Joint Initiative by December 18 and Migrant Rights International.
MIGRANT.NEWS, 18 February 2002
1. UN Convention for the
protection of the human rights of all migrant workers and members of their
families
Ecuador deposited
its instrument of ratification with the UN on 5 February 2002. This brings the
total number of ratifications to 19 out to the 20 needed to enforce the
Convention. An updated list of ratifications can be found at:
http://www.december18.net/UNconvention.htm
See further under
4. European Parliament.
2. UN Special Rapport on
Migrantís Rights
Sin
Fronteras informed us that the UN Special Rapporteur on the
Human Rights of Migrants, Ms. Gabriela Rodriguez will be visiting Mexico and
the US from 25 February until 18 March 2002. She will be meeting with
representatives of both governments, agencies, local municipalities, NGOs and
individuals in Mexico City, Tapachula, Veracruz, Michoacan, Nuevo Laredo,
Tucson, Douglas/Agua Prieta, Luckeville, San Diego, Tijuana, Mexicali, Calexico
and Washington DC. Details about
her visit can be obtained from info@december18.net.
3. Trafficking of human beings
Antislavery
informed us that the European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Council
Directive on a residence permit for victims of action to facilitate illegal
immigration or trafficking in human beings who cooperate with the competent
authorities, 11 February 2002. See: http://www.december18.net/traffickingconventions.htm
IMADR forwarded
the recently adopted South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
Convention on Preventing and
Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution. The text
(English only) can be found on:
http://www.december18.net/traffickingconventions.htm
The page also includes the
Declaration of the 11th SAARC Summit that was held from 4 to 6
January in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The International Human Rights Law Group informed us that the US law requires the
Trafficking Office of the Department of State to publish an annual report on
the status of anti-trafficking work by governments worldwide. Last year's
report is available at www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/tiprpt/2001/
(in English).
The State Department
Trafficking Office is presently collecting information for the 2002
report. Governments will be
submitting their views and the U.S. embassies worldwide will send reports to
the Trafficking Office. NGOs can
also submit information to the Trafficking Office for consideration. As this US report is the only report
prepared by any entity on the state-of-the-state response to trafficking, it is
important for NGOs to contribute their views. The International Human Rights Law Group encourages you to
submit reports on the situation in your country and also your views on the
Report itself. Last year, many
NGOs complained about the Report generally, the inappropriate placement of some
countries in the 3 categories and the Report's failure to reflect the actual
situation in their own countries.
You will find a form at http://www.december18.net/traffickingconventionsUSreport2002.htm
that was prepared by the IHRLG (only in English). It includes all of the
questions you need to answer and the address of the Trafficking Office. The
deadline for the submissions is March 8. Please note that the Trafficking
Office may share information you submit with other departments in the US
government. However, if you do NOT want your information or your
organization's name shared with your government (which might call to ask the
State Department for their sources of information), then you MUST say so in
your letter.
4. European Parliament
The European Parliament adopted on 7 February 2002 a resolution in preparation for the UN CHR. The resolution includes a recommendation for EU countries to ratify the UN Convention for the protection of the human rights of all migrant workers and members of their families.
UNITED informed us that the European Parliament
is looking for reports on Human Rights.
Mrs Joke Swiebel, MEP, has
been nominated rapporteur for the annual
report concerning the situation of fundamental rights within the EU, to
be elaborated by the European
Parliament. This report is based on an analysis of the various rights
enunciated in the European Charter for Fundamental Rights. She is asking for
submissions of any report or document (FR-EN) which, in the field of your
activities, contains recommendations on the situation of one or more of the
rights mentioned in the European Charter during the year 2001. Documents should
be sent in as soon as possible, as the report still needs to be completed and
needs to be adopted by the Committee on Citizen's Freedoms and Rights, Justice
and Home Affairs next June and then in plenary in July. Documents to be sent
to: Sandrine Morozoff, ATR 7K62, rue d'Ardennes 2, B-1047 Bruxelles, Belgium, smorozoff@europarl.eu.int.
See also our regional instrumentsí page under Europe: http://www.december18.net/instrumentsregion.htm
5. Jobs
The Immigrants' Rights
Project (California Office) of the American Civil Liberties Union, a national
not-for-profit public interest organization, is seeking an Immigrants' Rights
Education Coordinator to develop materials and conduct a public education/media
campaign on the issue of access to the courts and immigrants' rights. For
details, see http://WWW.ACLU.ORG or mail to HRJOBS@aclu.org. Deadline: 28/02/2002
6. Campaigns and call for
papers
Please sign online (it only takes
three minutes)!
Endorsement
campaign for a Charter of Rights for Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe The Charter of Rights was developed by Migrant Domestic Workers in a
series of workshops organised by RESPECT in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece,
Italy, Spain and the UK. Besides reflecting the experiences of migrant domestic
workers including the violations of their rights in Europe, the Charter also
reflects the demand for recognition of "domestic" work as
"proper" work. More information about the Charter and to endorse it
online, please go to http://www.december18.net/campaigncharter.htm
Online petition demanding a royal
commission into the Australian Government's treatment of asylum seekers: http://www.petitiononline.com/ausrefug/petition.html
Call for Papers
for the 8th International Conference by the International
Association for the Study of Forced Migration, 5-9th January 2003,
Chiangmai, Thailand. Deadline: 30 June 2002. For further details, please visit http://www.iasfm.org.
Call for Papers
for the 1st International Congress on Child Migration, 27-31 October
2002, New Orleans, US. For further details, please visit
http://www.nottscc.gov.uk/child_migrants/congress/Index.htm
7. International
Calendar http://www.december18.net/calendar.htm
15-16/02/02
Strategizing to Combat Trafficking in Women and Children, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
15-18/02/02
US-Mexico border : Militarization at Our Borders
18-22/02/02 Expanding our horizons:
Understanding the Complexities of Violence Against Women, University of Sydney,
Australia
18/02-22/03/02
Advanced International Programme on Human Rights, Lund, Sweden.
18-28/02/02
International Training Workshop On Gender And Development, Thailand.
19/02-25/04/02 The
Political Participation of Foreigners, Luxembourg.
21/02/02
International Women's Conference, Berlin, Germany.
21-24/02/02
Local/Global Relations in the Asia Pacific Region, Hawaii.
22-24/02/02
International conference against deregulation and for labour rights for All,
Berlin
23/02/02 The
refugee ghost in our head, Ghent, Belgium
24/02-1/03/2002
The
EU-Anti-Discrimination Law‚: Implementation and Possibilities to Act, Hamburg,
Germany.
25/02/02 Stop the
traffic symposium, RMIT University, City Campus, Melbourne, Australia
25/02/02 Migrant
Children and Youth in Vienna, Austria.
25/02-15/03/02
Human rights and peoples' Diplomacy Training for Human Rights defenders from
the Asia-Pacific region, Sri Lanka.
25-27/02/2002 Conference on
Implementation of Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour, The Hague, the
Netherlands.
27/02/2002 Recent
Developments in Refugee Protection: The Interplay Between Africa and Europe,
Oxford, United Kingdom.
1-3/03/02 Emerging
Issues and New Challenges: Human and Resource Development in Southeast Asia
including Transitional Societies of Indochina (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam,
Cambodia and Myanmar), Bangkok, Thailand.
3-8/03/02 Third
Forum for Development in Africa, Addis-Abeba, Ethiopia.
4-22/0302 UN
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Geneva
6-7/03/02
Euro-mediterranean summit of economic and social councils and similar
institutions, Athens, Greece
8/03/02
International Womenís Day and Roma Nation Day
8-9/03/02 PICUM
General Assembly (on undocumented migrants), The Netherlands.
8-9/03/02
Borderlines : Migrant Writing and Italian Identities (1870-2000), UK.
9/03/02 5th Annual
March in Solidarity with Women Sweatshop Workers, USA.
10/03/02
Demonstration for equal rights and opportunities, Brussels, Belgium.
11/15/03/02 The
Legal Situation of Foreigners in France, Paris, France.
16/24/03/02
European-wide Action Week Against Racism
18/22/03/02
International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey, Mexico.
18/03-26/04/02
58th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland.
21/03/02 International
Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
22-24/03/02 In
Search for a New Europe: Contrasting Migratory Experiences, UK
For details and
the complete 2002-2003 calendar, see:
http://www.december18.net/calendar.htm
8. Update http://www.december18.org
Italian
homepage at http://www.december18.net/i-frontpage.htm
We added an
Articles and papers page. Right now there is lots of information about the
January manifestations for migrantís rights and against the Bossi-Fini law.
Spanish
homepage at http://www.december18.net/e-frontpage.htm
67th
edition of Sin Fronterasí Enlace Informativo, Enero 18-31, 2002
8th
edition of Entre Redes, Febrero 2002
Articles and
papers:
EspaÒa no es la tierra
prometida. Es el infierno, 6 de Febrero 2002
Mano de obra en el
exterior, 5 de Febrero 2002
Human Trafficking
page
French homepage at http://www.december18.net/f-frontpage.htm
Articles and papers:
On ne peut pas Ítre ý
moitiÈ dÈmocratique, Belgique, 6 fÈvrier 2002
FSM Porto Alegre:
Migration dans le cadre de la mondialisation libÈrale, fÈvrier 2002
FSM Porto Alegre: Les
migrations et les contradictions de la mondialisation, fÈvrier 2002
Esclavage moderne :
une situation alarmante, 18 dÈcembre 2001
Human Trafficking
page
DÈbat sur le droit de
vote des immigrÈs en Belgique:
http://www.ecolesansracisme.be/objectif/index.html
Dutch homepage at http://www.december18.net/d-frontpage.htm
Articles and papers: Je kan niet half en
half democraat zijn, 6 februari 2002
Debat over het
migrantenstemrecht in BelgiÎ:
http://www.ecolesansracisme.be/objectif/index.html
English
homepage at http://www.december18.net/intro.htm#one
New publications
Border and
discrimination in the EU by Ryszard Cholewinski, ILPA, MPG, January 2002
A TUC Guide on
Migrant Workers, UK, 21/01/2002
NGO Press Releases
One stop agencies
for foreign labor, Malaysia, 05/02/02
Operation Black
Crow smacks of racism, Malaysia, 03/02/02
Migrant Workers
marched in victory!, 03/02/02
Victory in Hong
Kong!, 31/01/02
Foreign Workers
take out RM 2 Billion yearly, Malaysia, 29/01/02
Korea after the
strike of 100 undocumented Migrant Workers, 29/01/02
Migrant Workers'
strike in Korea: Abusive training system, 28/01/02
Articles and
papers
White Paper on
immigration policy: Secure Borders, Safe Heaven, Integration with Diversity in
Modern Britain (PDF), 7 February 2002
An Initial
Response to the White Paper by JCWI, 8 February 2002
Manifesto for the
Reform of British Immigration Policy (PDF) by JCWI
The Plight of
Africa's Refugee Children, 8 February 2002
Over 1,200
Moroccans Obtain Legal Stay Documents in Portugal, 8 February 2002
Hundreds of people
protest police brutality against Moroccan immigrants in Spain, 6 February
WSF Porto Alegre,
Migration and the contradictions of Globalisation, 1 February 2002
Health
Professionals Discuss African Scholars Brain Drain, 1 February 2002
Labor Group Slam
KL over worker ban, 30 January 2002
Civic Group urge
the Government to protect Migrant Workers, Korea, 28 January Urgent Need for
Work Permit System / Inter-Korean Reunion on `Sollal', Korea, 25 January 2002
Migrant Workers
strike to protest back pay, Korea, 24 January 2002
Human Trafficking:
Charming Girls And Greedy Merchants!, Africa, 22 January
The Philippine
Migration Trail: On migration and health
Global Migration
Trends: Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, South Asia
Don't let
immigration be a victim of terror, 15 November 2001
The rights of
cross-border workers in Europe, 1 October 2001
Towards a Global
Accord on Migration and Refugees, 23 September 2001
TB and Migration:
We cannot eliminate TB on One Continent
African
Footballers Migration to Europe, Summer 2001
Smuggling in
Nigerian Women
Eaters of the Dry
Season, A African perspective on Migration (see under Excerpts)
Links: New or updated web sites
The Philippine
Migration Trail: On migration and health: http://www.ips.org/migration/
Other updates:
Regional page:
European Human Rights System
International
Calendar
Links
END
Spanish and French version available upon request
at migrantnews@december18.net
Spanish
version translated by Maria Ruiz, Spain and French version translated by
Catherine Thomas, France.