DR. Ratna Saptari
(General Secretary of IMWU Netherlands)
The 18th of December 2018, is the 28th anniversary of the UN's International Convention on The Protection of All The Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families.
This Convention is a fundamental basis for us to challenge and end all forms of discrimination and injustice, and to lift up and respect human rights of all migrants irrespective of whether they are documented or not. However this convention has until now been ratified by only 51 states of the 193 sovereign states that are members of the UN, and it has not been ratified by most of the major Western migration-receiving States.
Despite the fact that many European governments have not ratified this Convention, our members (of Imwu Netherlands ) have experienced much support from various organizations among others the Wereld Huis, Dokters van de Wereld, stichting ROS, IOM, OKIA, Fair Work, FNV and many others. and also from individuals and dedicated lawyers who have helped us in cases of health issues, exploitative working conditions, deportation or physical abuse.
Therefore all the more reason of the importance to commemorate the adoption of the Convention, because symbolically it is a door towards institutional and societal recognition of the rights of migrants.
Most of the migrant workers came here in order to provide for their family members back home, to pay for their medical care, to pay for the schooling of their children, to obtain some source of income after family members have lost their jobs, because of eviction, because of the closing down of factories, or because of debts that cannot be paid. On top of this, many have come here as victims of human trafficking mainly through the payment of money to people who then run away with the money; or those who do hours and hours of work but are not paid properly or not paid at all. We are determined to eliminate human trafficking, jobs trade, abuses and various forms of Human Rights violations and discriminations against all workers, particularly the migrant workers in the Netherlands.
It is on this occasion that we (also on behalf of Filmis and MCVO) would like to express our gratitude to those organizations and individuals who have shown support and respect and have fought for the rights of migrants both in Netherlands and in our home countries. May we all have strength and persistence to continue our struggle together !!
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