A Filipino worker, his wife, and their three children face deportation from Ireland after the government confiscated their immigration visas following his participation in a hunger strike over a compensation issue with his employer, it was learned Sunday.
Citing a report from Republican Sinn Fein’s website, Migrante International said the immigration cards of John Recto, who has been living and working in Ireland for the past eight years, and his wife had been confiscated soon after the labor dispute at the Green Isle Foods factory in Naas, Co Kildare was resolved.
Recto was among the three workers of the frozen food factory who went on hunger strike after being fired last summer. The two others were Jim Wyse, shop steward at the plant, and former Offaly footballer John Guinan. The three, together with other Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) workers, amicably settled with the help of local unions.
“According to reports, John Recto, together with his wife and kids, are being threatened of a possible deportation from Ireland upon the confiscation of their immigrant visas by Irish authorities. We are concerned that this is another case where a worker is punished for fighting for his rights,” said Migrante International head Garry Martinez.
“We believe that the confiscation of the immigrant visas of Recto and his wife was discriminatory and was meant to punish Recto for joining the strike. This was meant to be a signal to all migrant workers to be silent or else. This is a clear violation of labor and human rights of John and his innocent family,” he added.
In a news release, Migrante said the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the TEEU are now making representations on behalf of Recto and his family to stop their deportation.
Recto’s family joined him in Ireland from the Philippines five years ago. His two oldest children grew up in Ireland and his youngest child was born there.
“We call on the Department of Foreign Affairs to immediately assist the Recto family and exert all diplomatic means possible to stop the deportation process. We would like to remind the Philippine government that it has ratified the International Convention on the Rights of Migrants and their Families, which is clearly being violated in the case of the Recto family,” Martinez said.
Migrante asserted that even if Ireland is not a signatory of the convention, the Philippine post can still invoke the right of the Recto family for a due process under the laws existing in Ireland.
“We are grateful that Irish trade unions are now taking up the cudgels to protect John and his family. It is incumbent upon the Arroyo administration to do its share in assisting the Recto family on the injustice being perpetrated against them,” Martinez added.
The group plans to take the issue of the Recto family to the Irish government and international bodies related to the protection of migrant rights.
David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer
0 comments:
Post a Comment