On this day, December 18, in 1990, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and

Members of their Families (UN MWC).

The UN MWC came into force in July 2003 as international law, and to date has been

ratified by 37 state parties. There is an urgent need for labour receiving countries to

recognize the significance of this instrument in the promotion and protection of all

migrant workers and members of their families.

On this day, we celebrate the lives of migrant workers, who through their contributions

enrich the social, political and cultural dimensions of societies. Through their hard work,

dedication and creativity, migrant workers serve to bridge the cultures home and

destination countries.

Despite the call for the recognition of the positive role of migrant workers in society,

there continues to be a regression in the protection of the human rights of migrant

workers. Effective access to human rights is predicated on the recognition of the rights in

law and practice; when this recognition is lacking, migrants’ rights become negated.

The growing series of abuses witnessed in 2007 in Asia alone, is alarming and

unacceptable. The social, political, economic and cultural rights to self determination of

migrant workers continue to be dismissed. Abuses against migrant workers highlighted in

specific countries throughout 2007, reinforce the stark need to advance protection of

migrant workers rights.

The human rights of migrant workers, regardless of their immigration status, race, class

and gender must no longer be negated. International Migrants Day is a call to stop the

growing series of abuses faced by migrant workers worldwide.

In July 2007, the first Official Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD)

took place. This forum was a voluntary non-binding process that looked at migration

from a trade based, economic development lens and did not meaningfully address the

human rights concerns which should be indivisible from the migration process and

migrant workers rights. The focus of this forum hinged on the development, economic

and trade factors of migration, instead of pushing forward a rights-based agenda. The

GFMD should meaningfully address migration insofar as it relates to the realities and

rights of migrant workers and abandon its neo-liberal capitalist agenda.

In September 2007, over 3000 workers, in Malaysia were left stranded in the car park at

the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), due to the dubious actions of

employment recruiters and the practice of outsourcing labour. After being forced to live

in deplorable conditions at the airport for one week with little water or food, the

Bangladeshi workers were sent home with only partial compensation for the fees they

submitted to employment agencies.

In a separate incident in Malaysia, in September 2007, Bangladeshi workers who had

their wages withheld for over 6 months staged a hunger strike at the Bangladeshi High

Commission. In response they were mercilessly beaten within the grounds of their own

commission and forcefully detained. After enduring these atrocious violations of dignity,

the workers received no formal apology from authorities. The only action taken was the

subsequent fines and charges placed on the employment recruiters, without overhauling

the recruitment system which continuous to be dubious and exploitative.

In November 2007, the Malaysian government announced a Cabinet decision to have the

RELA (Ikatan Relawan Rakyat) take over the management of Immigration Detention

Centers/Depots. Civil society groups in Malaysia are against this move. Currently, there

are 14 detention centers in Malaysia which house over 11,000 thousand undocumented

migrants. RELA is a voluntary corps under the Home Affairs Ministry and is governed

by the Emergency (Stipulated Powers) Act 1964. RELA volunteers do not have the

specialized skills, experience, and training required to handle the detention of people

according to international guidelines. They also do not have the organizational

infrastructure (in terms of full-time staff, standard operational procedures and

accountability mechanisms) required for the task of this magnitude. There is a strong

emphasis on the speedy arrest, detention, imprisonment, sentencing and deportation of

migrants and refugees, which may further contribute to the miscarriage of justice and the

refoulement of refugees. (For more details, see the Joint Statement on Ikatan Relawan

Rakyat (RELA) taking over Immigration Detention Centres by the Migration Working

Group (MWG) Network in Malaysia.)

In Thailand, the 'Provincial Decree on Migrant Workers' produced by the provincial

government of Phuket, placed severe restrictions on the movements and rights of

Cambodian, Lao and Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. Migrants were flagrantly

discriminated by the issuing of curfews, forceful entry into their homes and confiscation

of their mobile phones. These actions demonstrate the overt discrimination that migrant

workers face when rights and protections are reserved only for "nationals". National laws

and protections should apply to migrant workers and should be harmonized with

international human rights standards.

In Korea detention of migrant workers in targeted crackdowns continue to abound. In

Migrants Trade Union (MTU) as a union representing the rights of all migrant workers,

regardless of their legal status. Despite this ruling, on 27 November 2007, the South

Korean government arrested and deported the president, vice president, and secretary of

MTU, which is an affiliate of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). This

targeted crackdown on the MTU leadership is a clear repression of the migrant workers

right to organize in Korea and reflects the South Korean government forceful elimination of dissidence by workers.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice has broken its promise not to carry out the

deportations until the National Human Rights Commission in Korea has completed its

investigation of the case and made a recommendation. The Ministry of Justice is acting

with total disregard for the labor and human rights of migrant workers in South Korea. Its

actions represent an attack on not only migrant workers, but on organized labor and all

progressive forces in South Korea.

On this day, December 18, 2007, MFA makes the following recommendations;

the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families (MWC)

ILO Conventions 97, 143 and 181

· The recognition of domestic work as work

· Support the "Equal Pay for Equal Work Campaign" (www.mfasia.org)

trade unions.

MFA continues its call and commitment to exist, work and struggle against the unjust

inalienable right of all individuals to exist and flourish is universal and intrinsic to human

life. We urge the global community to celebrate and uphold our common humanity.

For more information, please contact:

CP: +63920-9600916 / +63921-5405063