RP no longer UN’s model-country in OFW protection

04/27/2009 | 04:37 PM

MANILA, Philippines – The United Nations Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers has stricken out the Philippines as model state for its failure to fulfill customary duties under the UN standards, migrants group based in Europe has said.

Grace Punongbayan of Migrante Europe chapter said the Philippines was deleted as a model state at the meeting of the Steering Committee for the Campaign For Ratification of the Migrants Rights Convention presided by Ms. Carla Edelenbos, secretary of the Committee on Migrant Workers, at the UN headquarters in Geneva last April 8.

The document being referred to, where the Philippines was deleted as a “positive case study of state ratification and implementation” is the “Guide on Ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and members of Their Families.

The steering committee approved the deletion after Rev. Cesar Taguba of the Ecumenical Ministry for Filipinos Abroad and Migrante-Europe cited several instances wherein the Philippine government failed to meet its obligations under the Convention.

Present during the meeting, among others, were representatives from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labor Organization (ILO), International Catholic Migration Commission, and the World Council of Churches.

Meanwhile, Migrante International, at the opening of the 10th session of the United Nations Committee on Migrant Workers held April 20 in Switzerland, called attention to the violations by the Philippine government of the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and its non-compliance with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (UNCPMWMTF).

Among the countries under review by the UN steering committee were Azerbaijan, Colombia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Punongbayan, together with a representative of Migrante Switzerland, both member organizations of Migrante International, gave oral interventions in behalf of the Manila-based international alliance.

Migrante International earlier submitted a written report before the start of the 10th session to the Committee that was distributed to the members of the Commission and posted on the website of the UNCMW.

In the report, the group noted that in 2005, the deployment of documented OFWs breached the one million mark. It said the average number of workers sent abroad daily was 3,000 making the Philippines top-three among migrant-sending countries.

“Approximately a tenth of the population live and work in 194 countries and territories around the world, with concentrations in North America, Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Europe. This migration which started by waves in the course of Philippine history has become an almost daily phenomenon since the government initiated its labor export program (LEP) in the 1970s. What was initially meant as a temporary measure to address the country’s unemployment problem has become a regular fixture, massive and systematic in scope, and bruited about as a tool for national development,” Migrante International said in a statement.

Remittances from migrants have kept the Philippine economy continuously afloat. From $659 million in 1984 remitted OFW money hit a staggering $16 billion by the end of 2008.

“These remittances were earned at tremendous costs to Filipino migrants and their families who had to endure long years of separation and suffer from various forms of exploitation, abuse, discrimination, violence and terrorism,” Migrante said.

During the question and answer portion of the UN committee discussion, Punongbayan stressed that despite the enactment of Republic Act (RA) 8042 and the ratification by the Philippine government of the UNCPMWMTF, the government on many occasions violated the rights of OFWs and is guilty of non-compliance with the provisions of the said convention of which the country is a signatory. – GMANews.TV

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http://www.gmanews.tv/story/158772/RP-no-longer-UNs-model-country-in-OFW-protection

‘Deployment ban to Gulf of Aden risky, ridiculous’

04/20/2009 | 12:48 PM

TROUBLED WATERS. French commandos on Wednesday intercept a small vessel suspected of Somali carrying pirates. AP

MANILA, Philippines – A Manila-based seafarers’ group found it impossible for the Philippines to implement a deployment ban of Filipino sailors to the Gulf of Aden and instead called the government’s recent action to curb high-seas kidnappings ‘ridiculous.’

The United Filipino Seafarers (UFS) strongly opposed the deployment ban Malacañang ordered after the number of Filipino sailors held captive by pirates in Somalia rose to more than 100, saying that ship owners would face a logistical nightmare once the ban is imposed.

In a news release posted in the Office of the Press Secretary’s website on Saturday that the Labor department issued a ban “on commercial ships “against the travel to the Gulf of Aden or within 200 nautical miles or 300 kilometers from Somalia.”

But UFS president Nelson Ramirez stressed that the deployment ban would put at risk the jobs of thousands of Filipino seafarers since almost 40 percent of merchant vessels pass through the Gulf of Aden, an important waterway for international trade.

“If the proposal is pushed through, that would mean lost opportunities for many Filipino seafarers,“ Ramirez told GMANews.TV in an E-mail.

Ramirez also opposes the plan to let Filipino seafarers disembark at the nearest port before passing through the Gulf of Aden and let them on board again once the vessel safely passed through the “danger zone.”

“No shipowner in his right mind, would even think of disembarking Filipino seafarers before his commercial vessel enters the Gulf of Aden…simply put, it is a ridiculous proposal,” he added.

Ramirez believes that the ban is nothing more than an offshoot to the the daring but successful rescue operations made by US Navy Seals to rescue American skipper Capt. Richard Phillips from Somali pirates on April 12. [See: Kidnapped US captain freed; snipers kill 3 Somali pirates]

“Just to prove that they’ve done something they would impose the ban. [Well], their solution is not a solution [but] creates chaos and confusion,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez explained that except for UN-sanctioned vessels that usually bring in food and relief goods to the lawless African state of Somalia, there are also no commercial vessels going into or out of that country.

“So the ban cannot be imposed technically,” he said.

“In addition, the Somali pirates are not just operating near the coastal waters off Somalia or Gulf of Aden per se but actually in the waters forming the Horn of Africa, which is about one million square miles,” Ramirez said.

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http://www.gmanews.tv/story/157762/Deployment-ban-to-Gulf-of-Aden-risky-ridiculous

Hypocrisy seen on high seas

Hypocrisy seen on high seas

What about Filipinos and other hostages?

Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: April 13, 2009

MOMBASA, KENYA—The international community is showing hypocrisy by suddenly focusing on Somali piracy because of the capture of one American, a regional maritime group said on Saturday.

Sea gangs from the lawless Horn of Africa nation grabbed world headlines this week when they briefly hijacked the US freighter Maersk Alabama. Its 20 crew retook control, but the gunmen took Capt. Richard Phillips hostage on a lifeboat.

The global media have tracked in great detail each twist and turn of the drama as it unfolds, including a failed attempt to swim to safety by the former Boston taxi driver.

But Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Program said it was a pity similar attention was not paid to the nearly 250 other hostages—all from poorer nations—currently being held by other Somali pirates.

The biggest nationality represented, at 92, is Filipino.

“The media and the international community at large [are] just demonstrating [their] hypocrisy,” Mwangura said in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, where the 17,000-ton Alabama arrived on Saturday.

“Journalists have flooded here from all over the world because of one American captain. What about all the others, from Bangladesh, from Pakistan, from the  Philippines, some of whom have been held now for months?”

Front-page drama

The story has all the front-page ingredients: Buccaneers audaciously try to seize a huge US container ship, its sailors resist, then Phillips apparently volunteers to board the lifeboat with the pirates in return for his crew’s safety.

Meanwhile, a state-of-the-art US naval destroyer armed with missiles, torpedoes and helicopters keeps a watchful eye.

And more warships are on the way.

Mwangura told Reuters, however, that did not excuse the lack of attention given to the scores of other hostages still being held for ransom off the Somali coast.

Media go crazy

“Once again, it has taken American involvement to get world powers really interested,” said a diplomat, who tracks Somalia from Nairobi. “I hope they don’t forget the Filipinos and all the others, once this guy is released.”

Heavily armed gangs from the failed state hijacked 42 vessels last year in thenstrategic Gulf of Aden and further south in the Indian Ocean, and tried to attack dozens more.

The crews of many of those ships are being held hostage near small pirate bases on the coast, where their captors tend to treat them well in anticipation of a sizeable ransom payout.

Mwangura said the same international focus had highlighted the long-running crime wave off Somalia in the past—but only when white people from rich nations were involved.

When the gangs seized the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star last year, everyone paid attention. Not just because it was carrying $100 million worth of crude oil, he said, but because it had two British crewmen on board, too.

“It was the same in 2005. The media went crazy when that luxury cruise liner, the Seabourn Spirit, was attacked with lots of white tourists on board. And they weren’t even hijacked.”

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http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090413-198998/Hypoc
risy-seen-on-high-seas