Category: Events

  • Migrants in Europe say no to killings! Decent jobs not bullets and fake progress

    Migrants in Europe say no to killings! Decent jobs not bullets and fake progress

    Europe Coordinated May Day Protest

    Press Statement | 1 May 2019

    Today, Filipino migrants in Europe join the march of thousands of workers to condemn the inhumane condition and continued violence, harassment, and killings committed by the state forces against the workers and the Filipino people who strongly demand their basic human and labor rights and oppose the anti-people and anti-labor policies of the Philippine government.

    According to the IBON Foundation, there are 5 million farm workers in the Philippines and 90% of them do not own the land they till. And they earn a measly US$2 a day. Farm workers were pushed to militant protests, as the government has remained deaf to their calls and grievances, among them a decent farm salary, improved living and working conditions.

    Under the Duterte administration, incidents of workers who were in protests or dialogues to assert their labor rights were met with bullets, abductions, harassment, and threats.

    Let us not forget the killing of 9 sugarcane workers in Hacienda Nene in Sagay City, Negros Occidental last October 2018.

    The recent massacre of 14 farmers on the island of Negros last March was brutal and abominable.

    Last year, the violent dispersal of NutriAsia workers who went on strike in Marilao, Bulacan was greatly condemned. Nineteen people, including NutriAsia employees and UP students had been detained.

    The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) in their letter to the labor commission of the United Nations stated: “trade union rights and civil liberties of Filipino workers and trade union activists are severely abused and violated under the Duterte administration.”

    In Europe, Filipinos are greatly alarmed by the murderous drug war of President Duterte that has resulted in the mass murder of between 12,000 to 20,000 small-time and mostly poor drug addicts and supposed drug couriers. Most of them from urban poor families. The killing of Kian Delos Santos, a son of an OFW, caused national outrage. Last August 2018, Allan Rafael, a former OFW, emaciated by cancer and mistaken as a drug addict, was detained, beaten and tortured by the police and 4 days after the arrest and under police custody, he was declared dead.

    The TRAIN Law is paralyzing the Filipino people with the high prices and skyrocketing costs of living conditions, while preventing the creation of job opportunities pushing more Filipinos to work abroad.

    Filipino migrants are fed up with Duterte’s brutal dictatorship. Even the hope to put pro-people legislators in the Philippine legislature, has become farther from realization because since April 13 as the OAV started, disenfranchisement of many OFWs and migrant Filipinos globally has been documented to be rampant.

    The elections have become a vicious circus and a scam and have been opening the eyes of many Filipinos that the parliamentary way cannot achieve genuine social change.

    Europe Actions / Protest and Events on May Day

    May 1 – Migrante Denmark will join the International Forum with South East Asia Group in a socio-cultural event in Copenhagen, Denmark.

    The Ugnayang Pilipino sa Belgium (UPB) will join the mobilization/protest in Gent, Belgium. The mobilization will be participated by leading workers’ unions in Belgium such as the ABVV-FGTB, ACV-CSC, and other groups.

    The Nagkakaisang Pilipino sa Pransya (NPSP) will join the solidarity groups in Paris in a rally/protest.

    Migrante Austria will participate in a solidarity demonstration with different groups and unions in Vienna, Austria.

    Migrante Chapters and members in Italy will join the mobilization with solidarity groups and worker’s unions.

    The Migrante DenHaag will march with solidarity groups and labor unions in a rally/protest in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

    The Gabriela Germany will be joining the demonstration of Ver.di, Union for Services sector in collaboration with Fraeun Streik.

    Migrante Europe supports in the call of the Filipino workers and the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) for a legislated, across-the-board, P750 national minimum wage in the Philippines. 

    More protests and rallies to be led by Migrante members and chapters in Europe are expected to take place this month of May. 

    Migrante Europe calls on different Filipino organizations, migrant’s rights advocates and concerned Filipinos to join the Europe May Day Protest and demand Duterte to resign or face ouster by millions of Filipinos sick, tired and enraged by Duterte’s brutal, corrupt, fascist and deceptive rule.

    DECENT JOBS NOT BULLETS! ENOUGH OF PROMISES! OUST DUTERTE!

    For reference:

    Fr. Herbert Fadriquela
    Chaplain for the Filipino Community
    Diocese of Leicester, Church of England
    Chairperson, Migrante Europe
    Email: [email protected]

  • Justice for the 14 Negros peasants

    Justice for the 14 Negros peasants

    Global Day of Action for Negros 14

    Press Statement | 10 April 2019

    Migrante Europe joins the global protest to condemn the barbaric killings of 14 farmers during the pre-dawn raids of Philippine National Police in Canlaon City and Manjuyod and Sta. Catalina towns in Negros province last Saturday 30 March 2019.

    No one deserves to be killed in such a barbaric, inhuman and perverted manner! Not to these helpless poor farmers! We demand an immediate independent investigation and immediate freedom for those arrested! 

    Among the victims of the bloody massacre were Edgardo Avelino, 59, farmer, a resident of Sitio Carmen, Brgy. Panubigan, and chairperson of Hukom (Hugpong Kusog Mag-uuma sa Canlaon); his younger brother Ismael Avelino, 53 habal-habal (tricycle) driver, a resident of Sitio Carmen, Brgy. Panubigan and a member of Hukom and the Nagahuisang Mag-uuma sa Panubigan Namapa; Melchor Pañares, 67, farmer, a resident of Sitio Tigbahi, Brgy. Bayog; and his son Mario Pañares, 46, also a farmer; Rogelio Ricomuno, 52, farmer, a resident of Sitio Manggata, Brgy. Masulog-1; Ricky Ricomuno, 28, farmer; Gonzalo Rosales, 47, farmer and a resident of Proper Brgy. Pula; and Genes Palmares, 54, farmer, a resident of Proper Brgy. Aquino.

    Habal-habal driver and peasant leader Franklen Lariosaand Anoj Enojo Rapada were killed in Sta. Catalina town. In Manjuyod,among those killed were Velentin Acabal of Brgy. Kandabong and Sonny Palagtiw of Brgy. Pansiao, both barangay captains in their villages; Steve Arapoc and Manulo Martin.

    Fifteen others were arrested, including local Gabriela leader Corazon Javier, and Azucena Garubat, treasurer of Nagahuisang Mag-uuma sa Panubigan.

    But in interviews with human rights workers, the families of the killed and arrested described scenes like what Metro Manila’s poor have witnessed in three years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s harsh crackdown on street peddlers and users of narcotics.

    Filipinos in Milan

    Police officers had their faces covered and, in at least one attack, wore eye shades in the dead of night. They ordered other people out of their homes. Suspects were already cornered, unarmed, and then shot dead as soon as kin were out of sight.

    The husband of the arrested treasurer of Nagahuisang Mag-uuma sa Panubigan, Azucena Garubat, claimed cops planted two grenade launchers in their home. The local office of rights group Karapatan gave ABS-CBN News access to their notes.

    San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, whose diocese covers the affected towns, said some of those killed belong to the church’s mission station in Masulog. A lay minister of Canlaon parish was among those arrested and some were not shown warrants.

    OFW in Belgium

    End the harassment, persecution, illegal arrest and killing of human rights defenders, organized farmers and workers. Immediate freedom for those illegally arrested! 

    The crackdown against farmers under Duterte government intensifies.

    More than 50 human rights defenders – mostly peasants or indigenous persons – have been killed since President Duterte assumed office in June 2016.

    On August 23, 2017, Mr. Roger Timboco, a member of the peasant group KAMMAO (Kahugpungan sa mga Maguuma sa Maco ComVal), was shot dead in Mawab, Compostela Valley. Four days later, a member of Abante, a local organization of small-scale miners, Mr. Lomer Gerodias, was shot dead in Maragisan, also in Compostela Valley. Both killings were believed to have been carried out by Philippines soldiers and two others, Mr. Jezreel Arrabis and his wife Ms. Delia Arrabis, both members of the Farmers Association in Davao City on September 2, 2017.

    In October 2018, armed men opened fire on a group of sugar cane farmers who were occupying part of the plantation in the city of Sagay, Negros Occidental killing nine, and then set three of the bodies on fire. Those who were killed were members of a farmer’s union, the National Federation of Sugarcane Workers; among them were three women and two minors.

    UMANGAT Migrante Rome

    The “Sagay 9” massacre was the eight massacres under the Duterte government, according to the Kilusang Magbubukid  ng Pilipinas (Peasant Movement of the Philippines). This horrifying incident brought the number of farmer victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines in the last two and a half years to 172, 109 of whom were victims of extrajudicial killings related to land struggles and conflicts. Thirty-three of the 109 were killed in 2018, making the Philippines the deadliest country in the world for people fighting for their right to land and resources.

    Justice for Negros 14!
    We stand with the farmers!
    Bigas hindi bala!
    For reference:

    Revd Fr. Herbert Fadriquela Jr.
    Chairperson, Migrante Europe
    [email protected]

  • Migrante Europe First Regional Council Meeting

    Migrante Europe First Regional Council Meeting

    Migrante Europe First Regional Council Meeting held last July 14-15, 2018 in Belgium was participated by different representatives of various organizations.

    The said event is important in order to consolidate all member organizations of Migrante Europe and at the same time create a plan and program to unify progressive forces in facing the concrete conditions and challenges in their respective territories.

     

  • Umangat – Migrante Rome message on the Founding Assembly of Migrante Canada

     

  • Migrante-Europe supports the showing of a migrant-related film in the Philippine Film Festival – Berlin

    Migrante-Europe supports the showing of a migrant-related film in the Philippine Film Festival – Berlin

    Migrante-Europe supported the showing of the film Sunday Beauty Queen in this year’s 2nd Philippine Film Festival-Berlin. It was the culminating film for the festival, which ran from November 3-5, and 8-12. The film, directed by Baby Ruth Villarama, is a documentary featuring the lives of five domestic workers in Hong Kong and how they spend their Sundays organizing and participating in beauty pageants in order to alleviate homesickness and foster community in a foreign land. More than a hundred people, mostly Filipinos and some Germans went to see the film and participated in the roundtable discussion (RTD) held afterwards. The Philippine Film Festival-Berlin, the only film festival in Germany that showcases Filipino films is organized by The First Reel, and the Philippine Studies Series-Berlin, and supported by various organizations in Germany.

    The discussion theme for the SBQ was “Philippine Migrants’ struggles and desires”. Two Germany-based members of Migrante-Europe–Elnora Held and Father Mark Jun Yañez were invited as panelists to the RTD. Held is a member of Gabriela-Germany and the auditor of the Migrante-Europe, while Yañez is the port chaplain of the Seamen mission in Hamburg. The other panelists were Krisanta Caguioa-Moenich, a language mediator in Banying, organization that helps migrant women who are victims of violence, Megha Amrith, an urban anthropologist of migration, and Lisa May David, an artist who previously worked on issues of identity and migration.

    The discussion lasted for more than an hour, as the audience got actively engaged by asking questions and sharing some thoughts about the theme and the film. During the discussion, there was a general agreement among the panelists and the audience that the film presents a sad reality on how hard the lives of the majority of domestic workers in Hong Kong are. Most of the discussions also revolved around the significant contributions of Migrant workers to the Philippine economy and the government’s weak efforts in securing their rights abroad and helping migrants facing various problems such as violence or abuse in their host country. Held emphasized that present-day migration is mostly forced migration: caused by war, poverty, and even climate change. She added that forced migration can only be addressed by solving these root causes. Father Yañez stated that Filipino seafarers are in demand as they are of highly qualified but cheap. “The government however is not bent on addressing this issue believing that pushing for the increase of Seafarers’ wages will prompt hiring companies to take cheaper labor from other countries, thus reducing their potential remittances” he added. In his experience working with the Seamen, most of them are not happy with their work because it means being away from the family. However, their family and the desire to give them a better future are the reasons why they take these jobs. The seamen hope that Philippine economy will get better soon and that they no longer need to be away from their families just do they can provide for their needs.

    Some notable contributions from the audience were on the discussion of the Labor Export Policy and the sharing of an experience by a former overseas domestic worker herself. The discussion ended with insights from the panel and the audience on what migrants in Germany can do to help their fellow migrants.

  • Message of Solidarity to UMANGAT and Gabriela-Rome in the occasion of Fifth Filipino Food Fair

    Message of Solidarity to UMANGAT and Gabriela-Rome in the occasion of Fifth Filipino Food Fair

    15 October 2017
    London, United Kingdom

    On behalf Migrante-Europe, I would like to congratulate you all as you gather and celebrate for the Fifth Filipino Food Fair in Rome. With the theme: “Muling pagsaluhan pagkaing ambag, na siyang kalakasan ng ating pamilya at nagkakaisang kababaihan”, I firmly believe that the celebration will all also be an opportunity to all to strengthen the unity and identity of Filipino diasporas in Italy and in Europe.

    Food security
    In many developed countries food is always identified with culture. But in countries like the Philippines food is a symbol of economic and political struggle both for survival and identity. The World Food Summit in 1996 declared that: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to enough safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle.”

    Fr. Herbert Fadriquela

    The Harvest in not enough
    The Philippine economy depends mainly on agriculture.  However, the peasant sector being one of the major forces of Philippine society for economic progress benefits less from the improvement of economy especially in globalize economic order.  Almost forty percent of Philippine land is devoted to agricultural production but most of the land produces crops that are for export rather than crops for local consumption, hence, the nation cannot feed its people without importing staple food from the neighbor countries.

    Landlessness is food insecurity
    Majority of the Filipino peasants do not own sufficient land to match their household needs. Most farmers in the rural communities depend only on seasonal farm-based wage labor.  During critical period of rice and corn

    cropping that include planting, weeding and harvesting, the whole family – children included – work as farmhands in exchange for cash.  In between planting, weeding and harvesting periods, family members, especially the able-bodied, temporarily migrate outside the community and work as house helpers, construction workers and other unskilled jobs in order to obtain cash for household needs.

    Struggle for land ownership, struggle for social change
    For the landless farmers, to have access and control of land that is the basic component of the means of production is a complete reversal of their present situation. To own a land is the hope and dream of many landless peasants and is a vital sign of new life with dignity in a new world filled with various blessings. With the land under the control and ownership of the farmer-tillers, and with the government and other stake holders providing them with the needed support services such as capital, farm inputs and pre and post harvest facilities, many peasant families will be free from unjust feudal relationship.  This means farmer-tenants will no longer be subjected to excessive land rent, loan sharks and usury, and farm workers will no longer receive ‘slave-wages’.  With this, farmers and their family shall enjoy the full fruits of their labor.  More importantly, they shall have the capacity to address their basic needs and develop their potentials and subsequently contribute to the total development and progress of the community and the larger Philippine society.

    Today as you are gathered, may this occasion remind you of the economic poverty situation back in our home country and the challenge to each one of us to participate in achieving genuine social change. Like in the Gospel reading today, may you become one of those chosen few who were called to serve the least, the lost and the last of Jesus Christ’s brethren.

    Mabuhay ang UMANGAT and Gabriela-Rome!
    Mabuhay ang pakikibaka ng mamamayang Pilipino tungo sa ganap na panlipunang pagbabago!

    Fr. Herbert Fadriquela
    Chairperson
    Migrante Europe

  • Mensahe ng pakikiisa sa Ika-4 na Anibersaryo ng Pagkakatatag ng Filipino Domestic Workers Association-United Kingdom

    Mensahe ng pakikiisa sa Ika-4 na Anibersaryo ng Pagkakatatag ng Filipino Domestic Workers Association-United Kingdom

    Isang maalab na pagbati ang ipinapaabot ng Migrante Europe sa buong kasapian ng Filipino Domestic Workers Association-United Kingdom sa inyong ika-4 na anibersayo ng pagkakatatag. 

    Mahalaga ang papel na ginagampanan ng mga domestic workers sa isang maunlad na bansa katulad ng United Kingdom. Ang kalinisan ng bahay o opisina, masarap na pagkain sa hapag kainan at ang kasiguruhan may mag aaruga sa mga bata o may edad ng kapamilya ng inyong mga banyagang employer ay bunga ng inyong tapat na paglilingkod sa kanila. Ang inyong katapatan sa paglilingkod sa kanila ay nasusuklian din ng kanilang magandang pagtrato sa inyo, subalit hindi rin maikakailang may mga domestic helpers ding nakakaranas ng maltrato, di sapat ang sahod, walang pahinga at hindi tiyak ang kinabukasan sa trabaho. Bagamat mahirap ang kalagayang mawalay sa asawa, anak o magulang para mangibang-bayan at magligkod sa ibang pamilya, nagtiis kayo alang-alang sa inyong mahal sa buhay, na sila makaranas din ng pag-unlad at kaginhawahan. 

    Sa kabila ng inyong ambag sa pag-ulad ng ekonomiya ng mga mayamang bansa katulad ng United Kingdom, napakabulnerable ang kalagayan ng mga domestic workers lalo na yong mga walang legal na batayan para tumira at magtrabaho sa UK mula sa banta ng deportation at kawalan ng kaukulang suporta mismo sa Embahada ng Pilipinas. 

    Hindi matatawaran ang naging papel nating mga migrante at ng ating mga pamilya sa pagkakaluklok ng Pamahalaang Duterte sa poder ng Malacanang. Nangampanya tayo, nag organisa, bumoto at binantayan ang mga boto sa paniniwalang ang pamahalaan Duterte ay magbubukas ng pintuan para sa mga batayang panlipunang pagbabago sa ating bayan. Subalit, sa paglipas ng mga buwan, tila bingi ang Pamahalaang Duterte sa panawagan ng mamamayang Pilipino para sa mga pagbabagong tunay na repormang agraryo, pambansang industriyalisasyon at malayang pakikipagrelasyon sa ibang bansa. 

    Patuloy pa ring hikahos at walang pag-aaring lupa ang mga mayorya sa sektor ng mga magsasaka na karamihan sa ating mga migrante ay nabibilang. Hawak pa rin ng dayuhan at iilang lokal na negosyante ang mga estratehikong establisemento sa ating ekonomiya. Ang edukasyon sa ating bayan ay nakatuon pa rin sa programang “labor-export” samantalang ang batayang pangangailangan ng mamamayan ay nagmumula pa rin sa ating mga karatig bansa. Hungkag ang pangako ni Pangulong Duterte na wala ng Pilipinong mapipilitang magtrabaho sa ibang bansa upang bigyang kaginhawahan ang pamilya, sapagkat patuloy pa rin ang libo-libong manggagawang Pilipinong lumilisan araw-araw upang makipagsapalaran sa ibang bansa.

    Mga kasama, ng inyong Tema: “Muli nating panghawakan ang mga tagumpay..Palakasin ang hanay ng nga migranteng kababaihan sa United Kingdom!!!!!” sa inyong pagdiriwang ay napapanahon at makabuluhan. Kaisa ninyo ang Migrante Europe sa pagpupunyaging mapalakas pa ang inyong hanay at muling igiit ang ating mga batayang karapatan bilang manggagawa, bilang migrante, bilang Pilipino.

    Sa pagtatapos nais ko pong ipaalala sa bawat isa na walang ibang maasahang magsusulong sa interes at kagalingan ng migranteng Pilipino kundi tayo ring mga migrante at mga kasamang may malasakit sa kapwa migrante at may tunay na pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa. 

    Mabuhay ang Filipino Domestic Workers Association-United Kingdom!
    Mabuhay ang Migrante-Europe!
    Mabuhay ang Pakikibaka nga Sambayanang Pilipino para ganap at tunay na panlipunang pagbabago.

    Father Herbert Fadriquela
    Chairperson
    Migrante-Europe
    Email: [email protected]

    Revd Fr. Herbert F. Fadriquela Jr.
    Chaplain to the Filipino Community
    Diocese of Leicester
    Church of England
    Mobile Number: +447456042156

  • Migrants, refugees to hold Berlin Speak Out Street Event vs. GFMD

    Migrants, refugees to hold Berlin Speak Out Street Event vs. GFMD

    [BERLIN, 26 June 2017] Nothing About Us, Without Us! Migrants and refugees from Europe and around the world will hold the SPEAK OUT STREET EVENT on Wednesday, 28 June, in Berlin, Germany, as a counter-action to the UN Global Forum on Migration and Development and as an activity of the 7th International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR7).

    The 28th of June 2017 is the official opening of the 10th Summit Meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD). It will be attended by high­level and senior government policy makers, and will talk about issues and policies on migration and social development. Those who are directly affected by these policies — the migrants and refugees – are not part of the GFMD. They and their allies are organizing a counter-event and will gather at the Brandenburg Gate at 9:00am for the SPEAK OUT STREET EVENT. At around noontime, they will march to the venue of the GFMD Summit at the German Federal Foreign Office.

    The migrant and refugee communities will claim their space and assert their right to be seen and heard. It is important to give space to the voices that challenge the legitimacy and capacity of the GFMD to effectively address the problems and respond adequately to the challenges of migration and development. These grassroots and frontline communities will share their perspectives and solutions to the problems confronting them and engage with policy­makers in the parliament of the streets, bearing witness to their effective exclusion from decision­making processes that affect them principally but which take place behind closed doors.

    The 10th GFMD Summit is taking place amidst a global migration and refugee crisis that has witnessed the flight of millions of people fleeing extreme poverty, from countries destroyed by resource wars and wars of aggression, and devastated by the impacts of climate change.

    Under the guise of creating “legal, orderly and safe migration pathways and channels”, discriminatory and racist policies of pre­selection allow only ‘highly­skilled and knowledge migrants’ to access and enter the territories of European Union member states. This right is denied to majority of those who are the most impoverished and who seek a better life, or those who are victims of various forms of persecution.

    This policy also effectively discriminates and criminalizes the majority of migrants and refugees who have already entered and established their right of abode in the European Union. Taking place in Germany where its schizophrenic policy has received close to a million migrants and asylum-seekers in 2015, at the same time as it prepares to deport over 200,000 migrants, among them, the undocumented, the ‘economic migrants’ and rejected asylum‐seekers. Those profiled as ‘irregulars’ face arrest, detention and massive deportation.

    The SPEAK OUT STREET EVENT will send a strong message to the high-level and senior government policy makers as well as the general public regarding the continued marginalization of refugees, migrants and immigrants affected by forced migration and human trafficking. Spearheading the event is the International Migrants Alliance (IMA), in cooperation with the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), GABRIELA Germany, IBON International, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, the International Women’s Alliance, MIGRANTE Europe, and supported by Churches Witnessing With Migrants (CWWM), COURAGE, Coalition Against Trump, Democracy in Europe Movement 25 – Berlin, Die Linke International,  and Solidarity International. The SPEAK OUT STREET EVENT is an activity of the 7th International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR7).

  • International Assembly of Migrants & Refugees – Berlin (IAMR7)

    International Assembly of Migrants & Refugees – Berlin (IAMR7)

    SPEAK OUT STREET EVENT!

    The International Migrants Alliance (IMA), in cooperation with the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), GABRIELA Germany, IBON International, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, the International Women’s Alliance, MIGRANTE Europe, and supported by local groups, unions and associations in Germany and other parts of Europe, will hold the SPEAK OUT STREET EVENT as an activity of the 7th International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR7).

    The SPEAK OUT STREET EVENT will be held in the morning of 28 June 2017, the official opening day of the Global Forum on Migration & Development (GFMD) that will be attended by high-­level and senior government policy makers. The IAMR7 will send a strong message to them regarding the continued marginalization of frontline peoples and communities affected by forced migration and human trafficking.

    On this day, migrant and refugee communities will claim their space and assert their right to be seen and heard. It is important to give space to the voices that challenge the legitimacy and capacity of the GFMD to effectively address the problems and respond adequately to the challenges of migration and development. These grassroots and frontline communities will share their perspectives and solutions to the problems confronting them and engage
    with policy-­makers in the parliament of the streets, bearing witness to their effective exclusion from decision-­making processes that affect them principally but which take place behind closed doors.

    The activity will:

    1. Expose the neo-liberalist migration agenda of the European Union and the United Nations’ complicity in implementing it.
    2. Unite migrant and refugee organizations to further develop their organizing capacity, strengthen their cooperation, and build their movements of grassroots and frontline communities to fight the antimigrant and refugee attacks of neo-liberalist policies on their fundamental rights and freedoms.
    3. Establish and strengthen the solidarity among migrant and refugee organizations and their allies and 3 advocates and create possible opportunities for cooperation among them through common campaigns, activities and actions.
    4. Highlight the issues and problems confronted by migrants and refugees in Germany and other parts of Europe, as well as their demands for government action and response against their criminalization and to put an end to the punitive measures being taken against them which include massive arrests, detention and deportation.

    The event’s program will feature a speakers’ list composed of representatives from local and international migrant and refugee communities, their allies and advocates coming from the churches, trade unions, solidarity organizations, academe, the media, women and youth organizations, political parties and politicians, development and other civil society organizations.

    Cultural performances (poetry reading, songs, street theater, chanting) will also feature in the program and will highlight the aspirations of migrant and refugee communities and the solidarity of allies and advocates from among the nationals of receiving countries.

    Information materials will be disseminated to GFMD participants in order to popularize the position of frontline and grassroots migrant and refugee communities and energize advocacy and lobby initiatives among official and civil society stakeholders.

    Finally, a unity statement will be read out and a ritual of commitment will express the resolve of frontline grassroots communities of migrants and refugees and their solidarity allies and advocates to address root causes and effect genuine change that will truly benefit their lives and that of their families, whether in their countries of origin or destination.

    Issues:

    • The impacts of neoliberal globalization policies on the plight and eventual criminalization (massive arrests, detention and deportation) of migrants, refugees and their families.
    • Resource wars, wars of aggression, climate change impacts and the resultant migration and refugee crisis and the rise of racism and xenophobia in the world.
    • Critique of the UN’s Global Compact on Migration and Human Rights and related GFMD documents and its impacts on migrants and their families.
    • Critique of current German policy on migration and refugees, related problems and alternatives.

    Calls:

    • DEFEND & END Impunity of Attacks against Migrant and Refugee Rights!
    • END Criminalization, Racism and Marginalization of Migrants and Refugees!
    • ADDRESS the Root Causes of Migration!
    • EXPOSE neo-liberal globalization’s anti-migrant and anti-refugee agenda in the European Union and in the United Nation’s migration and development agenda!
    • PROMOTE migrant, refugee and frontline communities’ genuine solutions to the migration and development debacle!

    Organised by:

    International Migrants’ Alliance – Europe
    Migrante Europe

    Supported by:

    Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants
    Churches Witnessing With Migrants
    Coalition Against Trump
    Courage
    Democracy in Europe Movement 25 – Berlin
    Die Linke Internationals
    Gabriela Germany
    Ibon International
    International League of Peoples’ Struggle
    International Women’s Alliance
    Solidarity International

    More information: www.iamr7berlin.wordpress.com

  • During the 3rd round of formal GRP-NDFP peacetalks: Migrant Filipinos in Rome press GRP to address migrants’ issues and concerns

    During the 3rd round of formal GRP-NDFP peacetalks: Migrant Filipinos in Rome press GRP to address migrants’ issues and concerns

    24 January 2017

    Migrante chapters from different cities in Italy and Italian organizations in solidarity with Filipino people’s struggles and concerns organized a mobilization in support of the GRP-NDFP peacetalks on Sunday, January 22, 2017 at Piazza delle Escuelino in Rome Italy.

    Filipino overseas workers led by Migrante chapters from Rome, Milan, Caserta, Firenze, Bologna, and Mantova were joined by leaders and members of the Italy-Friendship Association, Unione Sindicale di Base USB, Comitato Immigrati Italia, CARC and more than fifty members of the delegation of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) who are participating in the third round of formal peacetalks with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) in Rome, Italy.

    In the said rally, Ann Brusola, Migrante Europe Secretary General, specifically called on the GRP “to address the root causes of the armed conflict by pursuing comprehensive reforms on genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization.” On August 22, 2016, during the first round of formal peacetalks of the NDFP with the GRP peace panel under Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, Migrante-Europe submitted a document stating the concerns and proposals of Filipino migrant workers in Europe in the crafting of the agreement on social and economic reforms, the second substantive agenda in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.

    Among the immediate concerns and strategic agenda emphasized by Migrante-Europe forwarded to the GRP are the legalization of undocumented Filipino migrants, the abolition of government exactions such as the exorbitant fees which they are required to pay to different government agencies, the full implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers by migrant receiving countries, to put stop to sex and human trafficking, legislative/executive action to push for pensioners’ bilateral agreements so impediments to the Filipino retirees/pensioners can avail their hard-earned pension benefits, and to stop human rights violations against migrants committed in the name of anti-terror campaigns.

    “We believe that the crisis of migration is a result of the lack of genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization, and of an independent and nationalist foreign policy. Because there is no genuine agrarian reform and basic industries in the country, there are no social conditions to provide jobs and livelihood for the people. Migrant Filipinos need to continue to unite and struggle to continuously assert migrants’ and people’s rights, and the GRP-NDFP peace process is a venue of our advocacy,” said Franklin Irabon of Migrante-Milan.

    After the rally, a forum organised by Socio-Cultural and Sport Committee of Sentro Filipino in collaboration with Umangat-Migrante and other Filipino communities in Rome at the Basilica di Santa Pudenziana in Via Urbana 160, where more than 300 members of the Filipino community in Rome heard both the NDFP and GRP agenda in the peace process, including their views on migrants’ rights and concerns.

    They also voiced out their support for the calls to release all political prisoners and the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). “We will be vigilant on the GRP’s compliance to the CARHRIHL. One significant test of its adherence to the said agreement is the release of all political prisoners,” Brusola said.

    “We will continue to enjoin our fellow Filipino migrants in Europe to actively engage in this process because our futures, and our children’s, are at stake,” Brusola concluded.

    For reference: Ann Brusola, Migrante-Europe Secretary General