Migrants give gifts to families of human rights victims

2 MIN READ

BAGUIO CITY (Jan. 17) — The generous gesture of migrants and human rights advocates made Christmas meaningful for the families of victims of human rights violations (HRV) in the Philippines.

Dolores Balladares, chairperson of United Filipinos in Hong Kong (Unifil-Migrante HK), in a press statement said of the successful campaign of Christmas gift-giving and fund-raising for the families of HRV victims by migrants’ organizations throughout the whole Christmas season.

“The campaign was one of the action resolutions that were passed in the second Filipino Migrant Women Workers Summit that was held in August last year,” Balladares said.

More than fifteen jumbo-sized boxes of clothes, groceries and other goods plus a significant amount of cash donation were contributed by the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese Justice and Peace Commission.

Jackie Hung, an earnest human rights defender who visited the Philippines as part of the Hong Kong Mission on Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines in 2006 and last year, led the call for support among the local churches in Hong Kong.

“The positive response of the migrants organizations was even more overwhelming, Hung remarked. Despite being financially-strapped, they managed to share whatever they could afford to the campaign,” she noted.

Education and information on the human rights situation was a major component of the project. Migrants specially empathized with the children who were suddenly left behind by their loved ones as a result of the unjust killings and political repression.

“The initiative of the Unifil-Migrante HK is commendable,” Karapatan Secretary-general Marie Hilao-Enriquez attested when she received the cash donations and gifts from the migrant workers.

Karapatan, an alliance of human rights organizations in the Philippines include the organization of families of victims of extrajudicial killings Hustisya, and the families of victims of enforced disappearance, Desaparecidos. It is the major group campaigning against human rights violations and lobbying for support in the Philippines and abroad.

“We are deeply touched by this unexpected action from the migrants considering that the victims never got any help from the Philippine government,” Hilao-Enriquez stressed.

Mission For Migrant Workers Hong Kong Society (MFMW) director Cynthia Abdon-Tellez also praised the migrants organizations that supported the campaign.

“You have no idea on the impact of this generous gesture on the families of the victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. They know now that they are not alone and this action will certainly give them more hope to pursue justice for their loved ones,”Abdon-Tellez said.

To date there are 887 victims of extra-judicial killings and 186 victims of enforced disappearances in the Philippines. These exclude those unjustly detained and the thousands of men, women and children whose lives have been shattered by the intense Philippine military operations.

The recent fact-finding mission initiated by the HK Campaign for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (HKCAHRPP) revealed that no significant move has been done by the government to resolve cases of extra-judicial killings and much less for enforced disappearances.

Balladares said they will continue to take part in the Stop the Killings campaign through advocacy actions, education and raising of funds and other assistance for the families of the victims as well as groups that assist them. # Via NORDIS