MIGRANT WATCH
Canadian Gov't Rejects Call to Stop Deportation of Filipino Caregivers
In Canada, 95 percent of those under the live-in caregive program are Filipino women. Some of them are now being threatened
with deportation due to failure to comply with the rules set by the
Canadian government which even its citizens find unjust. Not surprisingly,
concerned groups and individuals in Canada have shown solidarity with the
beleaguered Filipino live-in caregivers by organizing a national day of
protest last Friday the 13th.
BY SIKLAB ONTARIO
Contributed to Bulatlat
Filipina activist at
the Jan. 13
vigil against deportation of live-in
caregivers in Vancouver, Canada |
TORONTO - The office of Citizenship and Immigration Minister Joe Volpe
refused to receive a petition signed by some 1,000 people from across
Canada demanding a stop to the unjust deportation of Filipino live-in
caregivers.
Chanting, “Migrants’ rights are human rights! Stop the deportation of
Filipino live-in caregivers!” some 40 activists and sympathizers led by
Siklab-Ontario (National Alliance of Filipino Migrant Workers in Canada;
siklab is Filipino word for flare) brought the petitions as they held
a protest action in front of Volpe’s campaign headquarters on Avenue road
last January 13.
The protest was part of the National Day of Protest against the unjust
deportation of Filipino live-in caregivers. Similar mass actions were done
in Montreal and Vancouver.
With instructions from the minister’s headquarters, police officers
earlier tried to dissuade organizers from holding the protest, saying the
minister was not in the office and that “only volunteers are there and
they cannot take anything you want delivered to the minister.” The
protesters however stood their ground and proceeded with the militant but
peaceful mass action.
|
Siklab-Ontario was
joined by members of the Philippine Women Centre, the Filipino-Canadian
Youth Alliance (UKPC-Toronto), the Community Alliance for Social Justice (CASJ)
and friends from the Justice for Jeffrey (J4J) Coalition, Intercede, the
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), the People’s Front and No One is
Illegal campaign.
Plight of Filipino live-in caregivers
Reading from her
organization's statement, Siklab Vice Chairperson Yolyn Valenzuela said,
“In the last six years alone, 95 percent who came under the live-in caregiver
program (LCP) were Filipino women thus highlighting the need by Canada for
cheap labor and the ‘forced’ migration of Filipino women. We are hailed
as ‘modern-day heroes,’ but in fact, we are ‘modern-day slaves.’ The
government does not take into account the oppressive working and living
conditions of live-in caregivers. Instead, it penalizes live-in caregivers
with its inhumane implementation of an exploitative and racist policy.
Canada
must be held accountable to the thousands of live-in caregivers who toil
under the LCP.”
Live-in caregivers
are subject to arbitrary and unjust deportation for failure to complete
the requirements of the LCP. “In the majority of cases, the deportations
are due to the live-in caregiver’s inability to complete the required 24
months of live-in work within three years of entering Canada,” says
Cynthia Palmaria of the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario. “Citizenship
and Immigration Canada also tricks the caregivers through the expansion of
its temporary worker program. Some live-in caregivers facing deportation
were given an extension of their working visas, not under the LCP but
under the temporary worker program, thus depriving them of the chance to
apply for permanent residency.”
Now running for
reelection, CIC Minister Volpe last year promised to review the LCP in
order to address the urgent issues arising from it. To date, Siklab
claimed, there has been no review, but only lip service made by an
administration “adamantly refusing to take responsibility for its
policies.”
LCP affects
children, too
“But the impact of
the LCP does not fall on the women alone. It also affects their children.”
Grace Montesclaros of the Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada
(UKPC or Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance-Toronto chapter) stressed, “If the
live-in caregivers have children who are born in Canada, these children –
who are Canadian citizens – face permanent separation from their
mothers.” Children whose mothers have lost their immigration status in
Canada are denied access to benefits such as medical care, housing,
welfare and subsidized child care even though they are Canadian citizens.
She added, “In our
community, there is a disturbing trend of youth dropping out of high
school. Many children of domestic workers end up working in low-paying,
service or factory work jobs just like their parents. This is especially
true of those who are forced to drop out of high school. And children of
domestic workers are not exempt from racial profiling of Filipino youth by
police. As an organization fighting for the rights and welfare of Filipino
Canadian youth, we view the impact of the LCP as an urgent issue as they
affect the youth – and hence, the future – of our community.”
Philippine and Canadian governments called to task
CASJ Chairperson
Edwin Mercurio recalled Volpe’s statement at a Philippine Independence Day
Council gala night in Toronto where the CIC minister said that the
“Filipino caregivers are the backbone and modern-day heroes of Canadian
society.”
Mercurio said that
ironically, these “modern-day heroes” are ignored whenever they call for
help to stem the tide of systemic abuse committed against them by their
employers. Research conducted by CASJ and the National Alliance of
Philippine Women in Canada revealed that caregivers continue to be
exploited, abused, assaulted, raped and in many cases fired when they get
sick or pregnant. Worse, they are unjustly deported.
In April 2005, Siklab
launched this campaign calling for a moratorium on deportation of Filipino
live-in caregivers. The issue had been raised since then to the attention
of CIC Minister Joe Volpe through a formal letter; but no reply was
received addressing the community’s concerns.
“The Philippine
government does not help them either,” Mercurio adds. “All that the
Philippine government wants is the overseas Filipino workers’ remittances
reaching some US$10.3 billion in 2005 that help keep the Philippine
economy afloat.”
“On the other hand,
the Canadian government continues to wash its hands when confronted with
data and statistics, documented case studies and valid complaints about
rampant abuse, exploitation by their employers and the Canadian
government’s lack of legal, medical, housing and educational support for
participants of the LCP,” he said.
Continuing action
In Montreal, a mixed
group of over 20 community supporters and members of Siklab-Montreal
gathered outside the metro station in the heart of the Filipino community
as passers-by signed petitions. An information forum was held later in the
evening attended by 40 members of the community.
The national day of
protest ended in Vancouver with a vigil-rally for live-in caregivers
already unjustly deported from Canada outside the regional headquarters of
CIC. Over 80 people gathered, holding candles while listening to
representatives from the International League of People's Struggle (ILPS),
the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada, as well as
representatives from the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and the
Hospital Employees Union.
Paying tribute to
those women who had been forcibly deported from Canada over the last few
years, Siklab-Canada vowed to continue calling for an end to the
unjust deportation of Filipino live-in caregivers and the scrapping of the
LCP. Bulatlat
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