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COALITION of international migrant-workers groups on
Saturday urged the government to address not only the
issues of increased remittances but also the
responsibility of the country to uphold the rights of
Filipino workers abroad wherever they may be found.
They
confirmed that a meeting of nongovernment organizations
advocating migrant-workers rights will convene in Manila
on July 11 and 12 to launch the People’s Global Action,
which will group together hundreds of migrant workers’
organizations that will campaign for the protection of
their rights in the Philippines and in all other
countries capitalizing on the migrant-worker market.
The
Global Call to Action is also organizing a parallel
meeting in Manila to coincide with the Second Global
Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), with the
Philippines is hosting in October, to oppose
perspectives being promoted by governments that
“perpetuate migrants’ exploitation, reinforce gender
oppression, undermine human rights and surrender state
responsibility for development.”
The
Philippine Working Group on GFMD and the Migrants’
Rights International said in past meetings, governments
focused on maximizing the development benefits of
migration while reducing discussions on the human rights
of migrants, the causes of massive migration like failed
economic-development programs and widespread poverty in
many countries.
This
time, according to the migrant-workers alliance, a
broader framework would be set in place with a parallel
forum that will call on governments and other parties
involved to renounce the treatment of migrant workers as
commodities.
The
meeting of government officials in Manila should now
veer away from the themes promoted by banks, remittance
companies and corporate giants, which centered on
treating migrants as sources of revenues and as
financiers of social-development programs.
“These
are all consistent with the neoliberal agenda of making
the people bear the burden of development, reducing
government responsibility and accountability and
ensuring more profits for the companies,” the organizers
said.
“We
oppose the perspectives of making the GFMD an extension
of neoliberal globalization so that it becomes an
instrument of the World Trade Organization, the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to
promote corporate globalization, this time capitalizing
on migrant workers,” they said.
Organizers emphasized the Manila forum should be an
opportunity for hundreds of delegates from all over the
world to discuss the impact of migrant workers who remit
more than $300 billion annually to their home countries. |
