PRESS RELEASE
30 May 2014
Displaying banners stating: “No to the GFMD!” and “Unite and Struggle for Refugee and Migrant Rights Amidst Criminalization, Deportations and the Economic Crisis”, international delegates to the International Migrants Alliance (IMA) counter-conference on the “Myth of Migration for Development” successfully mounted a lightning rally along the harbor in one of the city's main canals in full view of the passing boats carrying official delegates to the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) that held its 7th session in Stockholm, Sweden last May 15. The lightning rally caught the GFMD delegates by surprise. Earlier that same day, the IMA delegates staged a picket infront the venue of the GFMD meeting, shouted slogans calling the GFMD a “failure” and bane to migrants and refugees, and distributed flyers to passers-by.
This protest manifestation was the culmination of the two-day “Discussion and Speak Out for Development vs. the Myth of “Migration for Development” organized by the IMA in Stockholm, Sweden, last May 13-15, to further echo opposition to commodification and modern-day slavery of migrants and challenge the migration for development framework, expose the neoliberal globalization agenda on migration and push the people's alternative agenda to the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDG) that are human rights based, equitable, and sustainable.
On May 13, IMA delegates participated in the second general assembly of the alliance' Europe section, which focused on the current political situation in the European Union impacting on migrants and refugees.
The assembly opened with a solemn candlelight ceremony to remember and honor the thousands of migrants and refugees who died at the borders of Europe, the US and elsewhere, and those who died in detention camps. Also remembered and honored were migrant and human rights advocate Irene Fernandez of Malaysia and a refugee activist from Germany.
In her presentation during the assembly, Luz Miriam Jaramillo, IMA-Europe chair, stated: “These discussions.....are important because it is enriching and favorable for the organization and needed to stablish a common platform. Let us wish that in the future the migrant workers of the world could freely circulate, where there will be no more discriminating laws that impede the free human movement, where human beings, not capital, shall be in the fore.” Jaramillo also spoke on the trend towards criminalization of the undocumented, exploitation of migrants, deportations and the rise of rightist anti-migrant/ refugee political parties.
Country reports were presented on the migrant and refugee situation, political developments impacting on migrants and refugees, advances in organizing work and campaigns.
Delegates also tackled the following specific issues: Struggle of Refugees in Germany by the CARAVAN, Campaign on the Undocumented in Europe by Migrante-Europe, and, the Campaign for the ratification of ILO Convention 189 by the Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM).
Grace Punongbayan, IMA-Europe secretary-general, gave a report on the accomplishments of the IMA Europe section since its founding in Rome, Italy last April 2012. She also presented the proposed program of action for 2014-2016, which was unanimously approved by the assembly
On May 14, the IMA counter-event delegates listened to speeches and participated in discussions on the challenge of further exposing the lies and myths being peddled by the GFMD, among others, that migration leads to development.
Eni Lestari, IMA chair, emphasized during her opening speech that grassroots migrants and refugees should further strengthen and defend their ranks because they continue to bear the brunt of the attacks of the neoliberal policies on the rights and welfare of workers. She called for further exposing the GFMD and taking it to task for the continuing exploitation and abuses heaped on migrants.
Prof. Jose Ma. Sison, chair of the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) in a video message to the IMA assembly stated that seven years of the GMFD have proven correct the ILPS' and IMA's assertion that “the agenda of the GFMD was clear proof that the promise of development under neoliberal globalization had failed and that the intent of the monopoly capitalist countries and their institutions was mainly to exploit the migration phenomenon, the lucrative labor export programs of underdeveloped countries, and migrant remittances, to salvage or prop up collapsing economies, especially of semicolonies and dependent countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.”
Professor Sison stressed that:
“The imperialist powers have designed the over-all neoliberal policy on migrant workers: on the one hand, to use them at the least cost in order to aid production and improve the quality of life in the developed host countries and on the other, to use their earnings to fund the consumption-oriented and import-dependent economies of their underdeveloped home countries.
This neoliberal policy of generating and exploiting cheap and pliant labor for export and effecting modern-day slavery has been the guiding principle of the GFMD since its inception. This is because the GFMD is another of the many multilateral institutions dominated by the imperialist countries and used to implement the neoliberal policy under the Washington Consensus of the IMF, World Bank and WTO.
Migrant workers are the result of underdevelopment and the lack of jobs in the sending countries. But the hard-earned foreign exchange earnings of migrant workers are sucked up by governments that extort exorbitant fees and by various domestic and foreign private exploiters (recruiting agencies, remittance centers, banks, marketing companies, and so on).
The remittances of migrant workers are used for merely covering the perennial balance of payments deficits and for anti-industrial purposes and import-dependent consumerism of the exploiting classes and corrupt bureaucrat. The misuse of the foreign exchange earned by the migrant workers has served to aggravate and further deepen underdevelopment. And yet the GFMD harps on the lie that migration leads to development.”
In another presentation on the On the United Nations' Millenium Development Goals (MDG) and the People’s Alternative Agenda, Maitet Ledesma of IBON International spoke on transformative development that aims to reduce inequalities of wealth, power, and resources between countries, between rich and poor, and between men and women. She said development justice considers people as the agents of change, recognizes past injustices especially to developing countries and to their impoverished peoples, and aims to substantively address the structural problems underlying these injustices.
She exhorted everyone to challenge governments to adopt this vision of development and to reject a development agenda that would perpetuate injustice, oppression and the tyranny of the few.
Erik Anderssen, a progressive member of parliament of the municipality of Gislaved, Sweden, expressed the solidarity of the Swedish working people with the IMA delegates. He briefly spoke on the condition of workers and migrants and refugees in Sweden and warned against the scheme of capitalists to divide the ranks of the working class and scapegoating migrants and refugees for the economic crisis. He stressed that fighting imperialist wars of aggression is also fighting for migrant and refugee rights.
The IMA counter-event was attended by delegates of grassroots organizations of migrants and refugees from Italy, Colombia, Austria, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Senegal, Hongkong, Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Taiwan. Some of the delegates also attended the meeting of the Churches Witnessing with Migrants (CWWM) held May 11 in Stockholm.
The IMA counter-event in Stockholm was co-organized by the International Migrants Alliance, IMA Europe Section, Migrante Europe, Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrants and Migrante International. #
For Reference:
Grace Punongbayan
MIGRANTE Europe/IMA Europe section
The Netherlandsmig_europe@yahoo.com
MIGRANTE Europe/IMA Europe section
The Netherlandsmig_europe@yahoo.com
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Emilio Jacinto y Dizon was considered as one of the greatest military genius during his time. He was very close to Andres Bonifacio. Like Bonifacio, Emilio also comes from a poor family. He was born in Trozo, Manila on December 15,1875. His parents were Mariano Jacinto and Josefa Dizon. 
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