CINA

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Thousands of (migrant) construction workers in the Gulf state of Dubai (United Arab Emirates/UAE) have gone on strike over pay and working conditions.
They blocked roads and threw stones at police on last Saturday, prompting a government threat to deport rioters (BBC, 10.29).

There are an estimated 700,000 Asian migrant workers in the UAE..

..and UAE's construction boom has been built only on migrant labour

Dubai workers 'to be deported' (al-Jazeera, 10.30)

Four thousand Asian labourers in Dubai who staged strikes last weekend over poor salaries and working conditions are to be deported, a local newspaper says quoting a government official.

Several thousand manual workers recently stopped work and reportedly occupied and vandalised a building before attacking police and vehicles with stones.

Humaid bin Deemas, a senior official from the labour ministry, told the Emarat Al-Youm newspaper on Tueday there would be a "deportation of 4,000 labourers who went on strike and committed  acts of vandalism".

"The appropriate bodies have been contacted to carry out the necessary measures (for their deportation)," bin Deemas said.

"The labourers do not want to work and we will not force them to."

The newspaper did not confirm when the deportations would take place.

On Sunday, the strike spread to three other areas in the city, with the local press telling of 3,100 workers being involved.

But police moved in and returned the strikers to their accommodation blocks.

'Abusive labour practices'

Such protests are rare in the UAE where strike action and the formation of unions are illegal.

But rights groups have complained at the harsh conditions many labourers are forced to endure in the UAE and across the Gulf region.

An estimated 700,000 Asians work as construction workers in the UAE, where fewer than 20 per cent of a population of four million are UAE citizens.

Predominantly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the labourers work in the region so they can send money home to their families.

 
Dubai has experienced a huge boom in its economy in recent years fuelled to a large degree by the growth of the construction sector.

In March last year, 2,500 labourers rioted at the construction site of Burj Dubai, which is to be the world's tallest building.

The incident prompted the New York-based Human Rights Watch to issue a statement calling on the UAE government to "end abusive labour practices" describing labour conditions as "less than  human".

Last November Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum, the prime minister of the UAE, ordered sweeping measures to protect the rights of foreign labourers.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E608D085-1980-4F09-A645-09F503D4430E.htm

Related articles:

☞ Dubai construction workers strike (al-Jazeera, 10.29)

☞ Working for nothing (al-Jazeera, 8.16)

☞ Blood, Sweat and Tears (al-Jazeera, 8.15/incl. docu-videos)

For more updated reports:

☞ LabourStart (about the UAE)

And last but not least.. Guess who, except the rulers in the UAE, are profiting from the maximum exploitation of migrant workers there!!?? Yeah, right: the main S.K. chaebol, such as LG/GS, Hyundae, Samsung, Daewoo etc. who are the main players in the construction boom in the UAE..

Like "Burj Dubai", realized by Samsung - i.e. constructed

by thousands of migrant workers!!

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Well, here just two pics from y'day's MTU (small and short) protest against the ongoing crackdown against un-documented migrant workers in general and the wave of arrests of MTU activists/members especially (like last week's Tuesday the rally was held in front of Seoul's Immigration Center in Mok-dong):

The next MTU protest will be on coming

Tuesday (9.18), 11AM at the same place!!

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Today MTU published the latest English Crackdown Report (Sept. 3/5):

The Ministry of Justice’s Crackdown is Going on Everyday

***Immigration Crackdown occurring at Dongdaemun Subway Stn. (Seoul)
Crackdowns are being carried out in factories, residential areas an on the street in this area. On the afternoon of September 5, 3 MTU members were caught in an immigration crackdown. In the course of crackdowns is common for immigration or police officers to present documents with nothing written on them or demand migrant workers sign detention orders (warrants) without sufficiently explaining them. These are cases of illegal crackdown.

*** Crackdown occurring in Mapo, Gonduk (Seoul)
The Ministry of Justice is now pursuing crackdowns not only in factories but also against Chinese female migrant workers who work in restaurants. For these migrant workers who work at a backbreaking rate just to make a small amount of money, the Immigration Control Office usually charges an outrageously high security fee 10 million won for release. This crackdown is being carried out in the subway and in the areas around restaurants.

-----

September 3 Crackdown Report:

 
Suwon/Hwaseong
12:00- Suwon Immigration Control: roughly 30 people arrested in the factories and neighborhoods in Hwaseong. Comrade Kamal, an active and hard-working member of MTU, was caught at this time. He was working on the second floor of a factory when crackdown officers entered without showing a warrant or identification and arrested and handcuffed migrant workers. A total of 12 migrant workers (6 Chinese, 2 Thai, 2 Indonesian and 2 Bangladeshi) were arrested at that factory.

Seongsu (Seoul)
2:30 7-8 Seoul Immigration Control crackdown officers rushed into a factory near the Seongsu Station Exit number 2. At this time MTU member Comrade Mintu as well as other migrant workers were arrested. Comrade Mintu attempted to escape the crackdown officers by going up onto the roof but was followed and caught. Comrade Mintu was slightly injured in this process. As soon as the crackdown officers caught him they took Comrade Mintu’s identification without presenting their own and arrested him. Comrade Mintu was put into a van where there were already five migrant workers who had been caught.
The van moved to Ttukseom Station Exit 8 near the High-noon Hotel were another migrant worker was caught. Then the immigration officers arrested four more people in the factories and streets around the High-noon Hotel. The van moved to Ttukseom Street were one more person was arrested.  
The crackdown in Seongsu and Ttukseom can be seen as specifically directed against MTU members.

Ansan City
A crackdown took place in Shihwa Industrial Complex. We have confirmed that 4 or 5 people were arrested. At this time MTU member Hari Bista was arrested.

http://migrant.nodong.net/bbs/view.php?id=news_notice&no=248

Somehow related - a short documentary (video) about 8.19 Migrant Workers' rally:

☞ 고용허가제 3년 규탄집회 (이주노동자방송국, 9.06)

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Yesterday, 9.04, about 40 representatives/activists of more than ten different labour unions/political organizations/solidarity groups - such as KCTU and several sub-organizations, DLP, Human Rights for Migrants Solidarity, People's Solidarity for Social Progress etc.  (..민주노총, 민주노동당, 민주노총 서울본부, 서울일반노조, 전해투, 전비연, 원불교인권위원회, IT노동조합, 이주인권연대, 공공연맹, 다함께, 사회진보연대, 나눔문화, 경계를 넘어, 전국학생행진와 필리핀 카사마코/KASAMMAKO..) joined the latest MTU protest rally (in front of Seoul's Immigration Office).

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Yesterday in the late morning MTU, joined by activists from KCTU (Seoul RC), the 전철연/Federation Against House Demolition, "All Together" etc. demonstrated in front of Seoul's Immigration Office in Mok-dong. The activists, about 50 people gathered there, protested against the new intensified wave of crackdown - organized by the MoL/MoJ - against un-documented, so-called "illegal" (NO ONE IS ILLEGAL!!!) migrant workers in S.Korea (*).

* 이주노동자 집중단속을 규탄하기 위해 이주노조는 28일 (화) 오전 11시에 서울 목동 출입국 관리소 앞 집회를 긴급하게 조직했다. 촉박한 일정에도 불구하고 호소에 응답해 목동으로 달려온 사람들은 50명이 훨씬 넘었다.

 
민주노총 서울본부, 전국철거민연합, 공감, 다함께, 이주인권연대 등 이주공동행동에 함께 하고 있는 단체들을 비롯해 필리핀 공동체 카사마코, 노동해방학생연대 학생들, 민주노총 정보통신산업노동조합 조합원, 장기투쟁사업장인 기륭전자 비정규직 노동자들, 코오롱 노동조합 조합원 등이 집회에 함께했다.

특히 이주인권연대 최현모 대표는 출입국 관리소의 이주노조 단속 논리를 요목조목 반박하며 법무부는 이주노동자를 범죄자 취급하지만 진정한 범죄자는 법무부와 출입국 관리소라고 비판해 참가자들의 열렬한 지지와 박수를 받았다.

 

전국철거민연합 장영희 연사국장은 “이렇게 거리로 나오기 전에 평범하게 애 키우는 엄마였다”며 “애 아빠 다니는 회사에 이주노동자가 있었는데 부당한 대우를 받는 것이 없는 나라에서 사는 죄라고 당연히 여겼”었는데 철거민이 되어 내쫓기고 거리에서 10년을 싸우다 보니 이주노동자들이나 우리나 똑같이 없는 자로 짓밟히고 무시당하고 있는 거더라, 때문에 이주노동자와 우리가 함께 싸우는 것이 당연하다고 말하며 이주노동자 단속추방에 맞서 함께 싸울 것을 다짐했다.
 

Source: All Together/다함께

☞ [8월 28일] 이주노동자 집중단속 긴급 규탄 집회

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Last week, Monday and Tuesday(8.20/21), an "International Conference on Defending and Promoting the Basic Rights of Migrant Workers" (labour union/migrant workers' activists from Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, Spain, Nepal and South Korea participated) took place in Seoul. Today MTU(8.27) published the first contributions: 

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2007.8.19 단속저지 합법화요구 결의대회(부산)

Related (about MTU's rally/demo in Seoul on the same day):

☞ "No employ approval but labor visa" (VoP, 8.21)

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Yesterday afternoon about 500 activists demonstrated in front of Seoul Stn. for full human and labour rights for migrant workers in S. Korea. Among MTU activists members of (mainly student) solidarity groups, some reprensentatives of KCTU and Democratic Labour Party, activists of E. Land Workers' Union, the Federation Against House Demolition, "All Together" etc. protested against the continuing policy of crackdown - once again, since the beginning of August, the S.K. gov't is trying to hunt, arrest and deport masses of migrant workers.

"Bangladeshi migrant workers rally for better rights in front of Seoul

Station on Sunday" (Chosun Ilbo, 8.20)

(사진: 노동의소리)

Related articles:

☞ "인권유린하는 고용허가제, 폐지하라" (VoP)

☞ "이주노동자를 합법화하라" (OhmyNews)

☞ 고용허가제 시행 3년 규탄! 단속추방 중단! .. (다함께, report & pics)

☞ 이주노동자.. 대회 (이주노동자방송국)

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Related articles:

☞ 고용허가제는 “편협한 인종주의에서 비롯” (Chamsesang..)

☞ 고용허가제 3년, "자축하기엔 너무한" (..8.17)

☞ “이주노동자에게 불법체류 선택 강요” (8.16)

☞ 사람대접 받으며 살고 있습니까? (8.13)

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