News Release
May 27, 2008

Reference: Berna Ellorin, Secretary General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org;
Teresa Gutierrez, Coordinator, May 1st Coalition for Immigrant Rights, email: teresa@wwpublish.com

US-based Migrants to Join Founding Assembly of International Migrants Alliance in Hong Kong

One month after the annual Immigrant Workers Day mobilizations in the United States, made popular by the massive and millions-strong anti-HR4437 mobilizations from 2006, invigorated US migrants and migrant advocates will be participating in the founding of a global assembly of migrants--- the International Migrants Alliance or IMA-- in Hong Kong this June 15-16.

Already 121 individuals from 97 organizations and 24 countries have confirmed their participation in this historic event. Among the US participants are the Frente Indígena Oaxaqueño Binacional (Oaxacan Indigenous Binational Front), the Philippine Forum, the New York May 1st Coalition for Immigrant Rights, and Movimiento de Accion, Inspirando Servicio (Movement of Action, Inspiring Service) or MAIZ.

The upcoming assembly will be hosted by migrant organizations under the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB-HK) as well as some NGOs in Hong Kong including the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), the Mission for Migrant Workers or MFMW and the Bethune House Migrant Women's Refuge (BHMWR).

An important task of the founding assembly will be preparing to confront the upcoming Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) this October 2008 in Manila, Philippines. The GFMD is a multi-lateral meeting of states to discuss how migration policies can contribute to the advancement of economies. This year's GFMD will study the Philippines' government-facilitated outmigration policies, particularly the Labor Export Program (LEP), as a template for other labor-exporting countries. The last GFMD was held in Brussels in 2007.

"This is scary," states US participant Terrie Cervas of Habi Arts in Los Angeles . "The LEP has so many untold stories of destroying lives of millions of migrants and their families for the sake of profit and more remittances, but these realities won't be discussed or presented by the Philippine government during the GFMD. That is why it up to migrants themselves to tell their stories and confront the GFMD. US-based migrants must also raise their voices in this global dialogue, because of the richness of the immigrant struggle in the US. "

The IMA will be participating in counter-activities challenging the GFMD in Manila later this year.

Meanwhile, Teresa Gutierrez of the May 1st Coalition in the USA relayed that the IMA was conceptualized due to the perceived need of creating a formation in the world that can represent people living and working in countries other than their home ones and create a common platform for them.

"To date, there are around 200 million migrant workers present almost every country in the world. They came mostly from countries beset with economic and political problems and they work in countries that are relatively well-developed. Despite the different countries of origin or sectors where they can be found, the common concerns on their situation in the host countries as well as with issues related to why they are forced to migrate exist," she added.

Sixty per cent of the world's migrants are to be found in developed regions. Most of the world's migrants reside in Europe (64 million), Asia (53 million) and Northern America (44 million). Almost one of every 10 persons living in the more developed regions is a migrant.

Connie Bragas-Regalado of Migrante International in the Philippines mentioned that among the topics up for discussion in the founding assembly include issues on wage, remittance, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) Mode 4, the war on terror and its impacts to migrant workers, on undocumented migrants, on women and violence, health and HIV/AIDS and other far-reaching social costs of forced migration.

Renowned advocate for the rights of migrants and Right Livelihood Award recipient Dr. Irene Fernandez of the Malaysian organization Tenaganita shall keynote the event.

The June assembly precedes the third international assembly of the International League of People's Struggle or ILPS. ###