AN OPEN LETTER TO SEC. DELIA ALBERT ON MASSIVE CRACKDOWN AGAINST UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANT FILIPINOS IN JAPAN

The Japanese government is cracking down undocumented foreign migrants and Filipinos are one of many nationalities that is most affected. In Tokyo district alone, hundreds are being arrested and detained every month since September last year. Similar arrests are happening in other parts of Japan creating a climate of fear, hampering the movement of Filipinos and seriously affecting their ability to work which is the only reason why they are in Japan.

Many Filipinos who have been in Japan for more than ten years now, have never seen anything like this before. The Japanese government announced earlier that it plans to cut by half the 250,000 estimated number of “illegal migrants” in the country over the next five years. It now appears that the government is dead serious in implementing the plan as both the Justice Ministry and the Immigration Bureau in close coordination with the national and local police are bent on pursuing “illegal aliens” without let up, and almost without due regard for the individual rights of Filipinos and migrants from other poor countries. Added proof is the promulgation in November of new amendments to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act that was passed by the Diet last May imposing stiffer penalties on arrested illegal aliens like the Y3,000,000 fine from the previous Y300,000, and a 10-year ban on re-entry from 5 years.

We are gravely concerned about the situation of more or less 30,000 undocumented migrant Filipinos who risk life and limbs to work in Japan because our government has failed to offer our people viable economic alternatives. Now they are in dire need of help, and needless to say, all of them have families to support back home.

We believe that the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Philippine government for that matter, has all the power and resources to intervene on behalf of undocumented migrant Filipinos in Japan who are in disadvantaged position right now, especially those who are currently in detention - to manage and effect their quick and easy repatriation.

Madame Secretary, we are seriously disappointed, to say the least, to know that under your current policies, being repatriated back to the Philippines is even harder than entering Japan for many of our undocumented migrants. Without clear support from our government and the government of Japan, and with too heavy exaction on fees collected for consular services, the unexpected journey of Filipino deportees back home becomes even more unbearable.

Once arrested, undocumented Filipinos immediately lose their only hope for survival and the future of their families left in the Philippines. This is further aggravated by the long and often slow process of repatriation that renders heavy toll on deportees, psychologically as well as financially.

As you may be aware, Filipino deportees once caught by the police have to agonize in jail and undergo investigation and court hearings before they are transferred to immigration where the actual process of deportation begins. This procedure normally takes about three months and sometimes even longer simply because they lack the money to buy airline tickets and to pay for their travel documents at our government mission offices. Many cases file up because of the daily arrests and because many do not have the resources to pay for their repatriation.

Filipinos in Japan are not well off. Quite the contrary, we are like many of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the globe who also struggle on a daily basis in order to survive. And whatever little savings we have, we gladly send to the Philippines for our families own survival. Thus, It would be insensitive on the part of our government to take away whatever savings deportees have (if there is any) to pay for their travel documents which they could otherwise use to put their lives back on track.

Lest you forget, Madame Secretary, we wish to remind you and the rest in government that having no legal documents doesn’t make any of the 30,000 undocumented Filipinos in Japan less of a contributor to society. Quite the opposite, by the very nature of their status, undocumented Filipinos are the bigger contributors to our economy. They don’t and can’t own properties in Japan, and therefore, whatever they earn they send it to their families.

Madame Secretary, the current schedule of fees being exacted on every Filipino applying for official documents at our Embassy in Tokyo and Consular Offices around Japan - Y11,550 (P5,575.00) to secure travel documents or Y10,500-Y15,750 (P 5,250.00- P7,875.00) to renew passport - is too heavy a burden for deportees who have just lost their jobs and their future.

As concerned organizations of Filipinos in Japan, we demand the government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, to institute meaningful reforms on policies and in the handling of problems now confronting undocumented Filipinos in Japan in particular, and migrant Filipinos in general. In view of this, we specifically demand your immediate action on the following:

1) to waive fees for travel documents being collected from Filipinos
undergoing deportation proceedings;

2) to negotiate with the Japanese government on behalf of Filipinos undergoing deportation proceedings to expedite the process of repatriation, and to ensure that their individual rights are not being violated;

3) to make representation on behalf of Filipinos detained in various immigration detention centers all over Japan who are in need of assistance, legal or otherwise;

4) to negotiate for the implementation of relevant international migrant
Conventions and Recommendations to secure the protection and promotion of migrants’ rights and welfare; and

5) to implement stricter laws that would put a stop to the continued trafficking of their employers.

Madame Secretary, we want the Department of Foreign Affairs and all heads of our mission offices in Japan to acknowledge and act swiftly on these problems, and to show compassion and respect for migrant Filipinos, in general, as true partners in nation building. This is one opportunity for the government to really serve the interests of our kababayans, and to show that they are indeed our nation’s new heroes.

We demand your decisive action on these, and hope that it will be quick.

Yours sincerely,

SGD. NOEMI OBA
President
Philippine Society in Japan (PSJ), Nagoya

SGD. MARGIE IEDA
Vice-President
Filipina Circle for Advancement and Progress (FICAP), Nagoya

SGD. CESAR SANTOYO
Executive Director
Center for Japan-Filipino Families (CJFF), Tokyo

SGD. AGALYN NAGASE
Coordinator
Kalipunan ng Filipinong Nagkakaisa
(KAFIN), Tokyo

SGD. NESTOR PUNO
Ecumenical Learning Center
(ELCC), Nagoya

SGD. DANILO GUARDIANO
President
Kalipunan ng Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN), Nagoya

SGD. VIRGIE ISHIHARA
Executive Director
Filipino Migrant Center (FMC)

SGD. MARIA HIRAMATSU
Coordinator
Kalipunan ng Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN), Osaka

SGD. LUZVIMINDA TAKADA
President
League of Filipino Seniors (LFS), Nagoya

Ramon Bultron
Managing Director
Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM)

Sarojeni V. Rengam
Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific
P.O. Box 1170, 10850 Penang
Malaysia

SGD. DANNY FERNANDEZ
Vice Chairman
Migrante Melbourne - Australia

Edgar C. Cadano,
Raymundo Flores
Gerry Yap
Riche Reyes Menderico
Freddie Cahucom
Alvin Alladin
John Berte
Migrante Partylist Toril Chapter
OFW based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Mae Fe Ancheta-Templa
Executive Director
Mindanao Interfaith People's Conference

A. Mangampo Ociones
Chairperson
MIGRANTE Saudi Arabia

Garry Martinez
Chairperson
Katipunan ng mga Samahang Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea
South Korea

Pastor Jones Galang
Coordinator
Migrante Sectoral Party
South Korea

Danilo Santos
Chairperson
New Era Foundation

Fatima Leoncio
Chairperson
Women on the Move
South Korea

Manny Tiongson
Chairperson
New Era Foundation
Suwon Chapter

Joebert Vergara
OIC
Bicol Association

Celso Panlaqui
Chairperson
New Era Foundation
Seoul Korea
Roy Dela Dela Crus
Chairperson
KUPAS
South Korea

Carl Anthony Ala
Deputy Secretary General
National Networkof Agrarian Reform Advocates- Youth Sector (NNARA-Youth)
Philippines

Techa Beaumont, Australia

SGD. MAY KOTSAKIS
Co-Chairperson
Philippines Australia Solidarity Association - Australia

TENAGANITA
Malaysia

Connie Bragas-Regalado
Chairperson
Rowena dela Cruz
Vice Chairperson
United Filipinos in Hong Kong

Cynthia CA Tellez
Director
Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers

Edwina Santoyo
Director
Bethune House Migrant Women's Refuge

Kevin J. Barr (Program Consultant, ECREA, Fiji)

Semiti Qalowasa (Lobby for the Poor Project, ECREA, Fiji)

Gabrieli Rokomua (Fiji)

Josifini Marama (Fiji)

Chantelle Khan (SEEP Program Director, ECREA, Fiji)

Rev. Fr. Jose P. Dizon
Exec. Director
Workers Assistance Center, Inc.
Rosario, Cavite, Philippines

SGD. REV. J. CALVIN BUGHO OFM
Commission Chairperson
Justice and Peace Commission-Franciscan East Asia Conference (JP Commission-OFM EAC)

Evelyn Calugay
PINAY (Pilipino Womens Organization in Quebec)
Montr3eal, Canada

Amparo Adelina C. Umali, III
Japan

Hui Zhen Huang
Taiwan International workers' Association(TIWA)

Cecilia V. Tuico
Workers Assistance Center, Philippines

Marlene Gonzales
Chairperson
Solidarity of Cavite Workers, Philippines

Iwasa Kazuyuki
Kochi, Japan

George Kotsakis
Migrante Melbourne Australia

Lennon Ying-Dah Wong
Taiwan Migrants' Forum/
Deputy Director of the Department of International Relations,
Chinese Federation of Labour (CFL), Taipei, Taiwan

Anna Puspita
Program Officer
American Center for International Labor Solidarity
Indonesia

BAYAN International-USA, Los Angeles

EPCC-LA

ILPS-OCNY

Rev. Cesar T. Tagiba
Ecumenical Ministry for Filipinos Abroad-Europe
Netherlands

Grace Punongbayan
Rio Mondelo
MIGRANTE International-Europe
Netherlands

Eni Lestari
Chairperson
Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Hong Kong

Gulzar Ahmed Chaudhary
General Secretary "All Pakistan Trade Union Federation"

Nasir Chaudhary
Press & Publication Secretary "All Pakistan Trade Union Federation"

Tafazzul Hussain
President. Bangladesh Jatiyo Sramik Federation (BJSF)

Zakir Hossain. Secretary BJSF

Sugesti
Chairperson
Regional Trade Union (SBR), Surabaya, Indonesia

Suliyem
General Secretary
Regional Trade Union, Surabaya, Indonesia

Danu Rudiono
Director
Humanika Working Group, Surabaya, Indonesia

Ayuni
Vice Director
Humanika Working Group, Surabaya, Indonesia

Luke Coxon
Convenor
Asia Pacific Workers Solidarity Links

Gulzar Ahmed Chaudhary
General Secretary
All Pakistan Trade Union Federation
Email: aptuf@brain.net.pk;
rubinawwo@nexlinx.net.pk

Rubina Jamil
Chairperson
All Pakistan Trade Union Federation
Email: rubinawwo@nexlinx.net.pk


Simy Gulzar Zafar
General Secretary
Working Women Organization
Email: WWO@brain.net,pk


Aima Mahmood
Coordinator
Working Women Organization
Email: WWO@brain.net,pk


Nasir Chaudhary
President
Progressive Youth Organization
Affiliated: All Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF)
Email: aptuf@brain.net.pk


Mohammad Siddique
Ali Paper Mills Employees Union