A House for All

On 27 February 2003, the EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council agreed on the Directive on the Right to Family Reunification for third-country nationals. Christian organisations active in the fields of migration and asylum deeply regret this decision that was taken despite the fact that Christian and other non-governmental organisations had voiced concern that the legal text remains clearly beneath core human rights standards.

http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/boletines/enlace.pdf

Tony Garza: because Iraq’s war, in risk agreements Mexico - United States

The ambassador from United States in Mexico, Tony Garza, affirmed that the diplomatic relationships with Mexico are good, however, it clarified that if not being reached an agreement in the conflict with Iraq, many of the agreements enter the two governments "could break." The diplomat mentioned examples of the good relashinships, as the cooperation to combat the drug traffic and the search of solutions to legalize the immigrants. Also, it reiterated that threats of reprisals don't exist against Mexico neither against any country.

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/008n1pol.php?origen=politica.html

3.- Ringleader of immigrant smuggling-prostitution ring sentenced
Serge L. Mezheritsky, a 37-year-old ringleader of a group that smuggled at least 400 of Ukrainian immigrants into the United States, through Mexico, had been sentenced to 17 years of prission. Most of the immigrants paid $7,000 in smuggling fees. Some women in the group were told they could pay their fees by working as baby sitters, models, escorts or actresses, but were subsequently sold to pimps, prosecutors said.

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2003/feb03/030228/024n1eco.php?origen=economia.html

http://www.milenio.com/nota.asp?idc=122769

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2003/mar03/030309/013n2pol.php?origen=politica.html

LATIN AMERICA

http://www.terra.com.ni/noticias/articulo/html/act136676.htm

More than 250,000 Nigerians involved in prostitution and drug-related offences have been deported from Europe and Asia last year. Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Uzoamaka Nwizu was quoted as saying. Speaking at a lecture series at Kubwa near the capital Abuja, the immigration chief said that most of the deportees were human traffickers and prostitutes. About 75 percent of the deportees were taken out of the
country "as a result of their naivety," she said, adding that the rest 25 percent were trafficked through coercion or pressure either from parents or relatives

October - December 2002
c/o Kowloon Union Church
No.4 Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
Tel. no.: (852) 2723-7536 Fax no.: (852) 2735-4559
E-mail: apmm@hknet.com

8.- China: Far from home When women leave their villages to marry
The market reforms instituted in China in the late 1970s have brought tremendous changes, both positive and negative for women. During this period, China has experienced an explosion of internal migration. In addition, this has been characterised by a shift from a traditional family migration pattern to the migration of unmarried women. One aspect of Chinese female migration that has, thus far, not received much attention outside China is voluntary migration for the purpose of marriage. Intertwined with both illegal marriage migration and economic
migration, this phenomenon has provided rural women with an important opportunity to improve their economic status. However, it has also exposed them to unusual risks. By 1990, the official census showed the number of these women on the move had increased to 4,325,747, or 28 per cent of overall female migration in China.

Nine years ago, the Philippine government was caught flat-footed when the case of Flor Contemplacion broke out. This time in the Middle East, the touted preparedness plan of the government for the Filipino migrant workers is in the brink of failure together with millions of lives of OFWs. This was declared by the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), an NGO servicing migrant workers in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, who conducted a survey of OFW reactions on the impending war in the region. The group reported that less than 50% of 400 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) surveyed in selected countries in the region are aware of the contingency plans that the Philippine government has set up in case war breaks out between the United States and Iraq.

Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), 15 March 2003

10.- Unified contract in Saudi brings legal slavery
It is high time for Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas to stop washing her hands off of anti-migrant policies that she has either instigated or has been a party in its conception. The Saudi Arabia National Recruitment Committee Unified Contract (SANARCOM-UC) has again exhibited the propensity of the Labor Secretary and her office to divert the flak that her irresponsible moves have caused the OFWs in the Kingdom. Contrary to the claims that the Secretary and the DOLE has no part in the Unified Contract, OFWs in KSA have reported that Sto. Tomas even boasted to them that she has discussed the said policy with Saudi Labor officials in her visit in May 2002. How can Sto. Tomas and the DOLE then maintain a "hands off" response to the Unified Contract when her "chop" is written all over it?
The Unified Contract is a scheme that institutionalizes the rampant contract substitution in KSA. Contract substitution is the practice of giving OFWs, upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, a fresh contract different than what they have processed in the POEA. The "substitute contract" is very much unlike the Model Employment Contract of the POEA that sets the benchmark in wage and other benefits that OFWs should receive. Because of the inhuman provisions of the "substitute contract", many OFWs are forced to run away from their employers and become stranded.

11.- Taiwan: Slow death for migrant workers
The Taiwanese government had initially authorized the import of foreign workers from four ASEAN countries namely, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. In 1999, it authorized importation from Vietnam. Like what the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies, Inc. postulated in its research on Southeast Asian Migrants in Taiwan in 1998, these ASEAN countries which received large FDI inflows from Taiwan are the same countries from where migrant workers come. It is no wonder then that Taiwan can dictate with impunity to these countries its anti-migrant policies. These five ASEAN countries are not only beneficiaries of Taiwanese investments but are its main suppliers of foreign labor. The export of labor especially of Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam are not only sources of revenues for these sending countries but also of precious hard currency which the migrants remit to their home countries. Indonesia and the Philippines’ second dollar earners are the remittances of its nationals working abroad. There are many policies of Taiwan’s Council of Labor Affairs (CLA), which are clearly anti-migrant and contravene existing UN conventions.

12.- Migrant Workers and Legislations in the Middle East
The Middle East continues to be a major destination for migrant labor among sending countries in Asia. In 1999, the SLBFE recorded 705,000 Sri Lankan migrants in the Middle East. In Bahrain, there are 240,423 foreigners, mostly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines. This is almost 40% of their total residents in 1997. In Kuwait, around 280,000 foreign maids and servants were recorded on the same year and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration recorded 222,359 Filipinos deployed in 15 countries in the Middle East from January to August 2002 alone.
Most of the domestic helpers working in the Middle East, especially in the Gulf region (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Oman) have no day-off and are not considered workers but rather a part of the employer’s family or household. They are not allowed to go out except in the company of their employers, practically holding them prisoners in their employer’s houses. The average salary for ordinary migrants is around US$150 to US$300 and others are receiving around US$100 and even lesser. Most of them suffer long working hours; some would even work up to 20 hours daily.

(11,198 byts. Inglés)