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APRN Conference on War and Terror
Workshop Paper on Migrants
Presented by: Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM)

I. Introduction

The world’s wealth and capital is concentrated to a few families. Sadly, this brings immense hardships and misery to the majority of the poor people’s of the world.

Take for instance,

About 85 percent of the world’s income is concentrated among the richest 20 per cent of the world.

The three wealthiest persons in the world have combined assets greater than the combined gross national product (GNP) of the 48 poorest countries with a combined population of 600 million.

The majority of humanity subsists on less than USD2 daily and a quarter or 1.2 billion people on less than USD1 daily.

Monopoly capitalism and its crises have created tremendous disparities and displacement to billions of people. These crises – both in the financial and production spheres – have worsened from year to year. The collapse of stock markets, drastic devaluation of currencies, capital flights and company bankruptcies have been a permanent and growing feature of neoliberal globalization.

The rapid decline of the US economy has gravely affected and provoked the crisis of the world capitalist system. The bankruptcies and scams in bank loans as evident in the stories of such giants as Enron, K-Mart, Global Crossing and Xerox have created a surge in unemployment rates in the US. Consequently, this domestic crisis in the US has created a domino effect of bankruptcies and massive lay-offs on a global scale. Consider that at least one-third of the world’s labor force is either unemplyed or underemployed.

To attempt to stay afloat, the US economy is depending on an increased production in its military armaments. The United States is the biggest provider of government funds, of the taxpayers’ money, to military spending and production of weapons of war and mass destruction.

However, this attempt is short-lived for in the process, the United States would have to contend with deficits in its budget and would surely aggravate the situation by forcibly siphoning funds for social security of its people.

We can expect a worsening of the economic, political and social conflicts and crises of major capitalist countries, especially the United States. This worsening crisis subsequently created the condition for intensified military rule and continuing direct military intervention in the countries of the world. At present, we are witness to the increase in US military forces in South East Asia particularly in the Philippines and its neighboring countries as well.

The US Led Global War on Terror

The US launched its war against terror after September 11. The scope of the war was broadened beyond the culprits of the attack to several countries they consider as harboring terrorists or at least havens of terrorist cells and groups. And then they went further by proclaiming the “axis of evil” as the next target of their unjust war. This war spans from the Middle East to South East Asia.

The US bullies governments to pass anti-terrorism bills that promote a militaristic solution to the problems of social justice and roots causes of war and conflict. By conveniently branding groups, individuals and organizations as terrorists, the US is able to create blanket authority to the military and police to launch a war against its own people.

The still raging war in Iraq had already costs the lives of many Iraqi people and children. Hundreds of migrant workers in Iraq either stayed risking their own lives and their families are suffering from tremendous anxiety. Some opted to leave even if no assurance of jobs and livelihood awaits them in their respective countries.

War and conflict has spread to many regions and has caused massive displacement of peoples. In the Asia and Pacific region alone, around 4 million people are internally displaced by war and conflict. According to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, there were about 5 million refugees originating from Asia and the Pacific as of December 2001.

It is not surprising to know that since the launch of the borderless war on terror, asylum regulations have been tightened and barriers against refugees were raised in many countries in the West.

On top of this, the psychological impact of war, the trauma of destruction, death and displacement have exacerbated the harrowing experiences of ordinary folk especially in the countrysides and rural areas.

According to the Global IDP Project, “prolonged stays in the Sri Lanka welfare centers has resulted in suicide rates three times higher than elsewhere in the country. In central Sulawesi, in Indonesia, a government study of IDPs conducted during 2001 showed that between 55 and 60 percent suffered from psychological troubles associated with the violence, loss of property and forced displacement. In Afghanistan, the overwhelming majority of the IDPs have known nothing else than war and violence during the last 25 years and the psychological rehabilitation of the country is certainly as pressing as is its reconstruction.”

In the Philippines, with the intensification of the military offensives in Mindanao, Southern Philippines, of the Philippine Army in consonace with the US military exercises staged in the region, the Social Welfare Department of the Philippine Government in Central Mindanao has reported that the nuber of evacuees had reached about 40,000 or more than half of the population of the town of Pikit, the alleged base of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). In neighboring areas, more than 80,000 have been confirmed as evacuees in a span of a few days of relentless bombings.

All these sufferings, deaths and displacement of peoples because of the US led war on global terrorism. In the name of ant-terrorism, people have become unfortunate collaterals of war.. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The government of the United States and its war machinery breach all internationally recognized rules of war and protocols and in fact, it does not submit itself even to the decision of the United Nations or any international criminal court.

Effects on Migrants and Immigrants

The report of MIGRANTE-International, the global alliance of overseas Filipino migrant organizations, very well describes the concrete effects of this unjust war.

Shortly after 9/11, Belgian police launched a pre-dawn raid on the homes of 30 Filipino migrants in Belgium.

The Filipinos were brought to a police station, detained almost the entire day and interrogated about cell phone numbers, their bank accounts and links to the Philippines. Some of them were members of Cordi-Bel, a progressive organization of Filipinos from Cordillera.

Although they were released the same day, an official explanation for their detention, with the exception of one who was deported as an undocumented worker, has still not been offered.

In the United States, policies under the Patriot Act also targeted the immigrants’ rights.

The new US Aviation Security Act retrenched hundreds of immigrants, largely Filipinos when the Act limited the hiring of airport screeners to American citizens only. The Act implied that non-American citizens are subject of suspicion as not capable of securing the airport in the USA against terrorists if not suspects as potential terrorists.

The racial profiling, stereotyping and discrimination of the Bush administration are also evident in other policies that require foreigners in certain countries, largely Middle Eastern, to “register” with the US authorities.

The unjust terrorist tagging of progressive migrant groups and individuals is also among the results of this “war on terror”. For example, Professor Jose Maria Sison, was placed on the US list of terrorists and already, his meager social benefits and allowances as a duly recognized political refugee have been suspended by the Dutch government. The tagging of the US government on who is considered terrorist is without due process and arbitrary.

According to Human Rights Watch

Throughout the world, countries have responded to the events in the US with tightened immigration and asylum policies, and rushed thourhg emergency legislation. Some governments, such as Spain, have publicly equated the war against terrorism with the fight against illegal immigration. The British Home Secretary David Blunkett has vowed to stop Afghan refugees from “spreading across the world” and has equated asylum seekers with terrorists.

In addition to these, people of color including migrants have been subjected to racist policies in the United States. Others like baggage carriers in US airports have lost their jobs because they are not US citizens yet.

Migrants are not spared by the onslaughts of the global war on terror. In fact migrants are the mot obvious targets of governments that are fanning xenophobia and racism in the name of anti-terrorism.

Migrants Movement Joining Peoples’ Movement Against US Led War

The US-led war that terrorizes the world has also renewed the mass movement of peoples all over the world in opposition to it. The present anti-war movement is even bigger in number and wider in scope compared to the anti-Vietnam war in the 60’s.

Migrant workers have also stood up and joined hands with the local movements against this unjust war. Wherever there were big demonstrations – London, the US, Hong Kong, etc – the migrants were there. Surely they had a big stake in the outcome of the anti-war movement as the migrants were the visible targets of it in the paranoid host countries.

Members of Migrante-International have spearheaded protests of Filipino migrants in many parts of the globe. In Hong Kong, migrants from the Asian Migrant Coordinating Body have joined the No War Coalition. Nepalese, Indonesians, Thais, Filipinos and Sri Lankans have marched with their brothers and sisters to raise their voices for peace based on justice and the end of the hysteria of the US war on terror.

As expected, the US-led war boomeranged to its face. Movements of different persuasions and ideologies, people in different strata and religious beliefs came together on a common cause that said NO! to the US led war.

Currently, the call to send back US troops in Iraq is gaining momentum.

The US has even antagonized its close allies in the European countries. Many third world governments, even those considered by their own people as repressive, are taking its stand against the unjust war launched by US and its minions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

US imperialism is digging its own grave when it showed its true intention in launching this unjust war against countries that assert their sovereignty and peoples that struggle against imperialist domination.

Migrants would definitely add their own weight to this end. #