13 October 2008

Migrants and refugees in Europe call for grassroots solidarity and action, reject GFMD agenda

Amsterdam, The Netherlands -- With a resounding call to “organize, organize, organize!”, migrants and refugees participating in a forum in Amsterdam on Saturday, 11 October vowed to undertake grassroots actions to address their plight and to fight for the rights of undocumented migrant workers, including vigorously campaigning for their regularization. They also called on genuine advocates of migrants and refugees to stand in solidarity with them.

The forum in Amsterdam, “Challenging the Global Forum on Migration and Development in its European context”, was spearheaded by the International Migrants' Alliance Europe (IMA-Europe) composed of Europe-based Turkish and Filipino migrant and refugee organizations that participated in the founding assembly of the IMA last 15 June in Hong Kong. The IMA is a broad international alliance representing 118 grassroots migrant organizations from 25 countries in East Asia and Oceania, South Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the United States, Canada, Africa and the Middle East.

The forum on Saturday was organized as a grassroots counter-response to the process of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), specifically to call attention to the real situation of migrants and refugees in Europe, and to call for concrete action. It was, as Grace Punongbayan, member of the International Coordinating Body of the IMA, explained, a gathering of and for migrants and refugees, to challenge the GFMD framework that claims migration promotes development.

There were more than 100 participants and guests from 29 organizations, among them: Nederlands-Filippijns Solidariteitsbeweging, IBON-Europe, People's Artists Network, Rode Morgen, Africa Roots Movement, International Organization of Migration, students from the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, students from the University of Amsterdam, Filipino Refugees in the Netherlands, Latino Community, M2M, OKIA, International Network of Philippine Studies, Committee DEFEND, Kodao-Philippines, TRUSTED, UMDW, Kabalikat, Pinay sa Holland, Migrante Party List-Netherlands, Migrante-Australia, Maidens for Christ, ILPS-Greece, ATIK, HTIF, AYIGF, YDG, Migrante Netherlands and Migrante Europe.

Ufuk Berdan of the Federation of Turkish Migrant Workers in Europe (ATIK) and also the vice-chairperson of the IMA, presented the grim situation of migrants in Europe. He explained that present-day migration is caused by the exploitative and oppressive neoliberal globalization policies of advanced capitalist countries that profit from the cheap labor provided by migrant workers. He said that since 1998, 12,500 people have lost their lives attempting to cross the border into fortress Europe in the hope of escaping imperialist wars of aggression, poverty, hunger, unemployment and misery in their countries of origin. He strongly condemned the policies of the European Union on migration which he said is reflective of reactionary trends in the continent.

Araz Barani of Caravan in Germany, a militant anti-racist and action-oriented network of refugees in Germany, assailed the 'horrors' facing refugees in Germany. He exposed the rape of refugee women, the racist attacks on refugees and peoples of color, the continued policy of deportations, denial of health, social and medical benefits to refugees, the use of Nazi-type concentration camps for asylum-seekers, and the blatant disregard by the German government of the UN Convention on Human Rights.

He said that government representatives meeting in Manila later this month for the GFMD would actually discuss how to “liberate cheap and qualified labor force for the industry where and when they are needed, and expand and strengthen the control over the developing countries”.

“They speak of migration as if it is something very natural. We talk of refugees, because most of the people either flee from wars or misery, or they seek better lives, because of poverty. All is caused by the policy of the dominant powers and governments. And to cover up the reasons why people have to leave their homes, they speak of migration. When they use the word global, they mean dominance of capital. When they speak of civil society they mean the barbaric system they brought to Africa, Latin America and Asia, they mean the bombs they bring to Iraq and Afghanistan,” Barani stressed.

He called for the solidarity of the oppressed and the active defense of refugees and migrants as Caravan has done for the last 10 years.

Eric Meijer, member of the European Parliament representing the Socialist Party of the Netherlands, warned the participants about the increasingly restrictive and sometimes racist-based migration policies of the European Union. He said migrants and refugees, and citizens in Europe who are advocating for migrant rights are confronted with the reality that those who impose themselves by hating migrants and restricting them are in the majority of states, governments and policy-making bodies.

On the EU return directive, Meijer explained that although the 27 member-countries of the EU are obliged to implement the return directive, its implementation might vary from country to country. He cited for instance the right-wing government of Berlusconi in Italy which is already implementing repressive measures against migrants there, while other EU countries, on the other hand, continue to extend limited amnesty.

While calling on migrants and refugees to seek the broadest possible solidarity with the trade unions and other progressive entities, Meijer also called on them to address the roots of forced migration.

“International solidarity means that we address the circumstances in the sending countries so that migrants need not find work outside their home countries,” Meijer emphasized.

Marijke Bijl of the Support Committee for Illegal Workers in the Netherlands (OKIA) narrated the history of the importation by the Dutch state of cheap migrant labor from the Mediterranean in the 1960s, and the struggle for the regularization of undocumented migrant workers in the Netherlands in the 1990s. She said migrant organizations and advocates must look into the living conditions of undocumented migrant workers, and lobby effectively for the rights of the undocumented by presenting in real terms their marginalization and exploitation.

Rev. Cesar Taguba, chairperson of Stichting Migrante Europe, criticized the GFMD because it is “elitist and non-participatory”. He said the GFMD fails to address the structural roots of migration which is underdevelopment due to the neoliberal globalization policies of the advanced capitalist countries.

Taguba said: “ Liberalization, deregulation and privatization are imposed on the people. This caused de-industrialization, the collapse of local industries, causing massive unemployment. It promoted unhindered plunder of natural resources , destruction of the environment, sale of state assets at bargain price to profit-oriented transnational corporations, making basic services far beyond the reach of the majority. In the name of the US-led “war on terror” state repression is used against those advocating for people's development, defense of national patrimony and sovereignty and social transformation.”

He called on migrants and refugees to fight for: debt cancellation and repatriation of stolen wealth; just and fair trade; implementation of development aid in accordance with the priorities of the south; democratization and transparency of international financial institutions, trade institutions and states; and, expose and reject neoliberal globalization. He also called on those present in the forum to take up the challenge of forming of a European Forum of Migrants for Alternative Development Strategies Towards Social Transformation.

“We are challenging the GFMD because we are for genuine peoples' development. We adhere to the UN Declaration on the Right to Development, which is consistent with our dream of a society 'where people are not forced to migrate as a matter of survival; a society where there is equal opportunity for all to a life of dignity; a society where the capacity of each is developed to contribute to the building of a just and progressive society'”, Taguba said.

The open forum that followed reverberated with questions and calls for the regularization of the undocumented migrant workers, specifically the domestic workers. Migrant participants were also eager to undertake concrete actions to call attention to their plight. A representative of Committee DEFEND, a network defending the democratic rights of progressives in Europe, shared a chronology of the unjust political persecution and prosecution of Filipino refugee Prof. Jose Maria Sison. He stressed that Professor Sison's struggle to uphold his rights has implications for all those similarly suffering political persecution in Europe.

A Turkish migrant worker Rotterdam talked about their marginalization in Dutch society. Tita Coring of the Amsterdam-based United Migrant Domestic Workers, said that being united and organized are the only ways to fight the fear of deportation as undocumented migrants workers. She said seeking membership in the trade unions provides some measure of protection not only in terms of working conditions but also in terms of avoiding imminent deportation.

At one point, Eman, an African who belongs to the organization TRUSTED, suggested a two-day 'strike' by undocumented domestic workers in the Netherlands to highlight the importance of their work to many Dutch households and the Dutch society in general.

Another highlight of the sharing session was the brief remarks made by a survivor of the Schiphol detention center that was burned down more than two years ago and left 11 undocumented migrants dead. The detention center used to be a facility for suspected drug criminals and was built in 2001, but was later on used as a detention center for undocumented migrants in preparation for their deportation. At the time of the fire, which news reports blamed on neglect, 85 detainees from 35 nationalities were at the facility. Several survivors suffered physical and psychological scars as a result. They were promised residence permits by the Dutch government, but that promise was not delivered.

The survivor invited the forum partcipants to join the memorial for the victims of the Schiphol detention center fire in Amsterdam on 26 October. Advocates for the victims remarked: “There is no humanity for the undocumented in those detention centers”.

The forum concluded with the migrants and refugees themselves calling for concrete solidarity actions, and passed on a sheet of paper to sign as an expression of their desire to meet again soon, this time not only to talk to but plan actions and campaigns – to fight back!

Prepared by:
IMA-Euro
Email: <mig_europe@yahoo.com>pe