5112개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
From today's Korea Times:
Gov't Told to Respect Migrant Workers'
Rights to Form Union
Amnesty International, the world's largest human rights watchdog, urged the government Tuesday to respect the rights of migrant workers to form a union, calling for the immediate removal of all legal obstacles.
In a statement, Amnesty said "the refusal of the government to recognize legal union status of the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants Trade Union (MTU) constitutes a denial of the rights to freely form and join trade unions, a right protected in the Korean Constitution and international human rights law.''
The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for migrant workers' affairs, did not respond to the statement immediately. "It was issued suddenly so that we had no room to examine the statement. We will issue a reply within days,'' a justice ministry official told The Korea Times. (*)
The MTU was established in April 2005 for migrant workers regardless of their legal status. The Ministry of Labor rejected MTU's notification of its establishment on the basis that illegal migrant workers do not have the same rights to be protected under Korean law as legal migrant workers.
But in February 2007, the Seoul High Court ruled in favor of MTU, stating "the Constitution and the Trade Union Law protect the rights to freedom of association of all those who enter into an employment relationship as workers, including illegal migrant workers.''
The ministry appealed the case to the Supreme Court and a final ruling is expected before the end of the year.
Amnesty stressed the labor ministry violates domestic law and international conventions to which Korea is a state party...
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/09/117_31505.html
* BS!! AI's statement has been already published (and sent to the S.K. gov't) ten days ago!! As you can see/read in the following offical..
Document:
Republic of Korea (South Korea): Government must respect the right to freedom of association of all migrant workers
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
12 September 2008
Government must respect the right to freedom of
association of all migrant workers
The refusal of the government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to recognise the legal union status of the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants Trade Union (MTU) constitutes a denial of the right to freely form and join trade unions, a right protected in South Korean law and in international human rights law.
MTU’s legal status
The Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants Trade Union was formed on 24 April 2005 for migrant workers regardless of their legal status. Most of its members are irregular migrant workers. On 3 June 2005, the South Korean Ministry of Labour rejected MTU’s notification of union establishment on the basis that irregular migrant workers do not have the same legally protected rights, including the right to freedom of association, guaranteed to other workers under South Korean law. However on 1 February 2007, the Seoul High Court ruled in favour of MTU, stating that the South Korean Constitution and the Trade Union Law protect the right to freedom of association of all those who enter into an employment relationship as workers, including irregular migrants (Seoul High Court decision 2006 NU 6774).
The Ministry of Labour has continued to deny MTU’s legal union status and has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, where a decision is expected this year. The Ministry of Labour’s refusal of MTU’s status is discriminatory and infringes on the right of irregular workers to associate in general and to form trade unions in particular.
Domestic and international standards
The Ministry of Labour’s position violates domestic law and international conventions to which South Korea is state party. For example, article 6, clause 1 of the South Korean Constitution provides that “treaties duly concluded and promulgated under the Constitution and generally recognized rules of international law shall have the same force and effect of law as domestic laws of the Republic of Korea”. South Korea is therefore obligated to protect the rights outlined in international conventions that it has ratified.
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), all protect the right of workers to freedom of association irrespective of their immigration status. Although South Korea has made a reservation on article 22 of the ICCPR (freedom of association), the reservation states only that article 22 shall be applied “in conformity with the provisions of the local laws including the Constitution of the Republic of Korea”. Since the right to freedom of association protected in the Constitution has been shown to cover irregular migrant workers, this reservation cannot be grounds for exempting them. Article 8 of the ICESCR provides, among other things:
“The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure:
(a) The right of everyone to form trade unions and join the trade union of his choice, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, for the promotion and protection of his economic and social interests. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”
The crackdown on migrant workers’ trade unions violates this provision, and cannot be justified on the basis of the restrictions it allows, as the peaceful defence of the rights of workers cannot be interpreted as a threat to national security or public order.
In its General Recommendation No. 30 (2004), the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended that states “ensure that legislative guarantees against racial discrimination apply to non-citizens regardless of their immigration status” and that “all individuals are entitled to the enjoyment of labour and employment rights, including the freedom of assembly and association, once an employment relationship has been initiated until it is terminated” (paras. 7 and 35 respectively).
In addition, International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 87 protects the right to freedom of association for all workers, “without distinction whatsoever” and has been shown to apply to irregular migrant workers through the Committee on Freedom of Association’s recommendations (Case No. 2121 (UGT), 2001 and Case No. 227 AFL-CIO/CTM, 2002). The ILO Constitution recognises that freedom of association is fundamental to labour rights, and grants the Committee on Freedom of Association the mandate to hear complaints against all ILO Member States regardless of whether they have ratified Convention No. 87 given the fundamental character of freedom of association and the right to organise.
Although South Korea has not ratified Convention No. 87, as a member state it is obligated to respect the fundamental rights protected in this and other ILO conventions under the Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work adopted in 1998. During South Korea’s recent re-election to the Human Rights Council, it pledged to ratify the four ILO Fundamental Conventions, which includes No. 87.
Targeted crackdown
It appears that the South Korean government has also been targeting MTU leaders for arrest and deportation since the union was formed. MTU’s first president was arrested for being in an irregular or undocumented status soon after the union was founded and detained for over a year. Its second president, vice president and general secretary were all arrested on 27 November 2007 on similar grounds in three separate locations in Seoul. They were later deported on 13 December 2007. On 2 May 2008, MTU’s third president and vice president were arrested again under similar circumstances and deported on 15 May 2008, despite a recommendation for a stay of deportation by the National Human Rights Commission until its investigation of the arrests was completed.
Recommendation
Amnesty International calls upon the South Korean government to immediately remove obstacles to forming and participating in the MTU, in particular by recognising its status as a legal union in South Korea in line with domestic law and international law and standards.
The organization calls on the government to ensure the rights of everyone, regardless of their immigration status, to form trade unions and to join a trade union of their choice.
Last Thursday the S.K. ("left"-liberal) daily Hankyoreh published following "opinion", written by Attorney Jeong Jeong-hun:
No such thing as an illegal alien
There’s an online cafe whose theme is about calling for the deportation of “illegal aliens.”(*) An example of one of the comments you find on the “Good News” BBS there says, “Heck yeah! They deported ten Bangladeshi mari,” mari being a counting word for animals. The thinking and activities of those calling for the “extermination” of “illegal aliens” are reaching dangerous levels. Members are operating a page for reporting the “illegals,” and they even share reports on crackdowns and physically go to sites where the authorities are arresting people to report on location.
While they have been reported in the media before, their open hate as expressed in their words and deeds is not something that should be taken lightly. We are seeing a typical case of racism and xenophobia, in the sense that you have social frustration in the form of job anxiety turning into aggressive hate against certain groups.
They claim their actions are about “protecting domestic laborers by deporting illegal aliens,” and they say all they are doing is informing the public about “the foreigner question,” mainly about crimes on the part of foreigners. That, however, is just an excuse that attempts to justify prejudice and hate, and it is being followed by errant diagnoses and solutions.
For starters, their claims fail to note that immigration and migrant workers are here as a result of our social problems and not a cause. Agricultural communities are in collapse; society is no longer participating in child-rearing and so there is a lower birthrate; industry has experienced big business-led, deformed development; and there is serious socioeconomic disparity in the labor market. This, combined with global inequality, is resulting in immigration and migrant labor.
Their one-sided claim that foreigners are “taking our jobs” is also problematic. There could, of course, be debate about whether there is job conflict over jobs between migrant and domestic laborers. Many studies, however, indicate that jobs are not determined simply by the number of workers there are, and that the industrial development that comes with migrant labor actually contributes to the creation of more jobs. Also, the current “employment permission program” provides for various ways to make sure there is no conflict over the same jobs. It is hard to accept the claim that migrants are taking “Korean” jobs under this program, designed as it was to fill the vacuum created by the fact there are certain types of jobs domestic individuals would rather not take. Making those kinds of conclusions is close to racist mobilization of the masses by creating an “enemy in our midst” to deal with the social discord that comes with the lack of job security of these neoliberal times.
It is of course a fact that at construction sites and with undocumented migrant workers, there can very well be conflicts over jobs. However, the fundamental responsibility for that discord lies not with migrant workers or domestic workers. The responsibility lies with a system that distorts what the discord is. With employers using workers to have them compete on the floor for low wages, we need to be thinking about ways to prevent, by law, that kind of thing from happening.
Which is why we need to be saying there is “no such thing as an illegal alien” instead of calling for their “extermination.” Unions need to see how, if there is increased exploitation of undocumented migrant workers, that increases unfair competition with domestic workers. The only way to prevent falling wages and worsening labor conditions would be to protect the right of (undocumented) migrant workers to organize and their rights as workers.
We are “fighting with other poor people because we don’t have the strength to fight poverty.” The anger of people living in an uneasy society is making others into scapegoats. The social anxiety being turned into attacks on outsiders must not be allowed to grow. It is time for the Minju Nochong, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, to get actively involved in this issue.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_opinion/310878.html
불법 노동자는 없다
“아자! 방글라 놈 열여덟 마리 추방시켰다∼.” ‘불법 체류자’ 추방 운동을 벌이고 있는 한 인터넷 카페의 자유게시판에 ‘좋은 소식’으로 공지된 글 중의 한 구절이다. ‘불법 체류자 박멸’을 주장하는 이들의 인식과 활동이 위험수위를 넘어섰다. 이들은 ‘불체자’ 신고 게시판을 운영하면서, 신고 처리 결과를 공유하거나 단속 현장에 직접 나가서 상황을 보고하기도 한다.
몇몇 언론에서 보도된 바 있지만, 이들의 ‘표현’과 활동에서 드러나는 노골적인 증오는 가볍게 보아 넘길 수준이 아니다. 고용 불안과 같은 사회적 좌절이 일부 계층에 대한 증오감정으로 공격적으로 표출되고 있다는 점에서 전형적인 인종주의와 제노포비아(외국인 혐오)가 가시화하고 있는 것이다.
이들은 ‘불법 체류자를 추방하여 국내 노동자를 보호’하는 것을 명분으로 내세우고, 범죄 등 외국인 문제를 시민들에게 알리는 활동을 하고 있다고 주장한다. 그러나 그런 주장은 편견과 혐오를 정당화하는 알리바이에 불과하며, 잘못된 진단과 처방을 따르는 것이다.
우선 이런 주장은 이민과 이주노동은 우리 사회 문제의 ‘원인’이 아니라 ‘결과’라는 점을 간과하고 있다. 농촌 붕괴, 사회적 육아 체계의 부재로 인한 출산율 저하, 대기업 위주의 기형적 산업 발전, 노동시장의 양극화라는 우리 사회의 구조적 원인과 전지구적 불평등이라는 요인이 결합돼서 현재의 이민과 이주노동 현상이 결과적으로 나타난 것이다.
그리고 ‘그들이 우리의 일자리를 빼앗고 있다’는 일방적인 전제 또한 문제다. 이주노동자와 내국인 노동자의 일자리가 충돌하고 있는지 여부는 논쟁적일 수 있다. 그러나 많은 보고서들은 일자리가 단순히 노동자의 수에 의해서만 결정되는 것이 아니고, 이주노동으로 인한 산업의 발전이 오히려 일자리를 만드는 데 기여하고 있다고 설명한다. 또한 현행 고용허가제는 고용 충돌을 방지하기 위한 여러 장치를 마련하고 있다. 내국인 기피 업종(3D)에서 인력 공백을 보충하도록 설계되어 있는 현재의 제도에서 이주노동자들이 ‘국민’의 일자리를 침해한다는 전제는 받아들이기 어렵다. 오히려 그러한 단정적 전제는 신자유주의 시대 불안전 고용의 사회적 갈등을 ‘내부의 적’을 만들어 우회하려는 인종주의적 동원에 가깝다.
물론 건설현장이나 미등록 이주노동자를 고용하는 경우, 고용 충돌이 발생할 개연성이 높은 것 또한 사실이다. 그러나 갈등의 근본적인 책임은 이주노동자들이나 내국인 노동자 당사자들에게 있지 않다. 문제는 갈등의 표출을 왜곡하는 제도 자체에 있다. 사업주들에 의해서 노동자들 사이의 ‘바닥을 향한 저임금 경쟁’이 활용되고 있다면, 어떻게 이를 제도적으로 막을 것인지에 주목하여야 한다.
그래서 우리의 관점은 ‘불법 체류자 박멸’이 아니라, ‘불법 노동자는 없다!’는 원칙의 확인이어야 한다. 사업장에서 미등록 이주노동자에 대한 착취가 강화되면, 결국 내국인 노동자들과의 불공정 경쟁을 증가시킬 것이라는 점에 대한 노동조합의 인식이 필요하다. 임금 하락과 노동조건의 악화를 막을 유일한 방법은 (미등록) 이주노동자의 조직화와 노동자로서의 권리를 보호하는 것이 되어야 한다.
우리는 “빈곤과 싸울 능력이 없기 때문에 가난한 사람들과 싸운다.” 그렇게 ‘불안사회’를 살아가는 사람들의 모난 분노가 희생양을 만들어 내고 있다. 사회적 불안을 이방인들을 향해 공격적으로 처리하는 왜곡된 인식이 더는 자라나서는 안 된다. 이제 민주노총과 같은 조직 노동자들이 이 문제에 적극적으로 대응할 때다.
(정정훈 변호사)
http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/SERIES/57/310716.html
* One very ugly example you can "enjoy" here:
While 'The World As We Know It Is Going Under', as the German bourgeois magazine Spiegel Online headlined today - related to the current US financial crisis (*) - the Nepali PM "Chairman Prachanda" presented two days ago an "alternative" way (**) how Nepal can avoid such calamities of capitalist societies:
PM for 'People's Republic' in Nepal (NepalNews, 9.17)
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said his party's long term projection is to establish People's Republic in Nepal but repudiated converting the country into traditional communist state.
Addressing a function organised by the Nepal-Bharat Janamanch in Delhi Tuesday, PM Dahal said the constituent assembly would discuss the issue of establishing People’s Republic for the next one and half years, adding his party's ideological conflict with bourgeois and feudalists would continue.
Fearing a dictatorship in Nepal, PM Dahal suspected possible intervention in Nepal by imperialists and bigger power centres.
He also sough support from Indian communist groups for establishing a different kind of governance system in Nepal.
But, as e-Kantipur reported yesterday, not everyone in Nepal (surprise, surprise!!) is happy about Prachanda's ideas:
Maoist obfuscation worries parties
Political parties have raised serious doubts over the Maoist commitment to parliamentary democracy after Maoist Chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's assertion Sunday that his party cannot remain within the traditional parliamentary system.
"At this stage of political transition, we can neither immediately arrive at our goal of socialism," he told the Constituent Assembly (CA) on Sunday, "nor can we remain in the current traditional parliamentary system. This is due to our development process and various other compulsions."
The prime minister said the CPN (Maoist) is opting for parliamentary system only for now while its ultimate goal of achieving socialism remains unchanged. He echoed his 'hard-line' colleague Mohan Baidya, aka Kiran.
On Saturday, Baidya said CPN (Maoist) is in favor of establishing "non-parliamentary multi-party system" as parliamentary system is concerned more with competition among rival political parties to form and dissolve governments.
To other parties, which stand firm in their support for parliamentary democracy, the prime minister's statement Sunday was at best political obfuscation; at worst, a direct threat to parliamentary democracy.
Senior vice-president of NC, Ram Chandra Poudel, said recent remarks from top Maoist leaders have posed serious threat to parliamentary democracy in Nepal. "This is a serious attack against parliamentary democracy by ultra-leftist forces," Poudel said, referring to Dahal's statement, at a function organized by Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON). The last time such a vicious attack on parliamentary democracy was made was by late King Mahendra in 1960, he said.
In a press statement on Tuesday, 20 additional CA members from the NC alleged that Prime Minister Dahal's remarks have given clear indication that Maoists are trying to push the country into yet another conflict.
Other parties too are worried about the Maoists. Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) spokesperson Sarbendra Nath Shukla was more than surprised at the prime minister's remarks. "We are surprised all right, but Sunday's statement [by the prime minister] has now made us nervous whether the new constitution will be democratic. The constitution requires a two-third majority for endorsement," he said.
Not everyone is a doubter, however. Central member of CPN-UML, Shankar Pokharel, said there is no need to cast doubts, at least for now, against Maoists regarding their commitment to parliamentary democracy. He said Maoists have in principle agreed to abide by the parliamentary system right from the 12-point understanding reached between the seven major parties and the CPN (Maoist) in November 2005. "This has been reiterated even in the Interim Constitution and the government should be run in accordance with the constitution," he said.
Political analyst Krishna Pokharel asks not to over-read Dahal's statement, for the Maoists are a communist party after all. "Their ultimate goal is socialism. I feel that the prime minister has only been honest in saying that. In fact, I would be worried if he had not."
He advised opposition parties to be "cautious," but not anxious over the remarks of the prime minister. "Such a remark could have been aimed for the party's consumption," he said.
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=160862
* But unfortunately, I'm supposing, that's not the final struggle for survival of the ruling capitalist "empire"!
** Well, I'm not sure if this is the most original way - especially when it is ordered just by a/the ruling party, even they're democratically elected.. Possibly a "People's Republic", i.e. the formation of a socialist society (as the tranisition to communism!!), can only be reached by the will (and/or struggle) of a majority of the people in a revolutionary process (not necessarily in a bloody revolution/civil war!!)
An exhibition about N.K. (aka "DPR"K) in Berlin:
PjöngjangPjöngjang
"Even in the year Juche 97, which is known elsewhere as 2008, North Korea seems to be on a different planet. The Great Leader Kim Il Sung, who died in 1994, rules as an Eternal President. His son Kim Jong Il is the much-loved leader.
Military parades are flashy. Statues are up to 20 metres high. The precision of mass gymnastics takes your breath away. Little permeates to the outside. Little penetrates to the inside. North Korea orbits around itself. North Korea is an irritation. It threatens its neighbours with the atom bomb, fails to feed its population adequately, and operates secret penal camps.
The few thousand visitors each year see nothing of this.
The totalitarian regime guides its guests through a total stage-production of the state.” (Christoph Möskes)
The exhibition PjönjangPjönjang by Jenny Rosemeyer and Eva-Maria Wilde attempts to reflect the two artists’ private journey through North Korea in the year 2007. In this context, both external and internal views of North Korea are presented and long-established positions are questioned.
The artists take a critical look at the construction of the artist as an observer and at his/her relation to society as well as reviewing existing research. The exhibition’s theme is the transformation of political into subjective artistic aesthetics. Works are shown that reflect the actual subject of observation - the country of North Korea with its current and historical contradictions – yet immersed in artistic aesthetics.
The artists represent their view of the country and its society in objects, three-dimensional works, photographs and collages. To supplement this, various other artists will be invited to show their existing works about North Korea.
A small video library with original film material from North Korea and critical documentaries about the country from recent years will be made available to the exhibition visitors.
In addition, travel literature and further documentary material will be provided for reading. By presenting a view of the country characterised by a subjective artistic standpoint and yet also incorporating a documentary level, the intention is to facilitate a new perspective on the phenomenon North Korea for visitors.
PjöngjangPjöngjang exhibits artistic contributions by: Arno Brandlhuber, Martin Eberle, Juliane Eirich, Hans-Christian Schink and Nicolai von Rosen (Future 7). Curator of the exhibition is Peter Lang, Berlin.
During the exhibition opening - at 8 pm on 18th September - we will be showing the film Der Rote Stern - Alltag in Nordkorea (2006) by Bernd Girrbach and Elke Werry.
At 7 pm on 25th September, Jörg Friedrich will be reading excerpts from his book Yalu. An den Ufern des dritten Weltkrieges (Propyläen-Verlag, 2008) among the exhibits in Studio 1.
Pj ö n g j a n g P j ö n g j a n g
Jenny Rosemeyer, Eva-Maria Wilde & Guests
Exhibition: 19th September – 5th October 2008
Wednesday – Sunday, 2 – 7 pm, Studio 1
Opening: Thursday, 18th September 2008, 7 pm
Berlin-Kreuzberg, Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien (Mariannenplatz 2)
http://www.bethanien.de/kb/index/trans/en
Following just a small selection of articles in the int'l and S.K. media related to N.K./the "Dear Leader" (aka Kim Jong-il):
1. Newsweek's article "The Plan Post-Kim: No Plan", published 9.13:
Some thoughts are even more disturbing than the idea of Kim Jong Il's controlling an arsenal of poison gas, germ-war cultures and nuclear devices. Like what if the North Korean leader suddenly didn't control those weapons of mass destruction?
The question grew urgent last week after Kim failed to show up at a parade marking the Stalinist regime's 60th anniversary. The Dear Leader hadn't appeared in public for weeks, and senior North Korean officials soothed no one's doubts when they broke their usual silence to deny that Kim had suffered a stroke. With no solid information on Kim's health, Washington could only hope North Korea wasn't on the verge of a succession crisis... (read the entire article here)
2. Sunny Lee wrote in Korea Times that..
China Wants the Reunification of Koreas
Zhu Feng (Chinese security expert and a former fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC) acknowledges that some Chinese scholars have concerns about a reunified Korea. Once reunited, the view goes, the new Korea, more powerful and confident, will reclaim old territory that once belonged to it. Much of this land is currently Chinese territory.
But all the Chinese scholars K.Times approached, said China wants the reunification of the two Koreas.
"China has always supported a peaceful reunification of the two Koreas,'' said Wang Jisi, dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University. The influential scholar, who is widely dubbed as "personal advisor to President Hu Jintao,'' dismissed the view of some South Korean scholars that China wants the status quo on the Korean peninsula.
Song also said, "China wants the peaceful unification of Korea because it's good for China as well. This is the view of the majority of Chinese scholars. It also wants it to be done without outside forces,'' adding "It is also not likely that North Korea would embark on a war with South Korea after Kim dies.''
Zhu put it this way. "Will a unified Korea turn against China? I personally don't think that will be the case. In terms of reunification, if Koreans can resolve their issue on their own, others don't have to intervene. But South Korean newspapers said China would intervene.''
As for unification, Zhu said, "This is your business, not China's. Actually, it's the conservatives in South Korea that don't favor unification because of the expected financial burden.''... (read the entire related article here)
For more please read (and "enjoy" ^^):
☞ Careful Planning Matters More Than Kim Jong-il's Teeth (Chosun Ilbo, 9.16)
☞ We May Miss Kim Jong-il.. (NYT, 9.13)
☞ 'Dear Leader, get well soon' (A. Times, 9.12)
☞ Post-Kim Dynasty Korean Peninsula.. (DPRK Studies, 9.11)
"South Koreans can thank their spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS)...", according to an article in Korea Times (9.12).
Exactly! The S. Koreans should be proud of "their" spy agency!
The NIS, the successor of KCIA, is "famous"-notorious for torture, murder of innumerable members/activists of the (left and democratic) opposition, kidnapping, faking of "evidences" etc, etc..
And of course: until today NIS is defending the semi-facsist National "Security" Law (and its existence)..
NIS public advertisement for denunciation:
"Inform against N.K. spies, Communist agents, left radical activists.."
In another case the S.K. Ministry of "Justice" (MoJ) is presenting its newest "funny idea" to the public (via K. Times, 8.25): MoJ "will build a refugee-only detention center next year to accommodate the soaring number of asylum seekers"..
Yeah, what a warm reception for political refugees: locked up/imprisoned in a detention center!!
Well, finally it's just a f****** "great" idea to deter further possible asylum seekers!!
* Well, just enjoy the...
Chuseok Migrant Workers Festival in Ansan (Sept. 13 - 15)
Ansan Migrant Center, one of the consultation and service centers for migrant workers in S.K. is to hold its festival, focusing especially on traditional aspects of eight countries during the Chuseok Holiday from Sept. 13 to 15.
The “Eight Countries, Eight Colors Festival" will feature traditional dances and folk games from eight countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Korea. The stage will be held at the so-called “Borderless Village” in Wongo-dong, Ansan, Gyeonggi-do (Gyeonggi Province).
The first day will be made up of several small functions within each national community in separate locations, including Wongok Elementary School (China), Gimpo Migrant Center (Sri Lanka) and so forth. There will be singing contests, sports events and food sharing for each community.
The full-fledged festival will take place on the second day as a combined performance of eight cultures comes together at the outdoor stage of the Borderless Village. The performance will include China's Sheep Dance, Sri Lanka's Kandian Dance, Indonesia's Barongan dance, Mongolia's Heumi performance, Philippines' Igorot dance, Korea's B-boy group “Mik Crew,” Ethiopia's Tiebebe Band and Africa's Strong Afrika Dance.
Also at the festival there will be various traditional games and martial arts, including Mongolian shooting and archery, Russia's darts, Sri Lanka's Gabotara, Thailand's Sepak Takro, Korea's taekwondo and more.
The third day will be the closing day of the third Migrant Worker Film Festival “We're from the same world!" in the evening from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The movies introduced in the festival will look into various aspects of encountering different faces and different cultures and the dream of unity. A quiz show and parades will also be held.
Throughout the festival one can also watch the making of traditional rice cakes from Korea (songpyeon), China (moon cakes) and Vietnam (bancheung) and sample them during the show. Some 10,000 people are expected to participate, including nearby locals.
For more information contact Ansan Migrant Center & Ansan Foreign Workers' Center at (031-492-8785~6, 031-475-0111).
Last Friday the German (bourgeois) magazine Der Spiegel reported about a new version of Neocolonialism:
Africa Becoming a Biofuel Battleground
Western companies are pushing to acquire vast stretches of African land to meet the world's biofuel needs. Local farmers and governments are being showered with promises.
Everything will turn out alright. Correction: everything is going to get better. There will be new roads, a new school, a pharmacy, even a proper water supply. Most of all, there will be jobs -- 5,000, at the very least. "If there are jobs for us, then it's a good thing," says Juma Njagu, 26, who hopes to be able to leave his meager existence as a planter and charburner behind soon.
Njagu lives in Mtamba, a village of about 1,100 souls in Tanzania's Kisarawe district, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south-west of Dar es Salaam, the capital and largest city. Mtamba, accessible by dirt road, is a place where people scrape by on a bit of farming, a bit of fishing and the production of charcoal. There isn't much else in Mtamba.
That could change if the British firm Sun Biofuels goes ahead with plans to produce biodiesel fuel from "Jatropha curcas," an energy plant with a high oil content, which it hopes to plant on Kisarawe's farmland.
The Tanzanian government has granted the British firm the use of 9,000 hectares (22,230 acres) of sparsely populated farmland, or enough land to cover about 12,000 soccer fields, for a period of 99 years -- free of charge. In return, the company will invest about $20 million (€13 million) to build roads and schools, bringing a modicum of prosperity to the region.
Sun Biofuels is not alone. In fact, half a dozen other companies from the Netherlands, the United States, Sweden, Japan, Canada and Germany have already sent their scouts to Tanzania. Prokon, a German company known primarily for its wind turbines, has already begun growing jatropha curcas on a large scale. It expects to have 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) -- an area about the size of Luxembourg -- under cultivation throughout Tanzania soon.
A gold rush mentality has taken hold -- not just in East Africa but across the entire continent. In Ghana, the Norwegian firm Biofuel Africa has secured farming rights for 38,000 hectares (93,860 acres), and Sun Biofuels is also doing business in Ethiopia and Mozambique.
Kavango BioEnergy, a British company, plans to invest millions of euros in northern Namibia. Western companies are turning up in Malawi and Zambia, where they plan to produce diesel fuel and ethanol from jatropha curcas, palm oil or sugar cane. Foreign investors have their eye on 11 million hectares (27 million acres) in Mozambique -- more than one-seventh of the country's total area -- for growing energy plants. The government in Ethiopia has even made 24 million hectares (59 million acres) available.
The consequences of this boom are dramatic. Experts agree that the worldwide push to grow energy plants is on overwhelming factor in the global explosion of food prices. According to one study by the World Bank, as much as 75 percent of the increase could be attributable to this change in the types of crops being farmed. Many farmers in industrialized countries are more than happy to accept government subsidies for corn or rapeseed, but this comes at the cost of the cultivation of wheat, potatoes and legumes.
Oil plants are not competing with intensively farmed land in Africa -- yet. Investors argue that the land they are using is uncultivated or underused. But rising food prices and population growth will also increase pressure in the southern hemisphere to convert unused land to agricultural use.
For investors, growing energy plants in Africa is highly profitable. Crude oil will become scarce in the foreseeable future, so that easy-to-produce biofuel comes at just the right time. At an estimated annual yield of 2,500 liters per hectare, Sun Biofuels is in it for the long haul in Tanzania. Production becomes profitable as soon as the price of a barrel of crude oil exceeds $100 (€69) on the world market. A barrel currently goes for just over $100.
Africa offers oil farmers virtually ideal conditions for their purposes: underused land in many places, low land prices, ownership that is often unclear and, most of all, regimes capable of being influenced.
The land is unusable, says the Ethiopian energy and mining minister in Addis Ababa, the country's capital. "It's just marginal land," say officials at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in Dar es Salaam. "The whole thing is nothing but positive," says the district administrator of Kisarawe, who is responsible for the Sun Biofuels project. "We have convinced the people." In his rudimentary office, which lacks both a computer and a copy machine, he leafs through the planning documents.
In none of these places are the needs of local residents taken into account. In Ghana, BioFuel Africa wrested away land clearing and usage rights from a village chief who could neither read nor write. The man gave his consent with his thumbprint. The weekly newspaper Public Agenda felt reminded of the "darkest days of colonialism." The Ghanaian environmental protection agency eventually put a stop to the clear-cutting, but only after 2,600 hectares (6,422 acres) of forest had been cut down.
In Tanzania, while there are hopes, there is also plenty of reason to be skeptical about promises that everything will improve. In April 2006, Sun Biofuels claimed that it had received formal approval for cultivation from 10 of the 11 affected villages. At that point, however, several communities were not even aware of the plans, while others had attached conditions to their consent. A village head complained, in writing, to the district administration that Sun Biofuels had cleared and marked off land without even contacting the village elders.
In Dar es Salaam, Peter Auge, general manager of Sun Biofuels Tanzania, sits in his office. He is a casual, straightforward South African. "It is true," he says, "that we were a little reserved with our information policy." There are still many unknowns, says Auge, adding that he doesn't want to read in the paper that "the project is two years behind schedule."
Auge promises social investments, although they are not part of the agreements at this point. Even when it comes to compensation for the people living on the land, which the government insists must be paid, the investors are getting an exceedingly good deal. They offered the equivalent of about €450,000, a ridiculous price for the 9,000 hectares (22,230 acres) that they can now use for almost a century.
Seventy kilometers (43 miles) farther south, on the Rufiji River, thousands of residents are being forced to move to make way for the Swedish company Sekab's plans to grow sugarcane, a highly water-intensive crop, on at least 9,000 hectares (22,230 acres) and then distill it into ethanol. Five thousand hectares (12,350 acres) have already been approved.
The river and the wetlands along its banks are the only source of drinking water for thousands of people, especially during the dry season. Sekab also plans to tap this reservoir to irrigate its plantations. Transparency? Nonexistent. Compensation? None whatsoever. Information? A scarce commodity. When residents attending an informational event asked about compensation payments, they were told curtly: "You will get what you are entitled to."
The PR machine is all the more active, even in poor countries like Tanzania. Naturally South African national Josephine Brennan, who is in charge of public relations for Sekab in Dar es Salaam, sees only good things for Tanzania's future. Farming for biofuel will enable the country to build new schools and new roads, which translate into better opportunities for Tanzanians, says Brennan. According to Brennan, small farmers will also be able to earn more money in the future by growing biofuel-ready plants, and up to three million people in Tanzania alone will be lifted out of poverty. With its two million hectares of potential cropland, Tanzania, says Brennan, has as much growth potential "as the Celtic Tiger, Ireland." Finally, she is convinced that "the world needs Tanzania."
But Brennan's rosy predictions do not reflect opinions in East Africa. A study on energy plants in Tanzania, conducted by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation, lists a host of negative side effects. What is more, this is not the first time that white investors have promised prosperity for Tanzania.
With similarly enticing promises, small farmers were talked out of their land several decades ago to make way for coffee plantations. In the 1990s, foreign mining companies arrived in Tanzania to dig for gold. "They promised us jobs, new roads, new wells and schools," says journalist Joseph Shayo. "And what happened? No schools, no wells and few jobs, which were low-paying jobs, to boot." To make matters worse, large mining zones were fenced off and became inaccessible to the original residents.
In a recently published study on the "Biofuel Industry in Tanzania," journalist Khoti Kamanga of the University of Dar es Salaam warns against the side effects of energy plantations. The population, Kamanga writes, is usually uninformed, while the cultivation of energy plants usually goes hand-in-hand with forced resettlement. According to Kamanga, it is very likely that ethanol production will also affect food prices in Tanzania, with the country's dependency on food imports growing even further.
In Dar es Salaam, the government has now recognized that the boom also comes with problems. "Energy plants cannot be an alternative to food production," said President Jakaya Kikwete, responding to widespread resentment in his country over high food prices.
But the energy farmers remain unimpressed. Sun Biofuels and Sekab each want to expand their production to 50,000 hectares (124,000 acres) -- as soon as possible.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,576548,00.html
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