Tuesday, October 21, 2008 Cabaero: Faces of migrants By Nini B. Cabaero Beyond 30
ORGANIZERS of the international migration forum to be held in Manila need not look far for a human face on which to peg discussions on threats confronting Filipino migrants.
Venancio Ladion, 27, grew up in Zamboanga Sibugay. He got a job in Saudi Arabia but his stint in that foreign land ended with his beheading last week for the killing of an Arab national. Ladion, also known as Jenifer Bidoya, reportedly tried to escape a group of men who he feared had meant to sexually assault him. In his bid to escape, he killed one of them.
The Global Forum on Migration and Development, to be participated in by representatives of over a hundred countries, will be held in Manila this Oct. 27 to 30. It will discuss the central theme, “Protecting and empowering migrants for development.”
The Philippines chair, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, said in an earlier statement that “the key migration and development issues to be addressed in Manila would build on the Brussels Forum (2007) but would also place special emphasis on the human face of migration.” The theme was chosen to reflect the “growing understanding that the developmental benefits of migration are contingent upon the degree to which migrants are protected and empowered, by both the host and origin countries,” Conejos said.
Another face presenting itself to forum organizers is that of the leaders of the movement for a “Zero Remittance Day” this Oct. 29. The International Migrants Alliance thinks the global forum would only pay lip service to the protection of Filipino workers abroad. This remittance boycott would show their distrust of government because of its inability to protect workers.
Alliance officials said Filipinos are being forced to seek jobs abroad out of desperation over the lack of opportunities here.
Boycott advocates are urging overseas Filipino workers not to send any remittance on Oct. 29. They may send the money to their families before or after that date or through an alternative means.
The labor department would likely downplay the remittance boycott. When the first boycott was called last year, government officials saw the move as an act of activists or those in the left of the political spectrum and as something that would not damage the economy because remittances are personal in nature, are meant to help OFW families, and not political at all.
Filipinos abroad have always believed they have a stake in the running of the Philippines. They are the ones who send millions of dollars to help their families here and to help the local eco-nomy. Except some of them have the misfortune of being mistreated, abused or killed in their journey to a better pay.
Overseas Filipinos know they can play a role in pressuring government to ac on their plight. How they put on that pressure can take the form of a remittance boycott or something more drastic.
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To get updates on the forum, go to the websites http://gfmd2008.org and http://government.gfmd2008.org for both the portal and the government meeting site. The websites have information on the forum, a document library containing data on discussions and a copy of the program.
