WUNRN
Via Isis International Manila News -
http://www.isiswomen.org/
MARRIAGE
MIGRATION -
The Philippines, Japan, Korea +
Japan is among the very first Asian countries that opened its borders to
Filipino migrant workers, particularly women entertainment workers. It is
also the Asian country with the highest concentration of Filipino marriage
migrants.
As of 2004, Filipinos constitute the fourth largest ethnic group in the
country, with 199,394. About 47,497 are permanent visa holders, 43,817
spouse visa holders, 23,756 Filipinos of Chinese descent and 82,741
entertainment workers. Despite such huge number, many Filipinos are not
quite at home mainly because of their legal status and experience of
discrimination, owing to society's common construction of them as
entertainers and pub workers. Moreover, national and local formal
initiatives designed to help migrants adapt with the ways of their host
country are still insignificant.
It is for this reason that support groups such as Kasugai Aichi Samahang
Pilipino (KASAPI) in Kasugai City have become a space for refuge and
empowerment for both marriage migrants and migrant workers, regardless of
their legal status. As Mary Angeline Da-anoy, a Filipina married to
Japanese national described, "KASAPI gave a face for Filipino marriage
migrants, assisting Filipinos in the communities especially women who have
experienced domestic violence."
KASAPI has been among the civil society organizations that helped pursue
cases of violence against Filipino women all the way to the Japanese
Supreme Court. Albeit the organisation has been coordinating with
Japanese authorities, KASAPI usually spends more resources in monitoring
the situation of Filipino women at high risk. This, as the police refuse
to meddle on otherwise private issues among couples, even when there is an
occurrence of physical and sexual abuse.
The presence of KASAPI and similar groups has made Kasugai City,
particularly its local government more open for dialogues with its migrant
communities. A sense of multiculturalism is being promoted in the Aichi
Prefecture, which is a larger political jurisdiction, where more than
20,000 Filipinos live along with nationals from India, China, Korea, Peru
and Nepal.
In one of the Prefecture's so-called "opinion exchange meetings,"
most
migrants called for state support for the education of their children;
language courses and translation services; medical and health care
benefits; and counseling support, among others.
"Multiculturalism is an [said to be an] accommodation of a various
of
people. But this may be overstated. By my observation in Kasugai is that
multiculturalism is more of an attempt by non-government organizations
along with local government agencies, to accommodate and gather together
in solidarity a 'variety' of people from different countries to encourage
civic action. However, concrete programmes and policies are lacking, that
need to be formulated if the local government is serious about
establishing a multicultural society," Da-anoy observed.
Citizenship, particularly its implementation likewise remains a contested
notion for Da-anoy especially in light of the Japanese' treatment of
undocumented migrant workers who have contributed to the country and have
lived there for several years, but despite these they still face threats
of deportation.
As she further put it, "If we define citizenship as 'a form of membership
where people transcend their differences for a common good of all its
members' then, it is perhaps appropriate to suggest that long-term
undocumented migrants who made concrete contribution to the local society
are considerably substantive local citizens. They are a lot of them in
thousands, whose narratives are worthy of in-depth documentation."
____________________________________________________________
HAPPILY
EVER AFTER?: WOMEN MARRIAGE MIGRANTS MONOLOGUES
The monologues where presented by women in the wedding
dresses during the media event, that culminated the forum, Happily Ever
After?: Different Tales of Women Marriage Migrants on 24 October 2008 in
Manila.
Chorus: We are women who are united, lending our faces and voices to the
experiences and will of women marriage migrants.
Woman Marriage Migrant 1: I am a woman who married a Korean. I came from
Nueva Ecija in the Philippines, from a family of farmers. I was a victim
of illegal recruitment. I was raped and hurt by my own husband. There are
many like me in the provinces of Korea.
I am against commercial institutions and systems that profit from
marriage. I am against violence and slavery. It is my right to obtain the
right information in making choice of people I would like to be with as I
grow older. I will do everything to have a life free from danger and
violence especially within the confines of a home which is should be a
source of warmth and safety. I will keep my dignity even at the workplace,
to the best of my abilities. I deserve to be heard.
Chorus: Who will listen to our voices? Who will join and support us?
Woman Marriage Migrant 2: I dreamed of a quiet and convenient life. I did
not mind living this life abroad. I dreamed of happy family, with husband
and children. When I got married, I expected a relationship that is fair
and with a strong value for respect. I expected a partner who will
recognise me as a wife, friend and a partner in life. I chose to marry a
foreigner with the hope of a better life. But this did not happen in
Japan.
Sometimes I feel that I am not a wife since he and his relatives treat me
like a servant. They rarely talk to me. I experienced tough days, when I
had to work on the farm, regardless if it is sunny or if it rained or
snowed. There were days when I also had to serve, clean the rooms, cook
the food, and wash the dishes and laundry for my husband's whole clan.
Even when I was working on the fields, they still expected me to
accomplish all the household chores. They probably treat me like this
because they feel that have bought me.
But I am a person with dignity and one who cannot be bought. I have the
right to an equal relationship. It is only fair that I be seen that way, a
woman with dignity, a partner, friend and wife.
Chorus: Who will listen to our voices? Who will join and support us?
Woman Marriage Migrant 3: I am a person - a woman, wife, mother, worker,
citizen. A marriage migrant. Don't look at me like that. Don't judge nor
pity me. What I need is protection for my family and myself. Our rights.
I want to walk freely on the streets of the country which is now my own. I
want to teach and help my children in their studies. I want to cradle them
to sleep, be able to sing them lullabies in a language that I know well.
It is my right to live with my identities intact. Life, Love, and
Happiness. I need you to understand me, to help my rights be recognised,
protected and ensured.
Chorus: When you marry a Korean, Japanese, and Chinese, you have to be
strong and have faith. You've got to fight, you've fight. You cannot just
bow. That's the plot of the story, of all stories.
Chorus: Who will listen to our voices? Who will join and support us?
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