Bulatlat.com

First International Conference of Migrants in Manila Nov. 5-7

For the first time, overseas migrant workers, immigrants, political refugees and other displaced persons of various nationalities will hold an international conference in Manila, Nov. 5-7. The assembly – the International Migrants Conference (ICM) on Forced Labor Export and Forced Migration Amidst Globalization – will be participated in by 150 delegates from 23 countries including Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Nepal and Indonesia. They will be joined by other representatives from the Philippines.

BY BULATLAT.COM

Leo Legaspi, IMC spokesperson and chair of Migrante International which is organizing the event, said that unlike past conferences that are primarily for advocates of migrants, “the IMC brings together the major migrant formations of different nationalities.”

“This is the best time for IMC,” Legaspi said. “Around the world, countries reel from worsening economic crisis. For Third World countries, the effects are especially brutal. The neo-liberal prescription of privatization, liberalization and deregulation foisted on the people of poor countries intensifies the problem of forced migration.”

Planned panels and workshops during the conference will discuss undocumented workers, illegal recruitment, seafarers, political refugees and other urgent issues affecting migrants.

Expected to top the issues to be tackled are wage cuts and other forms of exploitation against migrant workers, human smuggling as a means of importing cheap labor, the ongoing war of aggression perpetrated chiefly by the United States in Central Asia and the Middle East as well as problems faced by seafarers and political refugees.

Beka Lawson, an American now working with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), said that contrary to the unjust stereotypes of immigrants and people of color as “terrorists,” the IMF delegates are “prominent migrant organizers and advocates in their respective countries. Their experiences will enrich the collective understanding about how migrants, regardless of race, are exploited around the world.”

A round table discussion with advocates from the church, academe and other sectors will also be held during the conference. A rally against neo-liberal globalization will be held on Nov. 8.

The IMC, to be held at Las Palmas Hotel in Ermita, Manila is organized by Migrante with Gabriela, Contak Philippines and the Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrant Filipinos. Bulatlat.com

We want to know what you think of this article.