Group: EU rules on migrants to create new 'Holocaust'
If approved, the new EU policy would impose penalties of detention, expulsion, and blacklisting on 100,000 overstaying migrant Filipinos. GMANews.TVMANILA, Philippines - An alliance of overseas Filipino groups branded the European Union’s (EU) new rules on undocumented migrants as "inhumane."
Early this month, 27 EU interior ministers voted for rules that would impose penalties of detention for a maximum of 18 months for overstaying migrants, their deportation, along with their children, and blacklisting for five years.
If finally approved by the EU Parliament, the rules are to take effect on 2010.
Connie Bragas Regalado, chairperson of Migrante International said that the new rules "will bring Europe back to the dark days of the Holocaust."
"It will turn Europe into a large concentration camp of millions of undocumented migrants there whose only desire is to eke out a decent living for their families who depend on them back home," she said.
There are an estimated 12 million undocumented migrants in Europe, including more than 100,000 Filipinos.
The Migrante leader echoed the position of their European chapter that said the rules violate existing treaties, conventions and agreements on migrants and their families such as the Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe Resolution 1509, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the UN International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and the members of their Families.
Global crackdown
But Regalado admitted that the EU's move came as no surprise. She said that since the so-called US war on terror, attacks on migrants have intensified not only throughout Europe but around the globe.
She cited as an example the amendments to Italy’s policy on immigration sometime in 2002.
Before, migrants are given a six-month grace period to process the legalization of their stay. The said amendments, however, reduced the processing time from six months to only two. Failure to do so would result in deportation.
Since then, most Filipino migrants, Regalado said, prefer to evade immigration authorities rather than surrender and face deportation.
The migrant leader shared stories told by delegates of the recently-concluded International Migrants Assembly held in Hong Kong.
"Even legal migrants organizations and their leaders have become targets of the so-called anti-terror measures," She related, adding that in Germany, the offices of Turkish migrant organization ATIK have been raided.
In a statement sent through email, John Leonard Monterona, Migrante Middle East regional coordinator, lamented, "Even here in the Middle East, there are countries implementing tough immigration measures such as the finger-print system in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and eye-scan in the entire United Arab Emirates."
He said that these procedures are mandatory for the issuance of residence or work permits.
Monterona also cited the continued crackdown of undocumented OFWs in countries like South Korea and Japan.
Regalado said, "In the so-called fight against terror, migrants, especially people of color, have become vulnerable targets."
No protection for OFWs
Migrante International also scored the Arroyo government’s absence of any protection for migrants, noting that there are no existing bilateral agreements between the Arroyo government and host countries.
"There is no intention at all to protect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Isinusubo na lang ang mga OFWs sa masasamang kalagayan. Ang pakay lang ay kumita mula sa pinapadala ng OFWs (OFWs are being led to cruel situations. The only objective is to earn from OFWs’s dollar remittances)."
Monterona said, "The Arroyo administration seems deaf to the calls by OFW organizations and cause-oriented groups to work for the legalization of undocumented OFWs."
When faced with difficult situations, Regalado said, the Arroyo government admonishes OFWs to follow the rule of law of the host country. Even if OFWs were raped or have run-away from a cruel employer, Regalado said, the Arroyo government does not care at all.
She said that the Philippines has been chosen to host the Second Global Forum on Development and Migration in October this year. The main focus of the said informal gathering of heads of states, she said, is how to use migrants and their remittances for development.
Regalado said that the Philippines is viewed by other states as a model for good migration management. For migrants though, this means that the Arroyo government is best in exploiting the OFWs.
She noted that the Arroyo government intends to further intensify its labor export policy instead of paving the way for national industrialization, which will create jobs for Filipinos in the country.
The Migrante International appealed to the EU leaders to junk the new immigration policy. - Bulatlat
Early this month, 27 EU interior ministers voted for rules that would impose penalties of detention for a maximum of 18 months for overstaying migrants, their deportation, along with their children, and blacklisting for five years.
If finally approved by the EU Parliament, the rules are to take effect on 2010.
Connie Bragas Regalado, chairperson of Migrante International said that the new rules "will bring Europe back to the dark days of the Holocaust."
"It will turn Europe into a large concentration camp of millions of undocumented migrants there whose only desire is to eke out a decent living for their families who depend on them back home," she said.
There are an estimated 12 million undocumented migrants in Europe, including more than 100,000 Filipinos.
The Migrante leader echoed the position of their European chapter that said the rules violate existing treaties, conventions and agreements on migrants and their families such as the Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe Resolution 1509, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the UN International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and the members of their Families.
Global crackdown
But Regalado admitted that the EU's move came as no surprise. She said that since the so-called US war on terror, attacks on migrants have intensified not only throughout Europe but around the globe.
She cited as an example the amendments to Italy’s policy on immigration sometime in 2002.
Before, migrants are given a six-month grace period to process the legalization of their stay. The said amendments, however, reduced the processing time from six months to only two. Failure to do so would result in deportation.
Since then, most Filipino migrants, Regalado said, prefer to evade immigration authorities rather than surrender and face deportation.
The migrant leader shared stories told by delegates of the recently-concluded International Migrants Assembly held in Hong Kong.
"Even legal migrants organizations and their leaders have become targets of the so-called anti-terror measures," She related, adding that in Germany, the offices of Turkish migrant organization ATIK have been raided.
In a statement sent through email, John Leonard Monterona, Migrante Middle East regional coordinator, lamented, "Even here in the Middle East, there are countries implementing tough immigration measures such as the finger-print system in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and eye-scan in the entire United Arab Emirates."
He said that these procedures are mandatory for the issuance of residence or work permits.
Monterona also cited the continued crackdown of undocumented OFWs in countries like South Korea and Japan.
Regalado said, "In the so-called fight against terror, migrants, especially people of color, have become vulnerable targets."
No protection for OFWs
Migrante International also scored the Arroyo government’s absence of any protection for migrants, noting that there are no existing bilateral agreements between the Arroyo government and host countries.
"There is no intention at all to protect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Isinusubo na lang ang mga OFWs sa masasamang kalagayan. Ang pakay lang ay kumita mula sa pinapadala ng OFWs (OFWs are being led to cruel situations. The only objective is to earn from OFWs’s dollar remittances)."
Monterona said, "The Arroyo administration seems deaf to the calls by OFW organizations and cause-oriented groups to work for the legalization of undocumented OFWs."
When faced with difficult situations, Regalado said, the Arroyo government admonishes OFWs to follow the rule of law of the host country. Even if OFWs were raped or have run-away from a cruel employer, Regalado said, the Arroyo government does not care at all.
She said that the Philippines has been chosen to host the Second Global Forum on Development and Migration in October this year. The main focus of the said informal gathering of heads of states, she said, is how to use migrants and their remittances for development.
Regalado said that the Philippines is viewed by other states as a model for good migration management. For migrants though, this means that the Arroyo government is best in exploiting the OFWs.
She noted that the Arroyo government intends to further intensify its labor export policy instead of paving the way for national industrialization, which will create jobs for Filipinos in the country.
The Migrante International appealed to the EU leaders to junk the new immigration policy. - Bulatlat
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