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Workers of the World

APPA Says "No" to US Military Presence

Workers on the Move: The 4th International Migrant Workers Forum on APEC

The migration of workers from less developed countries is increasing due to globalisation which has resulted in joblessness in less developed countries and investment in developing countries.

The process of liberalisation is in fact regulating the free flow of human resources. Capital flight by multinational companies is not questioned while a ban is placed on workers remitting money home. While migrant workers are being retrenched and sent home, Malaysia will be recruiting 120,000 new migrants (Renong needs more migrant workers for construction).

The privatisation of health care has resulted in migrants paying first class price for third class treatment. Multinationals are continuing with overproduction when the distribution is lop-sided.

Migrant workers end up being a big market for their products. Migrant workers become undocumented as a result of the activities of unscrupulous crooks at both ends who are only concerned with minting money at the cost of the migrant workers. Poverty, vulnerability, freedom and language barriers as well as the lack of support groups for migrant workers are a problem.

Three workshops were conducted and the following are two recommended strategies for NGOs and migrant worker groups to address "The crisis of rights for migrant workers and their families": 1) Encouraged continued dialogue with local unions for a common platform. 2) Act on issues against mass deportation of migrant workers through a signature campaign and by monitoring mass deportation activities.

It was decided that a letter of concern regarding the Hong Kong Salary/Wage cut should be signed by everyone at the migrant workers forum, and a letter of concern urging the Malaysian authorities to stop mass deportation of Indonesians be drafted.

In the discussion concerning "The quality of life of migrant workers and their families", the education of migrant workers was seen as necessary to enable them to deal with the authorities when making demands from the government. Also, it is important to adopt or implement rational protection laws for migrants. Another suggestion was to utilise formal and informal channels for public education by involving migrants themselves to speak out about the realities of migration.

APPA Says "No" to US Military Presence

Capitol Hotel, Wed: People from different parts of Asia, namely South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, gathered to discuss the US-Japan militarist agenda, and to reaffirm their unity against the iron fists Ð the US-Japan security alliance Ð that shield globalisation from the people's resistance.

The two superpowers in the region are now strenghtening co-operation under the newly signed Security Cooperation Guidelines to oppress the growing people's resistance against imperialist globalisation. In the roundtable discussion, participants from Korea and Taiwan made reports about the two nations still divided by US interventions and military presence.

Through a very informative presentation by delegates from Japan and a paper from the US, the forum was able to deepen its understanding of the latest developments in the US as well as Japanese imperialist designs to dominate the region.

Indonesian participants exposed US military interventions in Indonesia, especially before and after the upsurge of the pro-democracy movement. In the Philippines, US troops are plotting to return through the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) despite strong opposition from the people. This follows 1991Õs rejection of US military bases in the Philippines which ended 93 years of US military presence in that country.

Since then, the US has been keen to re-establish its military presence in the region, substituting the term "military bases" with "visiting forces". Its intentions remain unchanged: the VFA is imperative to the United States' "forward deployment" and "prepositioning" strategy that serves as the military back-up to the imposition of "free market" globalisation in the Asia-Pacific region. It is an opportunity for the US to re-establish its military presence in the region, thereby threatening the peace, security and sovereignty of the people of the Philippines and Asia-Pacific.