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Day 4 – People’s Global Action on Migration, Development, and Human Rights (PGA)
The final day of the PGA was a very exciting day for us, as it marked the day of the Global Workers workshop, “U.S. Temporary Foreign Worker Program”. In this workshop, to explore the various visas U.S. employers are using and misusing to bring workers into the low wage industries of the United States. Yadira Huerta opened the workshop with a brief overview of the work we do surrounding the issue of transnational migration. She explained our model of working through the Global Workers Defender Network, a network we created to empower existing advocates and defenders in the sending countries, to promote portable justice. Phil Simon, a Global Workers consultant, provided an overview of the temporary worker programs from the U.S. and Global Workers Defender Network advocate, Hector Waldemar Barrera provided the Guatemalan perspective and described his work with the Global Workers Defender Network.
The scope of the workshop was expanded to include presentations from both Israel and Japan. Yukiko Omagari (Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan) discussed the problems temporary workers from South Korea and China face once they are in Japan. One of the most astonishing facts about the nature of work permits that she shared is that a worker can get sued for “breaching” contract, regardless of whether they were subject to serious abuses under their employer. The Japanese system for employing foreign nationals is systematically flawed, she explained, and much work needs to be done to ensure the rights of migrants who are both working in Japan, and those that have returned to their home countries. From these presentations, it was clear that these programs have unfortunate similarities, such as indebted workers tied to specific employers, restricting or prohibiting their ability to escape abusive working conditions. Hanny Ben Israel (Kav Laoved – Israel) discussed the problems faced by caregivers and domestic workers in Israel. She discussed the process and challenges in bringing cases to Israeli courts. She echoed Ms. Omagari’s concern with the flawed nature of the temporary worker program, but felt strongly that they are making strides towards improving the conditions of migrant workers, particularly the rights of women migrant workers.
The day also included a trip to the United Nations Palais des Nations , for a public action in front of the famed “Broken Chair”. Advocates and PGA participants rallied, calling for the rights of all migrants (regardless of status) to be recognized and respected in the GFMD deliberations. Global Workers Defender, Hector Waldemar Barrera, was interviewed by local media during the rally, and he used the opportunity to stress the importance of establishing stronger protections for migrants from Guatemala and all of Central America.
After four days of wonderful experiences and meeting amazing advocates from around the world, the PGA concluded with a “Report from the GFMD Government Forum”, where PGA particpants learned that Mauritius will host the 2012 GFMD, and Sweden 2013, and Turkey the 2014 GFMD. See the blog entry from GFMD for more on this . On that note, the PGA’s end was the “Opening of 2012: Road to Mauritus Begins” ....
Day 3 – People’s Global Action on Migration, Development, and Human Rights (PGA)
Today opened with a cross-regional workshop “ Sharing Experiences & Drawing Lessons towards Advancing Migrant Campaign Strategies”, and a continuation of the self-organized regional exchanges from yesterday. At the cross-regional workshop, participants from various organizations around the world shared strategies that have worked for them and those that have not, and a few proposed using new media tools to advance their efforts.
The event of the day was the plenary: “Regularisation and Other Campaigns to Protect the Rights of Undocumented Migrants”. The panelists, Alessandro de Filippo (Collectif de Soutien aux Sans-Papiers), San Mon (Migrant Worker Federation of Thailand), Michele Levoy (Platform for the International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants – PICUM), William Gois (Migrant Forum in Asia – MFA / Migrants Rights International – MRI), discussed the different regularization campaigns their organizations are undertaking, how their governments are reacting, and what the future looks given their countries migration policy trends. It was particularly interesting to learn fro San Mon of Thailand about the conditions their temporary workers had to endure during the recent floods. Thai law stipulates that migrant workers are forbidden to travel outside their registered provinces, and can face arrest and deportation if they do, despite the dire conditions resulting after the flood. The issue of workers being tied to a specific employer, and in this case, also a specific geographic location, is one of the biggest common challenges to achieving justice in today’s temporary worker programs worldwide.
The Special Rapporteur on Migrants Rights, Francois Crepeau delivered the evening’s keynote address. He outlined his mandate, shared his views on the topic of undocumented migrants, and expressed his commitment to advancing this topic on the migration agenda at the UN.
The evening concluded with a series of concurrent workshops. We attended the “Know-Your-Rights Education Strategies from Migrants’ Rights Advocates around the World” hosted by Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Kav LaOved, CMA, and JS. In this workshop, participants contributed strategies for reaching migrants rights with the knowledge, and the tools to defend their most basic human rights. Strategies ranged from deploying on-the-ground advocates into rural areas to give workshops and distribution of educational materials, to the use to television, radio, and mainstream publications such as magazines to reach migrants with this valuable information. Global Workers had the opportunity to share our principle of educating human rights advocates in the sending country, so that they can in turn educate their communities, and are better equipped to handle cases when they come to their door.
Day Three – Global Forum on Migration and Development, Civil Society Days
The CSD final day was held at the United Nations headquarters, the irony of which was not lost on the participants. This “Common Space” was the GFMD’s first session and the CSD’s last. Hundreds of government and CSD delegates gathered to jointly discuss two themes that were highlighted for the first time: legal avenues for migration and irregular migration. Notably absent were interventions from the European Union, China, Japan, United States, and Canada. The panel format encouraged delegates to react to the panel presentations instead of reading prepared speeches. As a result, government delegates, unlike civil society, were not very forthcoming with comments. Comments such as those from the Czech Republic (the exception to the northern silence) that inquired about the liability for taxes after regularization programs, revealed underlying reasons about why this issue is so sensitive.
Cathleen learned that no statistics exist regarding global temporary worker programs. However, anecdotal or national based statistics suggests that these programs are on a steady rise. Migrant sending countries welcome these programs as job programs for their under-employed, and countries of employment like them because the migrants do not remain in the country. This results in migrants having no political power (cannot vote) and being sent home whenever the country decides their labor is no longer needed. Temporary worker programs are designed for the convenience of governments and businesses, not for workers and their families.
After a presentation on the permanent need for labor in northern European countries and others (such as Japan) due to declining birth rates, Cathleen asked why those governments are looking for temporary solutions to permanent problems. Why are they not allowing foreigners to remain in the countries of employment if in fact there is a permanent need for their labor? The moderator picked up on the point and asked the panel to comment but no one did. Over the three days it was evident that temporary worker programs are the future of labor migration.
Day 2 – People’s Global Action on Migration, Development, and Human Rights (PGA)
The first part of the day consisted of concurrent workshops on “The Rights of Migrants and the Future of Migration: The Case of Transit Migration and Border Areas”, and self-organized regional exchanges on the challenges pertinent to their respective areas.
The day continued with the second joint Civil Society session at the GFMD CSD in the Palexpo Convention Center, where PGA participants and CSD delegates gathered for a closing plenary session on “The Road Towards 2013 and Future of the Forum”. Panelists included, Thomas Stelzer (Assistant UN Secretary-General), Amb. Sergio Marchi (Advisor to Pace Global Advantage), Kathleen Newland (Migration Policy Institute – MPI), and Colin Rajah (Migrants Rights International – MRI). The debate over whether the GFMD process should be brought under the UN structure yielded a variety of pros and cons, however, all panelists agreed that the GFMD process needed to deliver concrete outcomes, be accountable, transparent, and include more participation from Civil Society. Peter Sutherland, Special Representative on Migration to the UN Secretary-General, joined us via video satellite to share his views on the GFMD and made himself available for questions from the floor. His stance was that the GFMD needed to remain outside the UN to allow governments a space to freely deliberate on the topic of migration. The overwhelming responses and questions from the floor pointed to the consensus regarding the need for a mechanism of accountability. The panelists wrapped up addressing the need for Civil Society to accede to the outcomes we want to see in how governments deal with migration.
Day Two – Global Forum on Migration and Development, Civil Society Days
On the second day of the GFMD, Cathleen continued with Theme 3, this day entitled “Circular/Temporary Migration.” Pro-business participants explored how the temporary worker programs must better and more efficiently fit their needs, and the advocates stressed how flawed the programs are. No significant outcomes were produced. There was a sense of frustration that these issues have already been discussed at previous CSDs but with little effect on the governments.
During the lunch break, Cathleen, Yadira Huerta of Global Workers, and Waldemar Barrera, a Global Workers Defender Network member from Guatemala (both were in Geneva to attend the parallel PGA conference), met with the heads of labor migration at the International Organization of Migration (IOM).
As noted in previous blog entries (06/24/11 , 8/23/10 , 9/2/10), IOM stepped in to the recruitment business in 2003 to bring Guatemala workers to Canada. The program has been plagued with serious violations of workers rights. While there is a new director now in place, IOM has yet to reconcile the rights violations workers suffered in the past. Front and center is the reintegration of Jose Sicajau into the program. Evidence suggests that IOM retaliated against Jose and others when they stood up for a Mexican co-worker who was physically assaulted by a Canadian farmer. Global Workers and UFCW-Canada have been working with Jose and his organization AGUND to fight for justice. The IOM program heads did not know about the specific case examples and pledged to look into it. If IOM does not take concrete actions by February, Global Workers, UFCW-Canada, and AGUND will escalate the demands by taking to street protests in Guatemala during the temporary worker conference scheduled for February 12-14, 2012 in Guatemala City.
The afternoon CSD joint session was a shared space with Civil Society and governments dedicated to the future of the GFMD-CSD. An important development of this year’s CSD is that an NGO, International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), was chosen to organize the event, as opposed to a local foundation. As a result, Civil Society ownership of the process was evident at every turn. The CSD themes were chosen through a deliberate and broad consultation. A notable change was the extent of official interactions between the three forums. There are actually three forums that take place either simultaneously or consecutively, depending on the structure of that particular year. This years’ CSD created opportunities for interaction without compromising each of the forum’s distinct goals. ICMC did an impressive job, and all of this with only one third of the budget from the 2010 CSD.
Day One – People’s Global Action on Migration, Development, and Human Rights (PGA)
The sixth annual Peoples’ Global Action Forum took place this year in Geneva, Switzerland at the NGO-friendly Maison des Associations. With a shoestring budget, the PGA was jointly organized by a broad coalition of local and international migrant associations, trade unions, human rights organizations, faith-based/religious groups, and other NGOs and networks. The PGA was first initiated as an independent parallel process to the 2006 UN High Level Dialogue on Migration & Development (UNHLD) in New York. In collaboration with the Global Forum on Migration and Development’s Civil Society Days the PGA is an independent civil society event parallel to the states-led GFMD process. This year’s theme was “Undocumented Migrants: A Call for Regularisation”.
The PGA overlapped with the GFMD’s CSD, and Yadira Huerta from Global Workers Justice Alliance, and Hector Waldemar Barrera Palma from the Global Workers Defender Network, participated in the PGA while Cathleen Caron (Global Workers) participated as an official delegate of the GFMD CSD.
The first day of the forum consisted of an introductory plenary, where representatives from Africa, Americas, Asia, and Europe offered reports on the current state of migrants in their respective regions. That evening, Civil Society celebrated its first ever joint civil society session at the Salle Communale de Plainpalais with a Cultural Evening of performances by other local migrant communities, including Filipino and Indian dances, a one-woman skit, and street theater by local Latino youth.
Day One – Global Forum on Migration and Development, Civil Society Days
Global Workers Executive Director, Cathleen Caron was selected as an official delegate to the 2011 Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), Civil Society Days (CSD) held in Geneva, Switzerland November 29-December 1. This is the fifth annual GFMD and Global Workers has attended four of them (see blogs from Brussels, Athens, and Mexico City). As noted in previous blogs, the GFMD is a non-binding, government led forum to discuss migration issues. The GFMD was created outside of the United Nations framework as a result of developed country governments’ desire to avoid civil society engagement and the pressure to commit to uphold human rights, all of which are more viable within the U.N. system. Over the past five years, Civil Society (which includes NGOs, trade unions, businesses and academics) has achieved greater involvement in the process but it is still quite limited.
An important theme of this GFMD-CSD is the future. In 2006, the UN General Assembly hosted the High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development, which resulted in the governments setting up their own separate process, the GFMD. Another High Level Dialogue will take place in New York in 2013. It is the hope of many attending the CSD that the governments will agree to bring the GFMD back to the UN. However, the governments announced that they have no such plan and in fact, have already planned the GFMD for 2012 (Mauritius), 2013 (Sweden) and 2014 (Turkey). Whether civil society continues to engage with the GFMD after the High-Level dialogue is to be determined.
The morning consisted of introductory and framing speeches. In the afternoon, Cathleen attended Theme 3 – “Reimagining Labour Mobility.” Although only a handful in the room represented business interests, their viewpoint seemed to steer the discussion. Northern countries are concerned about finding foreign workers as quickly as possible when the need arises ( for many northern countries it is a permanent need). Less time was dedicated to the serious flaws in most of the programs (e.g. the denial of portable justice) and how they must be resolved in order for advocates to consider supporting these programs.
National Lawyers Guild Annual Convention
Executive Director, Cathleen Caron, organized a panel discussion on U.S. temporary worker programs at the National Lawyers Guild annual convention . Panelists included representatives from the National Guestworker Alliance, Friends of Farmworkers, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and our own team. The discussion covered challenges specific to particular visas (e.g. H-2A, H-2B, J-1) as well as an overview of the impact of the U.S.’s increasing reliance on temporary workers to fill permanent labor needs. The panel was well received and attended.
The International Labor Justice Worker Group (of which Cathleen is a member) co-sponsored the panel with the NLG’s National Immigration Project. Cathleen sought NIP’s co-sponsorship in order to engage immigration lawyers in the discussion around temporary worker programs. Global Workers brings a labor rights perspective to the issue. We have been seeking to identify allies within the immigration bar. What we learned, however, is that progressive immigration attorneys tend to engage in deportation defense or asylum claims. Few work for U.S. employers to sponsor temporary workers on employment-based visa. For that reason, it is difficult for Global Workers to create the necessary strategic alliances to create common points of advocacy around temporary worker programs.
Meetings with Centro Hermanas Mirabal and Servicios Educativos del Bajio, A.C. (SEBAJ)
Today Global Workers embarks on meeting with two very well established organizations in the city of Leon, Centro Hermanas Mirabal, which focuses on women’s rights, and SEBAJ, an organization whose focus is broken up into several areas, including nutrition, family, the arts, health, migration, education, and labor.
The first meeting convened with the entire staff at Centro Hermanas Mirabal, and the Global Workers team discussed portable justice, as founder and attorney Karina relayed stories of women who have fallen victim to crimes related to labor migration, and how she never knew where to turn for support of these efforts. Not only does the Centro Hermanas Mirabal support women who have migrated, or whose families have migrated and rely on remittances in Mexico, but they are also heavily involved in the fight against violence towards women. Global Workers’ Mexico Program Director, Griselda Vega, also fielded a number of family law related questions, using her previous experience working at a legal services organization in Chicago, IL as a reference for her advice.
The Centro Hermanas Mirabal team exuded a high level of optimism at the prospect of joining the Defender Network, in order to service an area of justice they have not yet been able to offer. With a strong infrastructure and esteemed reputation in their community, the organization would be the ideal fit to join the Global Workers Defender Network.
Our second meeting of the day was with German and Miguel Angel of SEBAJ, an organization busy advancing the work of a program called the Paisano Zone. This program provides services to migrants living abroad, but with needs for everyday requests in Mexico. For example, Paisano Zone provides a toll-free number that migrants in the U.S. can call in order to locate a doctor for their sick mother living in Mexico. Global Workers was not familiar with this program, but understands the need is great, and sees it as a revolutionary step in bridging the gap in transnational communication. German and Miguel Angel both immediately recognized how integral portable justice is to their underlying mission of providing migrants with access to services and programs transnationally, regardless of their current location.
Founder, German had also expressed the need to not only provide legal training to individuals within the Defender Network, but also to lawyers working in the government municipalities, in order to educate advocates outside the Network as well.
Meetings with Dimension Pastoral de la Movilidad Humana(DPMH) and Fundación Comunitaria del Bajío
Global Workers team continued its goal of expanding the network to the state of Guanajuato by heading out to Salamanca and Irapuato.
The first meeting convened at the Casa Migrante, located in Salamanca. The Global Workers team met with Mariano Yarza to discuss the on-going project, Jornaleros SAFE, in partnership with Catholic Relief Services, UFW, DPMH, and CITA. The meeting focused on strategizing for an upcoming executive committee meeting, scheduled to take place in Mexico City in late October.
The team continued to the city of Irapuato, where they were met with Adriana Jimenez, Director of the Fundacion Comunitaria del Bajio. This foundation focuses on the economic development of communities deprived of today’s basic amenities, such as paved roads and running water. The foundation’s goal is to create a sustainable environment to reduce the need to migrate. Many of these communities suffer from lack of development, due to the majority of their inhabitants migrating and sending money home to the families. The remittances (transfer of money by a foreign worker to his or her home country) are often used to build a new house, for example, but no money is actually invested in the community, nor are there enough capable workers left in the community to contribute to developing it.
Although the foundation does not work directly with individuals, the communities they serve are directly affected by migration, and in return, the labor that facilitates the migration. Although this vital community organization is not structured to facilitate direct involvement with the individuals of these communities, they recognize the impact labor exploitation has on community members and supports any efforts to promote portable justice.
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