Migrants Campaign Month 2006

25 November - 18 December 2006

The Migrants Campaign Month (MCM)  is one of the campaigns that MFA undertakes as part of its Rights and Roots (R&R) Campaign. The MCM is held from 25 November to 18 December.  This was first decided upon in the MFA 2000 Plan of Action and has been followed through every year with the Secretariat coordinating the exchange of information and participation.

 

Proposed activities are: 

 

At the National Level

• Organize a rally to celebrate the gains and to continue the struggle of migrant workers and advocates in promoting the rights and well being of migrant workers;
• Print and distribute fliers and posters aimed at raising awareness of the human rights of migrant workers and members of their families;
• Develop articles and get them published in national and local news papers, web sites etc;
• Raise awareness about migrants month among media practitioners so they can focus on these issues;
• Conduct local and nationwide actions such as: embassy visit, press conference, symposiums and dialogues or protest action to rally governments to pay more attention to the needs and rights of migrant workers.  As a strategy, it would be good to target the embassies of countries that remain signatory to the MWC, e.g. Bangladesh, Indonesia and Cambodia, and other major sending and receiving countries of the region, e.g. Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan;
• Conduct various types of awareness building and other educational activities focusing on the themes and recommendations of the 10^th RCM;
• Lobby with your respective governments towards policy change and improve the working and living conditions of migrant workers with the objective of promoting and protecting their rights and welfare; 
• Help educate government departments and civil servants,  and inter-government organizations to give higher priority to migrants’ issues; 
• To produce materials and information for advocacy among grassroots migrants organizations, communities, associations and unions; 
• Raise awareness among migrants themselves of their rights and the general public as well;
• To launch campaigns that raise critical issues concerning the promotions and protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families; and, 
• Call for the universal ratification of the UN 1990 Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families,  ILO Convention 97 and 143 which focus on the labour rights of migrant workers, and for an effective implementation of the ILO Multilateral Framework in developing a rights-based approach to labour migration.

• SR on Migrant Worker's visit to Korea and Indonesia - The Special Rapporteur on Migrant Workers will be undertaking visits to Asia in December.  Tentative dates for his visit to South Korea is on 5-12 December and to Indonesia on 12-20 December. 
• Film Festival - MFA will be having an Alternative ASEAN Film Festival on Migration to be held on December 10-12, 2006 in Cebu City, Philippines parallel to the ASEAN Summit. The objective of the film festival is to mainstream issues of migrant workers at the regional level and to utilize the power of images and films to bring about greater awareness on migrants’ human rights issues.  
• ASEAN Summit, APA and ACSC - Philippines will be hosting the 12th ASEAN Summit of Leaders on 6-13 December.  As a parallel event, the 2nd ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC) is being organized by the Working Group on the ASEAN of SAPA (Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacies).  The 2nd ACSC will be held on 10-12 December in Cebu City and will be the culmination of a series of ACSC national consultation processes held from September to November 2006 in seven ASEAN member countries-the Burma-Thai border, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam--where national civil society groups  gathered to consider various proposals and views on issues confronting the ASEAN today, especially the idea of ASEAN integration and the ASEAN charter.  On 8-10 December, the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies (ASDS) will hold the Fifth ASEAN People's Assembly in Manila, Philippines.  MFA will hold a panel discussion on Labour Migration, Human Trafficking and Women. 
• Radio 18-12 - December 18 will be launching the Radio 18-12 program, a one-day radio marathon, where local radio stations in at least twenty countries will broadcast programmes on migration, starting in Australia and terminating in the Americas.  To participate in this initiative, you will have to register to the Radio18-12 mailing list: http://lists.december18.net/mailman/listinfo/radio18-12.  For more information, you can check the Radio18-12 website at: www.radio18-12.net.

MFA will also join in the Call for Action that will be issued by Migrants Rights International (MRI).

 

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Phone: (63-2) 4333508
Fax: (63-2) 4331292
Email: mfa@pacific.net.hk
Web: www.mfasia.org