobia are described in the following paragraphs.

53.On 14 September 2018, as part of Human Mobility Week, the city of Cuenca organized a forum entitled “Don’t call me a foreigner” in order to promote information-sharing and discussion of human mobility, its implications in southern Ecuador and the need for pro-immigrant public policies. The forum was aimed at migrants, returning migrants, refugees, social groups, public authorities and other stakeholders.

54.On 21 September 2018, local coordination authority No. 7 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, based in the city of Loja, organized a forum on regularization processes and local alternatives for migrants, in coordination with the Human Mobility Network – Loja. The forum was held during the month of human mobility and was aimed at the integration of migrants, foreigners in Ecuador, returning Ecuadorians, refugees and others.

55.In 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility expanded the campaign against xenophobia to the provinces of Azuay, Cañar and Morona Santiago. The authorities seek to make secondary school students aware of the importance of not discriminating against Ecuadorian or foreign persons on the basis of ethnicity or nationality.