Migrant workers of the world unite with HK assembly

By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: May 30, 2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Migrant workers from around the world, the Philippines included, are gearing up for the founding assembly of the International Migrants Alliance or IMA on June 15 and 16 which will be held in Hong Kong.

Connie Bragas-Regalado, Migrante International chair, said among the topics for discussion would be issues on wage, remittance, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the war on terror and its impact on migrant workers, undocumented migrants, women and violence, health and HIV/AIDS and other social costs of forced migration.

“The time for the grassroots migrants, immigrants, refugees and other displaced people has arrived. The IMA shall make sure their voices will never be discounted again,” Regalado said in a statement.

Already 121 individuals from 97 organizations and 24 countries have confirmed their participation in the gathering, she said. Irene Fernandez, a prominent Malaysian human rights activist and founder of women’s rights organization, Tenaganita, will keynote the event.

Other conveners of IMA include the Turkish group Atik-Europe, the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers (ATKI) in Hong Kong, Migrante and its chapters, the May 1st Coalition for Immigrant Rights and Phil Forum in the United States, and Malaysia’s Tenaganita.

“For many years, many have spoken on our behalf. This time, we will speak for ourselves,” said Eni Lestari, ATKI representative and spokesperson of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB-HK), in a separate statement.

Lestari said the presence of a vibrant movement of migrant workers in Hong Kong played a big part in the decision to hold the IMA assembly there.