Resolutions/Decisions of UITBB’s 13th Asia-Pacific Meeting on Migration
In the session for Migration, comrade Mohammad Zakir Hossain Litu, general secretary of NCWF gave the introductory speech.
Resolution/Decision:
The participants note with great concern the continuous loss of lives of migrant workers and their families, who flee their countries in search of a better life, due to imperialist interventions or poverty. There is a huge number of migrant workers in the construction sector today, which are exploited by their employers and are used against local workers so as to keep them divided. Neither immigration nor being a refugee is the choice of workers and peoples. It is the result of the criminal action of the powers of capital and the forces that support it. This is clearly a class-based problem and we must fight so that immigrants, as well as all the workers, can join the trade union movement and participate in all of our class-based struggles. The participants repeat that there is only one working class and we are all part of it, regardless of colour, religion, language or place of origin.
We demand a complete stop to the exploitation of migrant workers, and condemn the racist and xenophobic attempts to divide the working class. We call for a smooth integration of our class brothers and sisters in local societies and the class-oriented struggles alike. The participants also support the creation of special educational programs to help this integration of migrant workers in the labour market of the host country so that they can learn the language, be informed about their rights and so on. Finally, the 13th Asia-Pacific Meeting stresses the need for a close cooperation of Trade Unions in the countries of origin and the host countries, so that the efforts to inform and protect migrant workers from exploitation, can be better coordinated.
