"Not a single cent for the GFMD"
HK migrants join Zero Remittance Day vs global meet on migration

As the GFMD opens today, let our refusal to remit a single cent today be the symbol of our opposition to what the GFMD stands for – neglect of migrants, violations of our rights, and commodification of overseas workers.

This was declared today by Dolores Balladares, spokesperson of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) as about 30 migrant workers in Hong Kong – mainly Filipinos and Indonesians, held a protest in time for the opening of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Manila, Philippines. The action was done at Two International Finance Centre where the International Monetary Fund Suboffice for HKSAR is located.

Protesters held placards with a big "0" as part of the global call for Zero Remittance against the GFMD.

"We stand at one of the biggest symbol of the superpowers that are pushing for the GFMD and its agenda of systematizing labour export to ensure the continuous flow of remittance. Only the likes of the IMF, monopoly banks and big businesses are set to concretely benefit from the GFMD," she added.

According to Balladares, migrants' remittance and other income from the migration process are the main agenda of the GFMD. The estimated US$337 billion remittance of overseas workers from around the world, she said, are being targeted by highly-developed countries to save the failing global economy in the guise of developing Third World countries.

"Remittance of migrants is not a development tool because it will only be used to cover the failure of neoliberal globalization policies that have created the problems the world is having right now. Forced migration of people is not a sign of development but actually a symbol of governments who cannot provide proper jobs and decent living for their people," she said.

Balladares reported that last year, the World Bank made a study on "Increasing the Macroeconomic Impact of Remittances on Development". It declared among its conclusions are that remittances are an important source of external finance for developing countries, rise during crisis, natural disaster, or conflict, reduce poverty in the recipient economy and improve country creditworthiness

"Essentially what the World Bank and the GFMD say is to make migration permanent so that developing countries can avail of the above benefits that remittances of migrants make. At the same time, developing countries can avail of more loans if they produce large remittances from their nationals working abroad," Balladares remarked.

The group also reported that Jorge A. Bustamante, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants whose in Manila for the parallel activity on the GFMD – the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR) – stated that governments have the wrong perspective when they put the "responsibility of development on the shoulders of migrants" whose remittances have kept economies afloat during financial crisis worldwide.

"We shall not stand by and allow ourselves to be pawns of the GFMD policies that shall make our situation worse. We have zero support for the GFMD and its backers and we say no to using our remittance to make the sale of migrants even more intense," Balladares concluded.#