[For Immediate Release] Statement of the APMM on the 2015 International Migrants Day
Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants
***Apologies for cross-posting***
Empowering migrants is key towards resolving forced migration
Statement of the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants on the 2015 International Migrants Day
December 18, 2015
Fifteen years since the United Nations proclaimed December 18 as International Migrants Day, the phenomenon of forced migration continues and has remained unresolved.
With Asia Pacific hosting more than half of the world’s international migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, the situation of the migrant sector in the region worsens as the global economic crisis intensifies – commodification and intensification of labor export, exodus of asylum seekers and refugees further instigated by wars, conflicts and persecutions, irregular migration, statelessness, criminalization, human trafficking, xenophobia, racism and discrimination.
These problems have faces – the Rohingyas who suffered through statelessness, xenophobia and criminalization, Syrian children who were part of the tens of thousands fleeing for their lives from war-stricken Syria only to be washed ashore lifeless, the many nameless trafficked peoples who have died and were buried in the Malaysia-Thailand borders, many migrants enduring physical abuse, labor exploitation and discrimination in their respective workplaces.
Migrant workers’ protection is a coined word in every free trade negotiation yet it remains as it is – an empty promise in the neoliberal agenda. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) flung the idea only to lessen the continually growing international people’s resistance to its aim to salvage and protect big business interests. The ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, continues to be at a standstill without any reached agreement on migrant workers’ protection albeit agreeing unanimously for a very neoliberal ASEAN Economic Community. As the migrant workers’ agenda was considered in the development of the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals, one casts doubt as these goals were also designed within the same neoliberal frame.
Neoliberal globalization does not provide solutions to the problems of migrants and refugees. Neither does it address forced labor migration. Rather, it contributes to its intensification.
Neoliberalism puts premium on the protection of capitalist interests through imposition of liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies at the disadvantage of migrants and peoples. The same policies that have stunted agriculture in many underdeveloped countries, that closed down manufacturing and many industries leaving many peoples jobless and without livelihood, that turned public utilities and goods such as health, education, water, electricity and shelter into expensive commodities. Neoliberal policies help generate a huge phalanx of cheap labor ready for export and exploitation.
As we saw struggles, we also witnessed victories.
The growing movement of migrants has launched campaigns that bore concrete gains for migrants in distress. This year, migrants in Hong Kong and the rest of the world celebrated with Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih when she won her case against her abusive employer. Her victory was a result of a year-long campaign, both online and offline, in and outside the court, organized and led by grassroots migrant organization in cooperation with service providers, lawyers, and advocates.
This year, too, we were part of that victory when an international campaign to save the life of Filipina migrant worker and human and drug trafficking victim Mary Jane Veloso convinced the Indonesian government to spare her from execution last April 2015. The collective effort of migrant groups, lawyers, and other advocates mainly in the Philippines and Indonesia (although other countries were also involved) gave hope to what was once called a hopeless case for Mary Jane.
When migrants struggle, we struggle. When they become victorious, we too become victorious. Hence, all avenues and platforms become an opportunity for APMM, together with migrants groups, to put adn amplify the migrant voice. This is apparent in our participation in the Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (APRCEM), a platform engaging in United Nations mechanisms, and the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE).
We also see the value in the development of a migrant movement not only in Asia Pacific but in the world. Last November, we worked with grassroots migrant organizations under the International Migrants Alliance in holding its 3rd General Assembly to discuss their urgent concerns, analyze their situation, and forge new unities in further strengthening their movement.
Migrants and refugees, once enlightened and empowered, become a strong force to be reckoned with and not simply placed at the receiving end of free trade negotiations or any government policy. They will become key players in the resolution of problems faced by their sector and in the resolution of the problem of forced migration. #
Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM)
Office Address: G/F, No.2 Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
Tel. no.: (852) 2723-7536
Fax no.: (852) 2735-4559
General E-mail: ap...@apmigrants.org
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Important Notice: Effective immediately, our new official email address will be ap...@apmigrants.org, as the old email ap...@hknet.com was discontinued by the service provider since end of March 2015. Please take note of this changes. Alternatively, you can write to the email list below. Thank you!
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Other Email Addresses:
Managing Director : ra...@apmigrants.org
Marriage Migrants Program : amm...@apmigrants.org, re...@apmigrants.org
"We dream of a society where families are not broken up by the urgent need for survival. We dream and will actively work for a homeland where there is opportunity for everyone to live a decent and humane life."
Ramon Bultron
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Managing Director
Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM)
Office Address: G/F, No. 2 Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
Telephone: +852-2723-7536
Fax: +852-2735-4559
Email: ap...@apmigrants.org, ra...@apmigrants.org