Political Participation and Effective Citizenship for Migrant People

What if people like Yassir or Awa were not only invited to share their stories, but were part of the councils that decide the public policies affecting them? What if Mamadou could access rights not because he has the “right” documents, but because his life is already here — his hands help build this place, and his voice deserves to be heard too?

This proposal seeks to transform the concept of citizenship to include those who are already building society, even if the system does not yet recognise them.

Problem Identification

Migrant individuals who have lived in the country for years — working, studying, engaging in community or political spaces — still lack full access to citizenship and fundamental political rights, such as the right to vote or be consulted on policies that affect their lives.
This creates a second-class citizenship, deepens structural exclusion, and reinforces tokenistic dynamics, where migrants are invited to participate only as “users” or “testimonies.”
Also, the lack of formal recognition of these life trajectories makes their contributions invisible and blocks their potential as active political agents. As Yassir said during the theatre performance:

I like politics, but not as a migrant.

The system reduces him to a single identity, when he wants to be recognised as a complete political subject.

Proposed Solution

To recognise the effective citizenship of migrant individuals, regardless of nationality or legal status, through concrete mechanisms that ensure their participation in political, community, and institutional life. This includes:

• Creating structured political participation spaces that acknowledge migrant trajectories.

• Guaranteeing accessible regularisation pathways to exercising citizenship rights.

• Exploring intermediate forms of political representation, such as delegated voting, participation in local participatory budgeting, and binding inclusion in citizen councils.

Concrete Components

1. A Roadmap to Effective Citizenship

• Promote an exceptional administrative regularisation mechanism for migrants with over 2 years of social or labour integration, linked to training, volunteering, or demonstrated community contributions.

• Recognise community participation as valid input for documentation processes.

2. Real (not Symbolic) Political Participation

• Create binding citizen consultation channels where migrant individuals and collectives can have an impact on issues affecting their lives (housing, health, education, labour rights).

• Allow foreign residents with legal status to vote in municipal elections, as is already the case in some European countries.

3. Civic Education and Support

• Design multilingual civic education programmes for migrants on political rights, responsibilities, and participation mechanisms.

• Link this education to real participatory experiences, such as participatory budgeting or local assemblies.

4. Representation from Migrant Experience

• Include migrants as institutional representatives in public offices, neighbourhood councils, and citizen service points.

• Explore the use of delegated voting in community assemblies or municipal forums, with legal and community support.

Responsible Areas and Key Actors

• Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration

• Ministry of the Interior (regarding foreign voting rights)

• Local governments and citizen participation councils

• Ombudsman offices (at regional and national levels)

• Migrant associations, universities, and civic platforms

Potential nesxt steps:

• Include this proposal as a working line within local Intercultural Coexistence Plans.

• Develop a pilot initiative for migrant participation in local public policy design.

• Incorporate migrant representatives with speaking rights into citizen, youth, and housing councils.

• Launch a consultation and participatory feedback process with migrant communities to validate and enrich this proposal.