Migrant leaders at BC May Day forum: Worsening conditions in home country driving migration to Canada
Migrant leaders at BC May Day forum: Worsening conditions in home country driving migration to Canada
Leaders of Filipino-Canadian organizations speak on various concerns of Filipino migrants during a forum in Vancouver City on April 30.
By Nestor Burgos
VANCOUVER — Progressive organizations and labor rights advocates including Filipino-Canadian groups in British Columbia expressed solidarity with workers all over the world during a May Day commemoration on April 30.
In a forum, speakers from various organizations spoke about the worsening socio-economic situation in the Philippines that increasingly drives Filipinos to migrate to find work, including in Canada.
The groups, which included the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance) – Canada, and chapters of migrants’ rights group Migrante, women’s group Gabriela youth group Anakbayan, also held a cultural program attended by around 50 participants which also included members of solidarity groups.
The discussions centered on the struggle and ordeal of Filipino migrants to settle and find work in Canada and away from their families.
Filipino workers continue to be the biggest export of the Philippines in countries including Canada, according to Bayan. The group said the roots of migration of millions of Filipinos like poverty, lack of employment opportunities and poor living conditions in the Philippines have remained and worsened.
Chris Sorio, Migrante BC secretary general, said the migration pathway of Filipinos to Canada has expanded as generations of Filipinos seek opportunities abroad.
“The principal pathway of Filipino migrants was working as caregivers, but this has changed throughout the years. Now we see more Filipinos migrating by coming first as an international student and later bringing their families here,” Sorio said.
“For many, it’s not a choice but a decision made to come here because there are no jobs in the Philippines,” he said.
Many of those who come to Canada as temporary foreign workers cannot easily acquire permanent resident status and become among the estimated 500,000 undocumented workers in the country, according to Sorio.
The youth group Anakbayan said the Philippines has become a top source of international students enrolling in Canada next only to India.
Mark, an international student, said students like him face significant challenges including high tuition which is usually at least thrice the rate of domestic students. They also must pay for health insurance, soaring costs of housing and commodities.
————————-
The forum was organized by Bayan Canada, Migrante, Gabriela and Anakbayan. The venue was a function hall at 320 Alexander St., Vancouver.
Comments (0)