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MIGRANTE - JAPAN
December 18 Is Not A Time
To Celebrate
International Migrants Day Statement of MIGRANTE Japan
Filipino migrants in Japan have nothing to celebrate on International
Migrants Day. Amid the current global financial crisis that not only takes
away our jobs but also threatens our very own existence, how can we
celebrate?
MIGRANTE Japan blames no one
but the architects of neo-liberal globalization. It is their fault that
poorer nations like the Philippines are perpetually stuck in abject
poverty and our people always reluctantly moving away in desperate search
for ways to survive.
Migrant Filipinos in Japan
like millions of Filipinos worldwide were forced to migrate and are now
treated like ordinary commodities because our government failed to provide
us with jobs and decent wage. We are vaunted as “new heroes” but
underneath we suffer immeasurable hardships in the hands of our oppressors
and exploiters and no one protects us from abuse and numerous violations
of our human rights.
We blame the Arroyo government
for our sufferings and miseries. We bring in billions of dollars in
remittances to our nation’s coffers, but President Arroyo only pays lip
service to our plight, especially for the many of us who are victims of
extortion, illegal recruitment, trafficking, rape and sexual violence and
discrimination in the Philippines and in our host country. Her crimes
against migrant Filipinos are just too many to forget. She can CHA-CHA her
way to stay in power, but this is not going to happen because we will not
allow her.
International Migrants Day is
no celebration but a chance for us to speak out! We are human beings and
we have rights that need to be heard because we deserve to be treated
better. Thus, we say:
NO TO FORCE MIGRATION! NO TO LABOR EXPORT! JOBS BACK HOME, NOT JOBS AWAY
FROM HOME! NO CHANCE FOR CHA-CHA!
MIGRANTE Japan is a movement
of migrant Filipinos in Japan that upholds, promotes and fights for the
rights of migrant Filipinos around the world. We are bound by this common
objective and by our mission to rally Filipinos in Japan to stand up for
their rights, to fight corruption in our government, to seek justice for
the oppressed and the exploited, and to bring about genuine and lasting
social transformation in our society.
Migrant rights are human
rights! On this day, we call on all Filipinos in Japan to stand up for
their rights and to uphold the dignity of the Filipino people.
MIGRANTENG PILIPINO MAGKAISA!
Karapatan ay Ipaglaban! Pang-aapi at Pagsasamantala ay Wakasan!
December 18, 2008
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(art: Antipas Delotavo’s Diaspora)
A Story I will tell the World
Ilena Saturay
I
am just one of those faceless two thousand Filipinos who left the country
that day, one of those two-thousand Filipinos who leave everyday, and just
one of those seven million Filipinos who had to work overseas. There
wasn’t anything special the morning I left: people went to their everyday
work, the masses of the poor were still hungry and burdened of poverty
while they worked to make ends meet and the small group of rich people
were eating breakfast served by their katulong, their maid/s. Beyond my
circle of family and friends, my departure was left unnoticed. But I hope
the story behind my departure wouldn’t be unnoticed, because it is the
story of so many others.
“It could have been me but instead it was you,” my father often sings the
song of Holly Near. “And it may be me dear sisters and brothers before we
are through.”
He was invited by Friends of the Earth to give a speaking tour to
Indonesia and the Netherlands about mining in Mindoro. By that time, the
government had sent more military battalions to Mindoro. A few days before
my father left, human rights organizations organized a fact-finding
mission to investigate reports of abductions, killings, disappearances and
burning of properties by the military. A close friend of his, Eden
Marcellana, was one of those who investigated. He asked her if he could
come with the fact-finding team. Eden Marcellana told him not to go
because it was too dangerous, and to just tell their story to world. So my
father went to Indonesia and the Netherlands to speak about the situation
in Mindoro.
On the day that he left, he received news that Eden Marcellana and Eddie
Gumanoy, who was also with the team, were found dead. The Department of
Justice dismissed the charges although there are many witnesses that point
to the military as her abductors and killers.
“It could have been me but instead it was you,” my father often sings.
“But if you can fight for freedom I can too.”
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When he was supposed to go home, back to the Philippines from the
Netherlands, a friend called him and told him that it was too dangerous
for him to go back. The military is looking for him, too. He should better
stay in the Netherlands and tell their story to the world.
He applied for political asylum here in the Netherlands. After three years
of being away from us and his home, he received a confirmation that he can
stay here as a political refugee. After three years, we, too, had to leave
the Philippines. More and more political activists were being killed or
abducted. During the Arroyo regime alone, there were at least 900
documented political killings.
Life abroad is not as easy and sweet as a lot of people think. There is no
easy money for ordinary people like us. You have to work. And in a place
like these where you have to learn the language first, you have to work
extra hard.
When we arrived here, we had to stay in an asylum center for a week until
our papers and documents were processed and until we were allowed to stay
here with our father. That place was like a prison for us. We were not
allowed to leave the big room for the whole day. When we had to leave the
room to get some things from our bags (which were locked up in another
room), we had to be accompanied by guards. We stayed with other political
refugees. Some of them were allowed to stay here, and some of them were
deported to the place where danger impatiently awaits them. We were
clearly not the only one. I often wonder what happened to them. What was
happening in the Philippines was clearly not happening only in the
Philippines.
Last October 26, we attended a commemoration of the Schiphol fire that
happened in 2005. There was a fire in a detention center where they keep
migrants who were awaiting deportation, locked up like they were criminals
just because they don’t or can’t have the proper paper as evidence that
they are worthy to live here. Eleven of them died. During the
commemoration, I saw a lot of people like me. Behind their faces were
different stories of why and how they came here in the Netherlands,
waiting to be told to the world.
We are hoping to come back home. But while we can’t, we will do what we
can do to improve the world so that the two thousand Filipinos who leave
the country don’t have to leave anymore, so that the people of the other
countries just like the Philippines don’t have to leave their own
countries anymore because of economical and political reasons. Telling our
story to the world would be a good start.
“. . . but if you can fight for freedom I can too,” we often sing.
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Joint Statement on the
International Migrants Day
Network for the Recognition and Protection of the Rights of Undocumented
Migrants
18 December 2008
On the Occasion of the International Migrants Day:
Recognize and Protect the Rights of Undocumented Migrants!
Undocumented migrant workers are the unrecognized hands that contribute a
lot to the economies of the countries they work in and countries where
they come from. Yet, they are some of the most exploited, abused and
repressed among the migrants.
The International Migrants Day is a most opportune time to put into light
their situation and their issues. Currently, there are 30 million
undocumented migrants and many more will surely join their ranks during
these times of global recession.
They have been stigmatized as criminals and illegal aliens and have
limited or no rights whatsoever. During crackdown operations, they suffer
unthinkable physical, mental and emotional violence and their rights as
human beings are never respected.
Like their legal counterparts, undocumented migrants are sources of
cheaper and docile labor force found in sweatshops, farms and even in
households though most of the latter do not enjoy many benefits and rights
that the former enjoy including medical insurance. Undocumented workers
became such by entering a destination country through unofficial channels;
overstayed their visas; absconded from their employers because of abuse
including non-payment of salaries or because their employers refused to
release them like in the Middle East.
And again like their documented counterparts, these migrants were forced
to work overseas because of the abject poverty and lesser economic
opportunities in their own home countries brought about by destructive
neo-liberal policies adopted by their governments. And their numbers are
expected to grow larger because such policies have led to a global
recession that has already resulted in the termination of documented
migrant workers and lessened their labor and welfare benefits. A great
number of them would rather choose to stay in the countries where they
were laid off even in an undocumented status and accept harsher working
and living conditions than being repatriated back home where such
conditions are worse.
Yet they are deemed as criminals and illegal both by their own governments
and especially that of the countries where they are working. The European
Union (EU) is the latest government that comprises all its country members
to approve new rules called EU Return Directives Policy which will impose
penalties of detention for a maximum of 18 months for overstaying
migrants, their deportation, along with their children, and blacklisting
for five years. This would be implemented in 2010.
In the United States where there is the biggest number of undocumented
migrants in any given country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
agents raids homes and workplaces of the immigrant community The ICE is
under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The periodic and brutal crackdowns in Malaysia are well known and
documented. And the use of tasers and stun guns in South Korea is
compounded by the arrests of the leaders of the Migrant Trades Union (MTU)
and the creation of a quota on how many undocumented migrants are to be
arrested on a monthly basis.
Undocumented migrant workers are not helpless and powerless despite of
their status. The one million march for immigrants across the US on May
1st, 2006 and the formation of the Migrant Trades Union and other migrant
organizations in South Korea whose members are mostly undocumented attests
to this. Advocates from every sector of society including local trade
unions and church people to name a few are also important in resisting
crackdowns on undocumented workers.
The formation of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA) is most timely.
Its resolution to campaign for the rights of undocumented migrants shall
contribute a lot in getting the much-needed support of undocumented
migrants in their struggles against criminalization, for legalization, and
for their rights and wellbeing.
The IMA has also resolved to campaign for undocumented migrants during the
next Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) activity to be held
in Greece next year. This would be a very important campaign as Greece is
part of so-called fortress Europe that would want to implement the EU
Return Directives Policy in 2010. This policy is set to deport hundreds of
thousands of undocumented migrants in various member nations of European
Union.
During this International Migrants Day, organizations and NGOS working on
the concerns of undocumented migrants are united in a vow to intensify the
struggles of undocumented migrants for their rights. Undocumented migrants
deserve their right to be recognized as workers. They should not be made
invisible, and worse, criminal anymore.
Signed by Members of the Network for the Recognition and Protection of the
Rights of Undocumented Migrants
1. Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) Hong Kong
2. Teresa Gutierrez, Co-Coordinator USA
May 1st Coalition for Worker & Immigrant Rights
Deputy-Secretary General, International Migrants Alliance
3. Berna Ellorin, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA
4. Carlos Canales, The Workplace Project USA
5. NY committee for Human Rights in the Philippines USA
6. INDIES Indonesia
7. Retno Dewi, ATKI Jakarta Indonesia
8. MIGRANTE UAE Chapter United Arab Emirates
9. MIGRANTE – Middle East Middle East
10. MIGRANTE Nagoya
11. Filipino Migrant Center (FMC) Japan
12. Philippine Society in Japan (PSJ) Japan
13. Filipina Circle for Advancement and Progress (FICAP) Japan
14. Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN-Saitama) Japan
15. KAFIN – Nagoya Japan
16. KAFIN - Akishima, Tokyo Japan
17. Dulaang Bayan (DUYAN) Japan
18. Center for Japanese Filipino Families (CJFF) Japan
19. League of Filipino Seniors (LFS) Japan
20. Anakbayan – Japan Japan
21. KAFIN Migrant Center Japan
22. MIGRANTE International Philippines
23. Katipunan ng mga Samahan ng Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea
(KASAMMA-KO)
24. New Era Foundation Korea
25. Bicol Association in Korea Korea
26. Seoul Migrant Association Korea
27. Federation of Filipino Migrant Workers in Korea Korea
28. Women on the Move (WEMOVE) Korea
29. Aguman Kapampangan in Korea Korea
30. Quezon Association in Korea (QUEAK) Korea
31. Migrante Korea Korea
For Information about the network, contact the Asia Pacific Mission for
Migrants (APMM) at No. 2 Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR; Tel. (852)
2723-7536; Fax (852) 2735-4559; Email: apmm@hknet.com; Website:
www.apmigrants.org
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December 19, 2008
PRESS RELEASE
Reference: Garry Matinez, Chairperson
Mobile: 0921-7229740
Expect to pay more fees OFWs told
Migrants group Migrante International accused President Gloria Arroyo of
making the already gloomy Christmas gloomier for OFWs as her government is
preparing new sets of additional fees to be paid by OFW applicants.
Migrante believes these schemes which would mean the intensification of
the labor export policy are meant to save her bankrupt and corrupt-ridden
government.
"Not contented with the existing excessive fees being exacted from OFWs,
the Arroyo administration is now preparing new measures to squeeze more
money from millions of applicants who want to work abroad," lamented Garry
Martinez, chairperson of Migrante.
The group revealed that the Department of Health (DOH) is already training
accredited clinics for the much ballyhooed psychological test that will be
required for OFWs next year. They insist that the said examination is
discriminatory and would only add to the list of payments OFWs have to be
pay.
"The Arroyo administration is hell bent on squeezing OFWs dry of their
earnings in order to increase revenues. Worse, these exactions are
deviously being done unannounced. A case in point is the 70 pesos fee for
a voters' affidavit being required for all passport applicants," adds
Martinez.
According to Migrante, the said affidavit is anomalous since suffrage is a
right and should not be forced on anyone. The group disclosed that the
"affidavit fee" will only
add to the P14,000 an applicant is compelled to shell out for all required
documents from government alone. This does not include placement fees that
are being charged by recruitment agencies that range from 60,000 pesos to
more than a hundred thousand.
"Clearly, OFWs merely serve as milking cows for the government. Many
become deeply indebted even before they leave the country. Worse, OFWs are
forced to endure abuse and exploitation just to pay for the loans they
incurred," said Martinez.
Aside from the psycho test and voter's affidavit, the group also divulged
the mandatory insurance being lobbied by recruitment agencies. Although
recruiters explained that the said insurance is going to be charged to
employers, Migrante believes that, in the end, it will be the OFWs who are
going to shoulder the said expenses.
"While OFWs in different countries are being confronted by mass lay-offs
due to the global financial crisis, President Arroyo's response is to
exact more revenues from them. To do this during Christmas season is
utterly heartless and reaffirms our pronouncement that Gloria Arroyo is
the most anti-migrant president in the history of Philippine migration. We
shudder to think what money-making scheme she will concoct next year!"
Martinez concluded.
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CARAM Asia's IMD Statement:
Equality for Migrant Workers Amid Financial Crisis
KUALA LUMPUR, 18 December 2008: Today marks a day of international
recognition for the role that migrant workers have throughout the world.
According to International Organisation for Migration (IOM) there are
currently over two hundred million people who leave their countries of
origin in order to seek economic betterment, representing some three
percent of the total global population. The current financial crisis
threatens the majority of migrants throughout the region as employment
opportunities decrease and destination countries perceive migrants as an
expendable economic commodity that threaten their national security and
customs.
The majority of migrant's originate from the poorest sectors of the globe
and frequently face discriminatory policies in countries of destination
due to their class, race or gender. As a network comprised of migrant and
health based organisations, CARAM Asia demands that all governments
immediately take action to ensure the rights of migrants within their
borders and eliminate all discriminatory policies that alienate and
stigmatise mobile populations. Migrant workers contribute a great deal to
their host countries, both economically and socially, and CARAM Asia
firmly believes that migrant workers must be allocated the same rights as
everybody else.
As a result of increased levels of globalisation, the international
community have continually twinned the issue of migration to that of
development. This persistently reduces the role of the migrant worker to
that of a commodity whereby the question of rights becomes seconded behind
that of economic prosperity. This was recently illustrated by the Global
Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) held in the Philippines where
the international community failed to contemplate the root causes and
effects of migration. In order to establish any credibility when
formulating policy initiatives, it is crucial that the international
community actively engage migrant and Civil Society Organisations on a
direct level of consultation through progressive right's based
initiatives.
The dynamics of migration are also changing and mobility amongst women now
constitutes as much as fifty percent of the world's migrant population.
This female migrant demographic are unfortunately more susceptible to
unprotected channels such as human trafficking and this remains a crucial
issue of concern. Female migrants largely inhabit the domestic sector as
Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) often originating from Sri Lanka,
Indonesia and the Philippines. Once in a country of destination, FDWs
often find themselves in conditions of solitary confinement, chained to
their employers and highly vulnerable to criminal abuses including
physical and sexual attacks. In a large number of these cases, the crimes
go unreported and the perpetrators are never brought to prosecution.
Over the past thirty years, Asia has become one of the main supplies of
cheap unskilled labour, as developing countries in the region frequently
become reliant on Labour Export Policies (LEPs) and the subsequent
remittances that they generate. While there is evidence to suggest that in
the short term, remittances contribute to alleviate poverty, malnutrition
and develop infrastructure, the long term effects of LEPs are often
overlooked and dismissed. Such national policies fail to consider that the
income generated only traps the national economies into a state of
neo-liberal dependence, leading to further economic polarisation. Many
developing countries in the region have also been known to use remittances
to alleviate foreign indebtedness and counter balance trade deficits.
Remittances are the private funds of migrant workers and should never be
used to sustain mismanaged economic policies or platforms.
Furthermore, migrant community's quality of life should never be
ascertained on a purely financial basis as health, job insecurity and
discriminatory polices further act as indicators. The health of migrant
workers is frequently neglected by host states in both the work related
and social arena. As health care systems increasingly shift to profit
centred services, migrant communities frequently lack both the access and
finance to health services and the only time that the health of migrants
is looked into is when they are subjected to mandatory testing for HIV.
Such policies are enforced in over seventy countries worldwide but have no
empirical evidence to reduce the spread of HIV and fly in the face of
Universal Access Plan 2010, by further stigmatising positive people.
Further more, initiatives such as these not only deem migrants as deviant,
but also identifies HIV/AIDS as a foreign problem.
Developing countries often do very little to ensure the protection of
their populace once they are outside of their borders. Many less developed
countries (LDCs) continually limit enforcement mechanisms or effective
bilateral protective measures so that their labour force are perceived as
more marketable to foreign governments and multi-national corporations.
CARAM Asia demands an immediate increase in the levels of communication
between country of origin and destination and for the greater involvement
of embassies to provide closer contact with their citizens.
As an example, ASEAN member states should honour their recent Declaration
on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers with a
speedy implementation of mechanisms to enforce this agenda. As the ASEAN
Charter had recently come into force, CARAM Asia urges all applicable
government's to live up to their commitments and promote security and
rights of migrants throughout the region.
CARAM Asia recommends that; -
· Member states ratify the International Convention on the Protection of
the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
· Governments enact laws and adopt other measures to ensure that the
rights of domestic workers are protected legally and to change the
national labour laws that do not protect domestic worker's rights
· The United Nations and International Labour Organisation (ILO) develop
new mechanisms for the protection and realisation of domestic workers
rights
· Remove mandatory health, HIV and pregnancy testing policies and the
following deportation of pregnant women migrants, positive migrants and
other illnesses
· Affordable healthcare services for migrant workers irrespective of their
documentation
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