The Undocumented Migrants and Immigrants

The existence of undocumented migrants and immigrants is part of the whole phenomenon of the forced migration of people and the commodification of human labor.

Undocumented migrants and immigrants are generally considered to be those who are staying without proper documents (working visa or resident status) in a particular country. How they become undocumented varies. Some are already undocumented since entering the host country, commonly facilitated by illegal recruiters and traffickers. Others become undocumented after running away from abusive and exploitative working and living conditions. Still others enter a country as tourists and then later on look for jobs as undocumented migrants.

There are also undocumented who are forced to become so because of the grave limitation on the length of stay that host countries implement and their need to keep a job overseas.

Undocumented migrants and immigrants are that part of foreign labor that are largely unknown, unrecognized and severely unprotected. There are varying data as to how many undocumented, sometimes called irregular, migrants and immigrants in the world there are.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that of the 191 million migrants in the world in 2005, about 30 to 40 million are undocumented. However, there are also some migrant experts that put the figure at 40% of all migrant workers.

Because of its very nature, it is hard to give an exact data on undocumented migrants and immigrants. However, there are countries said to be “hotspots” for undocumented migrants and immigrants such as the United States, Thailand especially in terms of Burmese migrants, Malaysia as shown by the deportation of hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants and families in Sabah, and, collectively, Europe.

The US alone has an estimated 9.3 million undocumented immigrants in 2002 that represent about 26 per cent of total foreign-born population. More than half of them are from Mexico, 23% are from other Latin American countries, and 10 per cent are from Asia. Europe, meanwhile, has an estimated 2.6 to 6.4 million undocumented migrants. In 2001, an average of 1,800 undocumented migrants enter Europe each day.

Undocumented migrants and immigrants are but the result of the increasing reserved labor force from countries experiencing grave economic and political crisis. Like their documented counterparts, they leave their home countries in order to seek employment abroad. They may be found in some of the most dangerous, difficult, and dirty jobs. They usually work in agricultural farms, small and medium-scale enterprises, service sectors like restaurants and hotels, domestic work, and, for many undocumented women migrants, in the sex industry.

Globalization and ‘War on Terror’ breed more undocumented migrants

Crackdowns on undocumented have become more frequent especially in recent years. Laws and policies that tighten border control further has been instituted.

The constriction of the economies of the more developed countries has also given rise to xenophobia that targets the general migrant and immigrant communities, but is even harsher against undocumented migrants. Anti-migrant sentiments with reasons ranging from the “stealing of jobs” to blaming migrants and the undocumented ones for increasing crimes rates in the country. This has led to the Malaysian government even proposing to impose a curfew against migrants and then putting them in only one place like herded cattles.

With the advent of the US-led “war on terror”, undcoumented migrants have become targets of more violent crackdowns that violate many of their fundamental civil and political rights such as what happened after the US government implemented the Patriots Act as well as Absconder’s Act.

As with the crisis resulting to neoliberal globalization policies, the impacts of the US “war on terror” are also felt in migrant-sending countries. Conflicts that are already present in some countries have intensified with the advent of the anti-terror hysteria forcing more and more people to evacuate and take refuge either inside their own country or to other counries. This has been shown, for example, in Mindanao in southern Philippines where US troops even participated in the conflict with local armed groups that has forced many to flee their homes and go to Sabah, Malaysia.

Economic Role of Undocumented Migrants and Immigrants

Labor-sending countries receive remittances from their nationals abroad that are recognized as major economic conrtibutions in saving their countries from the severe economic and political crisis. For sure, a significant part of the estimated US$ 226 trillion of remiitances in the world came from undocumented migrants and immigrants.

In receiving countries, undocumented migrants and immigrants have been engaged in sectors that help build and sustain their host countries economy. For example, the labor force participation rate of undocumented immigrants in the US is 96%. They comprise about 5% of the total working population of the US. It is also said that US’ net benefit on immigration is about US$10 billion every year.

In South Korea, for instance, the participation of undocumented migrants in industries is so crucial that small- and medium-scale businessed get scared whenever the government announces an impending crackdown. These SMBs, that in reality are sweatshops, rely so much on the cheap labor that undocumented migrant workers provide.

Major Issues of Undocumented Migrants and immigrants

1.    Criminalization of undocumented migrants and immigrants

Criminalization of undocumented migrants and immigrants has been a rising trend in the past years. Crackdowns have been happening in major hosts of undocumented migrants and immigrants that have led to the arrest, detention and eventual deportation of hundreds of thousands of them.

In the US many bills have been filed that essentially criminalizes the status of undocumented immigrants such as the infamous Sensenbrenner-King bill in 2006 that tags undocumented immigrants as criminals and their employers, relatives and friends as alien smugglers and thus, also gives federal and state police powers to arrest them.

In Asia, some of the most notorious governments in terms of massive crackdowns against undocumented migrant workers are those of South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, and Macau.

Aside from violating their civil and political rights, crackdowns against undocumented migrants and immigrants living with their families have also caused the separation of the family unit that make many children stateless. In Sabah, for example, about 10,000 children are considered stateless because they have been separated from their parents during the deportation procedure, their parents are undocumented as well, or they lack the necessary information and education to get registered.

Aside from deportation, there have also been cases of arrested undocumented migrants being abused while in detention. Arrested women migrants also suffer from sexual harassment. There have been cases in Kuwait and other countries in the Middle East wherein arrested migrants are taken not to precincts but instead to other places where they are made to choose between having sex and getting released.

2.    Exploitative and abusive condition in the workplace

Exploitative and abusive conditions in the workplace oftentimes push migrant workers to become undocumented.

Such was true with the former Trainee System in Korea, also known as the Industrial and Technical Training Program, that allowed foreigners to come to Korea and work as trainees. In practice, however, they were made to work in factories without any training at all and thus, they were called ‘disguised workers’.

Trainees in Korea suffered from very low compensation, were made to work for 12 hours a day without overtime pay, had no days off, worked in hazardous and unclean conditions and lived in accomodations without sufficient heating or cooling system. It was not surprising then that they ran away.

In other countries like Taiwan and those in the Middle East, a major problem that pushes migrants especially domestic workers to run away is the lack or absence of daysoff and holidays.

Undocumented migrants are not covered by existing labor laws of host countries. They are not eligible for health or any other insurance. They live and work constantly with fear of getting caught. Upon apprehension, they are detained and even made to pay a large fine. In Taiwan, arrested undocumented migrants are made to pay NT$10,000. Their detention is usually prolonged if the employer denies to give them back their passports and their own governments take long to issue them travel documents.

When they encounter any type of abuse, many undocumented migrants find it hard to seek redress because national laws are not considered applicable to them.

3.    Lack of protection by national governments of undocumented migrants and immigrants

For documented workers, it is always a hurdle to seek protection from their own governments. It is doubly harder for undocumented migrants.

Sending governments do nothing, not even by way of diplomatic protests, when their nationals abroad are subjected to harsh treatments especially by the governments of host countries. They are afraid to “rock the boat” and lose a market for export of their workers. For the sake of maintaining an inhuman trade, governments of labor-exporting countries are prepared to sacrifice the fundamental rights of their nationals.

It usually takes pressure from the organized ranks of migrant workers and service-providing NGOs for overseas posts of sending countries to act on welfare cases of undocumented migrants. They deny them funds for quick and sufficient mechanisms to respond to the needs of their undocumented nationals.

A couple of months ago, more than 100 stranded workers sought the help of the Philippine government in Jeddah. They ran away from their employers because of harsh working and living situation. However, instead of assisting them or repatriating them properly back home, Philippine officials urged them to surrender themselves to authorities. Many of the stranded migrants are now in jail and even some cannot be located because of the lack of effort to at least monitor their cases and condition.

4.    Limitations of international agreements and conventions

The most prominent of international instruments governing foreign workers is the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. It provides basic rights to migrant workers without any distinction as to their status. It is, of course, a very different matter if the member states of the United Nations pattern their national policies accordingly.

In April 1999, major sending and receiving countries in the Asia Pacific signed the Bangkok Declaration on Irregular Migration. The declaration does not include much by way of compelling countries to adhere to the statements mentioned in the document.

In 2006, member countries of the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) issued the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.

However, it is very unfortunate that ASEAN countries can only come up with a declaration that does not shed light on concrete issues facing migrant workers in the region. By not doing so, governments of ASEAN countries can only claim reiteration of what have been essentially contained in other international conventions and agreements without necessarily committing themselves to steps towards the resolution of outstanding issues of migrant workers.

This may not come as a surprise considering that of the ASEAN countries, only three, mainly labor-exporting counties (Philippines, Indonesia, and Cambodia); have ratified the convention as of January 2006.

Experiences in empowering undocumented migrants and immigrants from the grassroots

In recent years, breakthroughs have been made in empowering undocumented migrants and immigrants both in country and, to some extent, regional level.

The establishment of migrant organizations composed of mixed membership and leadership from the ranks of regular and undocumented migrants, intensive education of how similar the concerns of migrant workers, and concrete victories in advancing the rights of migrants have set the stage for the unity of migrant workers to be formed and later on flourish.

Cooperation with local trade unions has also led to the formation of the Migrant’s Branch of the Equality Trade Union of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions. ETU-MB has shown how local workers can promote and protect the rights and wellbeing of their migrants.

After the sit-in protest of the ETU-MB to protest the crackdown in 2003 and the subsequent implementation of the Employment Permit System or EPS, migrants’ activists saw the need to also form an independent trade union composed by and of migrant workers. Thus, in 2005, the Migrants’ Trade Union was formed.

In Japan, service NGOs are actively assisting undocumented migrant workers especially women. They are also engaged in helping out undocumented children and defending the rights of parents and children against arbitrary separation of the family.

The formation of the May 1st Coalition in the United States is also a milestone in the movement of undocumented immigrants. The successive proposed bills that curtail the rights of undocumented immigrants have united immigrants of various nationalities to unite and launch series of actions that call for immigrants’s rights including the Great American Boycott in May 1, 2006.

In 2003, the APMM, with TENAGANITA in Malaysia and Migrante International in the Philippines organized the Asia Pacific Conference on Undocumented Migrants that gathered representatives of grassroots organizations and NGOs working for undocumented migrant workers to explore the theme. Since then, there have been cooperative efforts among different groups in various forms from sharing of information up to simultaneous actions.

Indeed undocumented migrants and immigrants are some of the most exploited among foreign workers. It is of great importance the efforts are now being made to organize undocumented ones in the grassroots level. Services that other NGOs as well as the solidarity that local workers extend are also very important in ensuring the protection of the rights of undcoumented migrants and immigrants.

The establishment of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA) is also a significant step in the empowerment of undocumented foreign workers. Undocumented migrants and immigrants have long since been rendered voiceless and invisible. It is high time for the movement of migrants to change this.