Migrants sending, host countries deserve Hall of Shame award

Press statement15 December 2005
For reference: Eni Lestari AMCB Spokesperson Tel. No.: 96081475 Dolores Ballladares AMCB Spokesperson Tel. No.: 97472986 Connie Bragas-Regalado MIGRANTE Chairperson Tel. No.: 92745010

As faithful adherents to the policies of the World Trade Organization (WTO), governments who send and host foreign workers have a lot to answer for the sad plight of migrants and our families. For their crimes, negligence and disservice to their people, they deserve nothing less than to be given the Hall of Shame award.

For migrant workers, we are caught between the deteriorating socio-economic and political conditions of our home countries and the equally worsening situation of workers in labour importing ones.

The policies of globalization pushed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) have aggravated the already deplorable condition of peasants and workers in underdeveloped and developing countries that, in turn, push millions of people to seek employment overseas.

Abroad, however, we face wage depression, insecurity of employment, iscrimination, lack of access to services, and repression of our democratic rights as workers.

Under this condition, it is but apt for migrant workers to bestow wards?to the governments of labor importing and exporting countries who have nothing to show to us and to our families but the promise of worse things to come as they continue to push for the WTO prescriptions of liberalization, deregulation and privatization.

* The King of Tyrants Award?is bestowed to King Gyendra of Nepal. His clamp down on the democratic rights of the Nepali just shows the fact that tyrants always resort to iron rule when the restlessness of the people for a new and better society heats up.

* For the government of Indonesia, we give them the Rookie Labor Exporter of the Year Award to signify its intensifying commodification of Indonesian workers. Yudhoyono may be rookie to the labor importing game, but he definitely gives his best to get as much as he can from his sellout of his citizens to slave work abroad.

* Thailands principle of service is the absence of service. As proven by Thai migrants in Hong Kong, Taiwan and in other countries, the rights and wellbeing of their nationals overseas is clearly not even in the agenda of Thaksin Shinawatra administration. For this, they receive the Absentee Award?

* While Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo harped on about the so-called strengthening of the Philippine peso for the past few weeks, she conveniently forgot to mention that the ever-increasing remittance and income from government charges to overseas Filipinos have always the top dollar-earner of the country. For continuing the massive exaction from Filipinos abroad, GMA deserves the Milkmaid Award for milking migrants dry with dubious and unjust fees.

* The Sultan of Crackdown Award? goes to the Malaysian government where hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants and their families have been viciously shipped out of his country despite the fact the they were workers who contributed a lot to the national economy.

* Cuts rule the HK government policies for the past few years. Wage cuts, budget cuts, cuts to social services these are just some of the most drastic policies of the past administration continued by the current Chief Executive Donald Tsang. For this, we give HK the Edward Scissorhands Award.?

* The United States government does not only kill people in other countries with their economic and political dictates. Its self-declared War on Terror a tactic to arm twist countries who do not follow its Globalization?lead has killed lives and livelihood of migrant workers in countries where it waged its wars of aggression. Even in its own soil, rights of foreign workers are subjected to its Patriot Act and Absconders Act. Thus, we give the US, the Migrants Terror Award

If these countries have something in common, it is their shameful treatment of migrant workers. As they continue to worship WTO and globalization, they shall remain in the Hall of Shame. We, the migrant workers and our families, shall continue to hound them and the WTO until we achieve the award of a decent and humane society that we rightfully deserve.#

The United States government: world leader in the commodification and violation of rights of migrant workers

The United States government leads the pack of Hall of Shame awardees among the sending and host countries of migrant workers.

It terrorizes and kills migrant workers around the world by forcing its neoliberal globalization agenda through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its aggression against countries and movements fighting its hegemony under the guise of War on Terror.

The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), Non-Agricultural Market Access Agreement (NAMA) and the TRIPs all bear the trademark of the US desire to fully pry open all sectors of the economy of underdeveloped and developing countries for plunder and exploitation by multinational companies of the US, European Union (EU), Japan and other world powers.

These agreements will only make worse the situation of people in poor countries forcing more and more of them to leave their home countries and become cheap laborers in other countries including the US.

However, it is not only the US?economic agenda that kills migrant workers. The continuing US-led War on Terror?has also victimized migrant workers, refugees and our families. The hype on terrorism has been openly used by the US government to defeat countries and movements that defy its rule.
The war that the US waged in Afghanistan and in Iraq has cost the lives of migrants aside from exposing millions of migrants who work in the middle east to danger as well as jeopardizing their employment.

Meanwhile, political refugees are also persecuted by the US war. A clear example is the ongoing harassment and violation of the rights of Prof. Jose Maria Sison, a political refugee and chairperson of the ILPS, who was arbitrarily tagged by the US, EU and their allies as terrorists.

In the US itself, migrants and immigrants have suffered the brunt of the hysteria against Terror? The experiences of migrants and immigrants under the US?Patriot Act and Absconder Act have shown to the world that, even in its own soil, the US government tramples on the peoples rights for the sake of protecting and promoting the interests of US monopolies.

The murder of migrants by the US government and the terror it sows must stop. This includes the defeat of the WTO and its agenda. Together with our families and our compatriots in our home countries, migrant workers shall ensure that it will be so.#