Statement of the IMA on December 18 2014 International Migrants Day
The
International Migrants Alliance (IMA) commemorates this year’s International
Migrants Day with greater resolve to advance the struggle for the protection of
our rights and dignity, the end to modern-day slavery and the resolution of the
root causes of forced migration.
Erwiana
Sulistyaningsih is the image of this struggle that we are pursuing steadfastly.
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| Erwiana Sulistyaningsih |
Erwiana is
the young Indonesian domestic worker who was subject to physical abuse and
torture from her employer in Hong Kong last year. Her sufferings depict the
countless number of physical abuse, harassment and intimidation, exploitation
and oppression that many migrant workers experience. Her strength and will to
fight for justice in her ongoing case against her employer also symbolizes the
willingness of migrants – migrant workers, asylum seekers and refugees,
immigrants – to collectively fight.
It is her
sufferings that belie the pronouncements of development in the world today. She
and the 232 million international migrants paint the real picture of forced
migration – both a symptom and the result of the intensifying, protracted and
prolonged crisis of imperialism.
Neoliberal
globalization has caused this phenomenon and continues to aggravate it. The
implementation of neoliberal policies has only led to massive landlessness,
deindustriualization, environmental degradation and wave upon wave of global
economic crisis that caused the dissolution of public services and utilities,
skyrocketing of prices of goods, displacement of peoples, unemployment and abject
poverty. Without work or salaries to live their families by, many are forced to
find work abroad – a phenomenon that many governments have developed into labor
export policy.
It is with
the same neoliberal framework that the leaders within the United Nations are
also aiming to optimize migration for development. Instead of addressing the
root causes of forced migration, they only mean to maximize the remittances
sent by migrants and facilitate migration all in the name of development. As
governments beautify slavery by promoting migration for development through the
Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), the situation of migrants has
only worsened over time. Migrants experience oppression in the workplace, visa
restrictions, arrest and deportation, social exclusion, among others.
But there
can be no genuine development for the people under this current system. A
system that prioritizes capitalist profit over the rights, demands and dignity
of peoples. A system that lets modern-day slavery and oppression to prevail.
Yet we are
strengthened, inspired and with firm resolve to fight this system. We are
strengthened by the likes of Erwiana who have decided to stand up against
oppression and abuse. We are inspired by the late Irene Fernandez who has
committed her life in defending the rights of migrants and challenging a system
of oppression. We are filled with resolve as many migrants all over the world
decide to be organized and collectively advance the international migrant
movement.
Next year
2015 we will bring the battles in all fronts. We will engage governments of
both our host and home countries and challenge them to junk anti-migrant laws
and create ones that ensure the protection of our rights and stop oppression
and discrimination. We will engage in the international debates and platforms
and expose and oppose their scheme to make migration as a tool for development.
We will enjoin and encourage all migrants, our families and our local brothers
and sisters to strengthen solidarity and demand an end to modern-day slavery
and forced migration.
Because we
are worth more than the remittances and dollars we send. Because we are
workers, not slaves.
For reference: Eni Lestari, IMA chairperson
(+852-96081475)
