Migrants' ordeal: Hallucinations, 22-foot waves, hunger

[seemslikeadream]

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/12/19/senegal.migrants.ap/

Story Highlights
• Of more than 100 people on boat, more than half die during voyage
• More than 24,000 Africans caught this year trying to get to Europe
• Men pay $800 to $1,000 for perilous journey to Canary Islands
• Migrant departure points move south to avoid patrols

ST. LOUIS, Senegal (AP) -- Perched on gurneys in the hall of a hospital emergency ward, mosquitoes buzzing thickly around their heads, a group of young men tell of a disastrous 12-day boat voyage with little food or water, three capsizings, motor breakdowns, and 22-foot waves.

Like thousands of other West African migrants who have attempted the crossing to Spain's Canary Islands this year, the more than 100 men who embarked from south of Senegal's capital in early December risked their lives and savings in the hope of finding work in Europe.

Fewer than half survived.

"After seven days, there was nothing left, nothing," said Bala Diole, an unemployed 29-year-old from the capital, Dakar, who occasionally raises sheep to generate some income. He said they survived on rice mixed with sea water, until even that ran out.

"People started dying one by one," Diole said. Fellow passengers said Muslim prayers and put the bodies overboard.

The boat was found by fishermen near the northern Senegalese city of St. Louis during the weekend and 25 men were taken to the hospital there, according to hospital records. Those in the hospital said about seven others made it to shore but fled.

[seemslikeadream]

1. International Migrants Day

http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=2966&blz=1
2006-12-19 | Amnesty International: Living in the Shadows; the human rights of migrants

“Migrant workers are also human beings. Why don't they pay for my work? I cannot go home because I don’t have money. I have chosen to kill myself as there is no other way.”

Words found on a note left by Jeong Yu-hong, a 34-year-old migrant worker from China, living in South Korea.

On this year’s International Migrants’ Day we launch our first comprehensive public document on migrants’ rights.

The promise of a better standard of living for their families pushes many people into irregular migration, if legal avenues are not available to them. Every year thousands die while trying to reach other countries.

Many of those who arrive in a new country face further abuse and exploitation at the hands of traffickers, unscrupulous employers and state officials. Migrants who lack official status and the protection of the law are often denied the right to education, health and housing and are condemned to live and work in appalling and degrading conditions.

Women constitute almost fifty per cent of migrant workers, and are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, including sexual violence. Children, too, face particular hardships and are at risk of exploitation due to their young age, immaturity and, in some cases, lack of parental support.


http://web.amnesty.org/pages/refugees-migrantprimer-eng


http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/144053/1/

Global Radio Marathon Spotlights Immigrants' Issues
Aaron Glantz
OneWorld US
Tue., Dec. 19, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 19 (OneWorld) - A Brussels-based non-profit has launched what it describes as the first ever "global radio show connecting migrant communities worldwide to highlight their concerns and achievements."

The station, Radio18-12, is the creation of the group December 18, which is named after the United Nation's recognized International Migrants Day.

"It's been a smashing success," the project's coordinator Myriam Horngren told OneWorld. "We've had material coming in from places as different as Taiwan, Kyrgyzstan, Argentina, and the UK."

The UN estimates 195 million people around the world have left their homelands in search of better lives.

"Life for migrants, particularly undocumented migrants, is becoming more and more difficult in a world that's supposed to be a global village," former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said on the broadcast.

Countries "haven't taken seriously that their commitments are to all persons," she added.



http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/1218-08.htm

Statement by AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney on International Migrants Day

WASHINGTON - December 18 - Today, in observance of the United Nations’ International Migrants Day, we stand together with migrant workers and immigrant communities worldwide to call on the U.S. government to uphold the human and civil rights of all migrant workers and their families.

Sixteen years ago today, in recognition of the inalienable rights of migrants around the world, the UN General Assembly approved the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, and the day was designated International Migrants Day. That Convention - - which the United States, shamefully, has yet to ratify - - is a comprehensive international treaty upholding the guaranteed rights of migrant workers, based on the fundamental notion that all migrants should have access to a minimum degree of protection. The AFL-CIO joins the global labor movement in calling on governments to promote and protect migrant workers’ rights and calls on the U.S. government to ratify the treaty.

There are an estimated 120 million migrant workers worldwide. Many governments encourage migration as an economic strategy to help address unemployment and the majority of these workers receive few protections and often work in dangerous, low-paying jobs. In the worst abuse, workers are trafficked into virtual slavery through sweatshop labor, domestic servitude and other exploitative work conditions. Through programs supported by the Solidarity Center, an AFL-CIO allied organization, unions are working with migrants to protect their rights and develop pro-migrant public policies.

The U.S. government must implement an immigration policy that prioritizes workers’ rights. Unfortunately, the rights of migrant workers have been largely ignored in the political discussions concerning comprehensive immigration reform. Corporations continue to call on Congress to create a new large guest worker program, which will provide corporations with a constant stream of exploitable workers and create a secondary class of workers that will drive down workplace standards for all workers.

As a nation that prides itself on fair treatment and equality, we should accept the standards of rights laid out by the UN Convention on migrants and demand immigration reform that will guarantee that all workers who labor in our nation enjoy full protections of the laws.

[Porcupine]

2. I have been watching "Dirty Jobs" recently.

What has been clear is that in several of the jobs: pig farming, concrete work, hot mop roofing, the white guy was just there to supervise and provide cover for the latino's who did all the actual work.

What I want to know is: why can't we try to improve the economies of our neighbors so that they can stay home with their families? Why is this so hard to concieve?

[San Diego]

3. But why do we have to improve the economies of our neighbors?

We can't take care of our own. Why do we have to take care of others first?

[Porcupine]

4. Um, you can ask that from San Diego?

Are you blind to the fact that just south of you there is a teeming morass of poor people who need help or do you just not care?