But when the group of Fijians landed in New Zealand, they were sent a casual contract, replacing the permanent contract which had guaranteed 30 hours' work. The promised work didn't eventuate, and now the workers, some living in poverty, will have to leave the country.

In 2022, recruitment agency Remarkable People offered around 45 Fijians and Cook Islanders labouring jobs in Nelson and Tasman. Stuff understands the group were working in the Cook Islands, and some had dependants in tow. Read more

The Minister of Immigration Andrew Little says people considering moving to New Zealand must be wary.

"Watch out for the scams," he says.

"If you are paying tens of thousands of dollars in order to come to work here, you are being scammed. That is not what it costs to get a visa to come here, so be very careful."

Hundreds already scammed

The New Zealand Government does not know how many migrant workers have been scammed.

What is known is that hundreds are caught in employment scams where advantage is taken of Government employer-worker schemes.

The scammers then target workers for fees, into the tens of thousands of dollars, as they enable the migrant workers to come to New Zealand.

When their "prey" arrive in New Zealand the promised jobs are nowhere to be seen.

The scammed migrants then find themselves trapped in miserable conditions - as provided by the scammers.

Hundreds have been discovered crammed into homes and living in squalor.

Government review

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has launched a review of its Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). It expects to complete the review before the end of the year.

On Wednesday INZ also unveiled a support package for migrant workers who fall victim to scammers.

The AEWV scheme allows employers to get accreditation to use the visa to hire migrants for up to three years. The support package includes temporary funding for accommodation and essential living costs for victims.

Exploited migrant workers will be able to apply for a further Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa (MEPV).

The MEPV will give them more time to find a job. It will also provide the workers with a free job search assistance service.

Immigration Minister Andrew Little said last Wednesday that about 250 exploited migrants are currently on Migrant Exploitation Protection Visas.

He adds that not every migrant worker who claims exploitation goes onto that visa.

"So I expect the number who have experienced some form of exploitation will be bigger than that."

Protecting future targets from becoming victims

Little says immigration rules are being strengthened.

He also promises prospective employer checks will be better and that individual job checks will take place.

He says the 90-day trial period for accredited employer work visas is being removed.

"Too often recently we've seen migrants arriving and starting work only to be dismissed within days" Little says.

A migrant worker advocate welcomed the support package but there were still concerns.

Faisol Miah, secretary of the Bangladesh Skilled Migrant Association New Zealand, said the six-month period for the MEPV may not be long enough for migrants to secure work.

"They may not be able to get any job within six months ... I don't think six months is enough.

"They [the migrants] just want certainty over the job [situation] ... they're worried over this."

Source

• RNZ

The board was issued with an infringement notice by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Labour Inspectorate in January relating to a request to supply information of specific employee records.

Seven trustees have temporarily been stood down from their ability to recruit migrant workers. Read more

Health New Zealand will run an international recruitment service to ease immigration for health workers.

But New Zealand College of Nurses Executive Director, Jenny Carryer, told Heather du Plessis Allan "there's a 12 million-strong global shortage of nurses, and other countries may have greater need than us." Read more

Franz Josef is part of the parish, and there are over 200 people there who have lost their jobs because there are no longer any foreign tourists.

Many of these migrant workers cannot go home because there are no flights.

In some cases their rent has been lowered, in others, not.

The parish takes an active part in the South Westland Emergency Foodbank Relief scheme (SERF).

SERF supports over a hundred people and families in towns from Hari Hari to Haast.

Food providers have been generous, so SERF provides food parcels.

Funds are also available from Civil Defence.

SERF can give a person or family a food voucher which they can redeem at the supermarket.

The receipt returns to SERF so that they can keep an eye on how the money is being used.

On Friday afternoons people needing advice can come to the Medical Centre in Franz Josef where Fr Mike is available to point them towards whatever they might need.

For ten years, Fr Mike, who worked for many years in Brazil, has gone to Queenstown on the fourth Sunday of each month to celebrate a mass in Portuguese for the sizeable Brazilian community there.

On the following Monday, he helps to sort out the many problems that working migrants have.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have lost their jobs and have no way of paying rent or sustaining themselves.

The government and city council have good initiatives in place to help.

And so does the Church; the Marist Fathers have made available $50,000 to assist the Brazilian community.

Currently, ten are being assisted with rent and living expenses, to the tune of $10,000 a month.

Rent for a small house is $500 a week, and for a room, between $100 and $200 a week.

Vagner provides an example of what can be done. He lost his job, but he enrolled in a four-month $3,900 language course, which gives him a 5-month visa.

He studies every morning finishing at 1 pm, so he is free to work in the afternoon and evening.

Through his improved English, he will get a better job, as well as being on the spot to apply for anything available.

He will undoubtedly find work in the next fortnight.

Source

Supplied

"We are trying to reduce [the number of] foreign workers in the workforce besides giving priority to locals to secure jobs," Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan told a newspaper.

The move is expected to worsen the economic prospects of migrant workers from Bangladesh, Myanmar and elsewhere.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, an estimated two million foreigners worked in Malaysia, according to official figures, although observers say the actual number could be double that as many migrant workers are employed illegally. Read more

On Sunday, the Catholic bishops of New Zealand want Catholic communities to reflect on the plight of these migrant workers.

21 June, is the annual Day of Prayer for Refugees and Migrants and the theme of this day is Where is your brother or sister?

With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the economy worldwide, in New Zealand, the government has been quick to offer emergency benefits to New Zealanders, the bishops note.

But the bishops say one big chunk of the workforce is missing out; migrant workers.

Pope Francis says: "We must not look away but take special care to see and hear our migrant brothers and sisters who are experiencing exploitation."

They point out that even before the pandemic, migrant worker exploitation had been a serious problem that even the New Zealand Government has acknowledged by holding a review.

This week the government announced a three-month time-limited assistance programme will provide essentials like food, housing, petrol to get to a new job or the airport and over-the-counter medication but doesn't include cash payments.

It comes with a warning from Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters: "If you can't get back on your feet, you should leave New Zealand "as soon as possible".

But the mayor of Queenstown, Jim Boult says it is a mistake to think the term migrant workers refers to people here for a short period of time.

"We have folk who have been here on essential skills visas sometimes up to 10 years."

"They've been a hardworking part of our community. They've paid their taxes. They've helped build the tourism industry to what it was."

"They're active in local groups in their communities."

"It's not just as simple as saying to them 'well, you need to go home'."

Mangere East Family Services CEO Peter Sykes said the announcement was "nice", but a lot of economic damage had already been done to families from the lack of assistance early on in the crisis.

"This is what you throw beggars on the street," he said.

"A lot of migrants won't even pick it [the assistance] up. It's too much paperwork and it's not actually what they need. What they need to know is that they've got a roof over their head and they're treated with some respect.

Click here for resources Caritas resources for Day of Prayer for Refugees and Migrants

Source

• caritas.org.nz
• rnz.co.nz
• vaticannews.va
• newsroom.co.nz
• newsroom.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: indianweekender.co.nz

Association leader Dennis Navasca and his wife moved to Queenstown about six years ago with hopes to start a new chapter of their lives.

He said that the future is now uncertain. Continue reading

The Salvation Army says with most migrants unable to return to their home countries due to travel and lockdown restrictions, the situation is becoming akin to a "refugee crisis" - with about 6,000 people needing urgent help.

Queenstown's Mayor Jim Boult said his council is keeping track of 9000 people in his area on temporary visas who have called for some form of assistance.

The Government says it is providing support for the migrant workers with support through Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM).

However, Boult said the CDEM funding had its limitations.

He understood it was only viable for a relatively short period of time and mainly consisted of food vouchers.

He said philanthropic people in his area had put together a fund to supplement CDEM support, but warned it would get used up "relatively quickly" and many migrants would be liable for eviction once lockdown lifted.

"Once the Civil Defence money runs out and once the supplementary wage runs out we're going to have some thousands of people who don't have an income and are in danger of not having a place to live."

The Salvation. Army's Community Ministries Queenstown director Lieutenant Andrew Wilson said those stranded included families and young people.

"They're the ones that have now been without income for upwards of four to even six weeks, and are still stuck in lockdown for a considerable period more and are staring down a barrel of no means of supporting themselves whatsoever."

He says short-term welfare will not resolve an ongoing issue.

"Giving food parcels and material goods is like putting a band-aid on the Titanic."

Source

• newsroom.co.nz
• rnz.co.nz
• tvnz.co.nz
• salvationarmy.org.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

But recent developments have demonstrated that you can't have the foresight for things you refuse to see.

A sharp increase in COVID-19 cases among the country's migrant worker population has now forced the government to take drastic measures.

On Thursday, Singapore saw its highest number of new cases thus far: 728, the vast majority of which were among migrant workers.

Nine dormitories, housing more than 50,000 men, mostly from Bangladesh, India and China, have been declared "isolation areas."

On Tuesday, the government put all dormitories effectively on lockdown, meaning that about 300,000 workers now have restrictions on their movements within their complexes.

The government appears to have been blindsided by this turn of events.

"Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of the benefit of hindsight," Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said in response to a question at a news conference on April 9. Wong is also the co-chair of a task force put together to lead Singapore's COVID-19 response.

He added: "The virus is moving so quickly."

"If I'd known, I would have done things differently. But no one can tell the next step."

While one can appreciate the number of considerations that the task force has to grapple with, an outbreak of the coronavirus among migrant workers should not have come as such a shock.

The country has nearly a million work permit holders, usually referring to low-wage workers such as domestic workers or manual labourers.

Though domestic workers are required to live with their employers, those who work at construction sites, shipyards, petrochemical refineries, or even as cleaners in neighbourhood estates, live in dormitories, often with about 12 to 20 people in a room.

One of the earlier clusters of COVID-19 was at a construction site.

Migrant labour rights groups have been warning for years that these cramped, crowded conditions were a recipe for disaster.

Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) and the local media reported an outbreak of chickenpox in 2008.

The same organization pointed out in 2016 that migrant workers were in need of better housing to protect them from the spread of dengue and Zika.

This March, before the outbreak of COVID-19 among migrant workers really hit home, TWC2's president wrote that the "risk of a new cluster among this group remains undeniable."

There is no way the government did not know of the conditions in which migrant workers live and the risks that they would face during a global pandemic.

The reality that COVID-19 so harshly reveals is that there has long been two Singapores: one for citizens, long-term residents and expatriates, and one for the low-wage migrant workers who provide the back-breaking labour upon which Singapore gleams.

While immigrants on work visas for white-collar jobs have rights to family reunification and paths to eventual long-term residency and citizenship, low-wage work permit holders have no such options.

They aren't even allowed to marry Singaporeans or permanent residents in Singapore without first seeking permission from the government.

This logic has even extended into virus containment measures.

At the April 9 press conference, Wong said that it was "important to realize and recognize that we are dealing with two separate infections" — one rising among migrant workers and a more stable situation among the rest of the population.

A later update, shared by the minister on Facebook, separated migrant worker cases from imported and community cases.

A separate task force has been convened specifically to look at migrant worker dormitories, with the military and police force roped in. Continue reading

Among those to express their anger is the Indian Christian Women's Movement (ICWM).

"Even as the whole country is battling an intense and grueling confrontation with the Corona (COVID-19) crisis, we ... want to express our deep shock and horror at the treatment being meted out to hapless migrant workers..." says a statement from the ICWM.

A recording of the treatment shows a group of migrant workers sitting on a street in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, as health officials in protective suits used hosepipes to douse them in, prompting anger on social media.

Nitish Kumar, the top government official in the district, says health workers had been ordered to disinfect buses being used by the local authorities.

In their "zeal", they also turned their hoses on migrant workers, he says.

"I have asked for action to be taken against those responsible for this," he tweeted.

The ICWM is concerned about the differences in the way people in India are being treated during the COVID-19 crisis.

While it acknowledges the work the Government is doing to bring back stranded Indians from "high risk list" countries, ICWM members say they are bewildered over "drastically different treatment" meted out to those living in the country.

"Those flown in were respectfully screened by health personnel at the airports, whereas ‘powerless' migrant workers, and their children have been inhumanely doused with disinfectant," the ICWM says.

The members say Indians watched with "shame and disbelief" as television channels showed migrant families herded out of buses, and made to sit in groups of 50 or more before being sprayed with disinfectants.

"Forget about social distancing, they were sprayed with chemicals," the members say.

"We can only wonder where and how they will be housed, whether they will be tested for the virus, and treated before they continue to their homes.

"They are not criminals, just Indians anxious to reach their homes in cities far away from their place of work. Some have made grueling journeys, often walking for several hundred kilometers from the places of their employment.

"They are escaping homelessness and hunger in places where they were living as migrant laborers."

The ICWM also says India's government is "ill-prepared for the magnitude of COVID-19s impact on migrant laborers and people paid as daily-wagers."

"Many relief agencies, including Christian agencies and Churches have offered all their help and facilities, but it is not enough. What is missing is a well-coordinated national plan to ensure that every Indian is covered," the ICWM says.

The organisation is asking for immediate steps from the federal and state governments to ensure humane treatment of all migrant workers.

They have also made a demand for the workers' immediate rehabilitation, along with compensation.

Source

• Matters India
• Image: BBC

In exchange, the local community will get voluntary help such as cleaning hospitals.

The Saint John XXIII housing project is in the town of Kokopo, capital of East New Britain province.

Although Kokopo's population is still only 26,000, it has mushroomed from 3,000 since it replaced Rabaul as provincial capital in 1994 after a volcanic eruption destroyed 80 percent of Rabaul's buildings.

Many of the incomers are low-paid manual workers who cannot afford to buy or rent houses so squatter settlements have sprung up where standards of health and hygiene are very poor.

"There are regular deaths in these settlements owing to inadequate hygiene," said Doug Tennent, the archdiocese's administrator.

The archdiocese of Rabaul decided to tackle this problem as one element of a three-part response to Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si (On the Care of our Common Home).

It is also returning former plantation land to local people and helping the people of West Pomio district to obtain a fair agreement with a Malaysian multinational over land being used for a palm oil project.

For the housing project, the archdiocese will provide 60 hectares (148 acres) of church-owned land. Drainage and roads will be installed and houses will be built on plots of 800 square metres (8,000 sq ft) so that occupants can have a vegetable garden.

Four houses have already been built by a group of Italian volunteers and work is proceeding on other prototypes. The eventual aim is to build 240 in four stages, with 60 in each stage.

A key focus is sustainability, including the use of solar panels for electricity and compost toilets.

The archdiocese will cover half the cost of the houses, estimated at US$17,640, and occupants will be expected to pay the rest. But because most will be among the very poor, so-called "sweat equity" will be employed.

Under this concept developed by the non-profit organisation Habitat for Humanity, the project's beneficiaries will help with the construction work as well as doing other tasks for the archdiocese and the community, such as helping out in hospitals.

Following an appeal from the archdiocese, the British all-volunteer charity SPICMA (Special Projects in Christian Missionary Areas) is raising funds for the project.

The priests allege some religious organisations are using RWC visas to bring migrants to New Zealand for ulterior motives.

The allegations are contained in an MBIE report, seen by Newsroom, which deals with the broader issue of the way the RWC is being used.

The report says there is a real possibility that some religious organisations are misusing the RWC to bring migrants to New Zealand.

According to the report, the priests told the Labour Inspectorate that workers were promised weekly wages of $600. However, after arriving in New Zealand, they were informed they would be paid at a lower rate - and would receive the money only at the end of their six-month tenure.

The priests also said the religious organisation which sponsored the workers' visas confiscated their passports and air tickets for a short period.

They were made to perform domestic duties instead of religious work.

Domestic duties like cooking and cleaning are permitted as "secondary roles" under the religious worker visa rules.

Furthermore, the priests alleged the organisation had been engaged in "this behaviour" for at least a decade.

The Labour Inspectorate was unable to pursue the case to prosecution - closing its investigation because an employment agreement could not be found.

Newsroom did not identify individual organisations as some may still be under investigation.

To be granted an initial work visa under the religious worker category, a person needs to have an offer of religious work from a religious organisation as well as their sponsorship.

If the offer of work and sponsorship continues, a person can apply for a second work visa, then after 3 years in New Zealand, for a resident visa.

Source

• newsroom.co.nz
• immigration.govt.nz
• Image: migrationguide.info

This was the question Mata'afa Keni Lesa put to the New Zealand prime minister in his opinion piece published in the Samoa Observer after her recent visit to Samoa.

"We cannot keep referring to a special relationship founded upon the Treaty of Friendship and then continue to treat our Samoans like second-class citizens by subjecting them to the vigorous and expensive process of having to obtain a visa simply to fly across for the weekend," he said.

This issue was raised in what was an otherwise very positive coverage of Ardern's visit.

"The truth is quite simple. The Samoan Government doesn't need to look far to find a role model." Lesa said.

"If Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr Sa'ilele Malielegaoi and his administration need some inspiration, they only have to look to New Zealand."

In a related matter, the issue Recognised Seasonal Workers (RSW) was raised by Tuilaepa during talks with Ardern and her deputy Winston Peters.

He said the Samoan workers under New Zealand's RSW scheme are trustworthy, skilful and are meeting the expectations of their employers.

Samoa called for the RSE workers to be eligible for the immigration quota because they already have established employment, which is one of the key requirements for applicants to meet.

New Zealand has an annual quota for 1,100 Samoans to immigrate to this country but it is frequently unfilled.

Source

• sobserver.ws
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: pro.newsroom.co.nz

She gets up at 6.30am every morning to prepare breakfast for her employer's children, sets out their clothes, makes their lunches and then gets them off to school.

The baby needs changing and needs to be bathed and then, when she has a few minutes to herself, she prepares a simple meal for herself before she tackles the other jobs that her employer has set out for her.

Her working day can end anywhere between 7.00am and 11 at night depending on whether the employer decides to go out socialising, which is often.

By the time 7pm comes around she is feeling the effects of her long day but the dishes still have to be done, as do the other chores that have been allocated to her.

She is shouted at or abused and sometimes prodded or hit. She has had things thrown at her if her employer feels in a bad mood or when things are not going well for her employer.

She has to bear the brunt of her employer's poor behaviour, poor communication skills and because of tiredness.

The dream of lifting herself from her poverty trap in her native country is quickly turning into a nightmare in this so-called island paradise.

She, like thousands and thousands of her people, are desperate to get out of their country to better themselves and their families left behind and they will work any job independent of whether they can do it or not, such is their desperation.

Many of her people pose as employment agents for workers like her either in her own country or in other countries that need foreign workers.

There are also many like her who have married locals and because of their language skills, knowledge of theirs and the local culture use these skills to bring in more like themselves and one would think that they treat them as family.

A recent article in a New Zealand publication shows that often as not, they are preyed upon by the very people you might think would protect and look after them in a foreign country.

The exorbitant fees are just the tip of the iceberg for those in the feeding chain, cashing in on the plight of these foreign workers.

What they charge could feed a family for many years, but workers apply by the thousands and sign up for huge loan fees to work in a myriad of jobs that are on offer in overseas countries.

The money she earns will pay off these loan sharks and provide her and her family with a lifestyle and education they can only dream about back in their cash-strapped economies and overcrowded cities and rural poverty.

They are sold on a dream and because many of them do not speak English sufficiently or understand legal documents, they are prey to the unscrupulous actions of some agents who are in collusion with Rarotongan employers.

Some Rarotongan employers do not carry out due diligence with these agents and get sold a crock and this can lead to abuse of the foreign worker through no particular fault of their own.

Employers fudge the contracts of employment by changing conditions of the contract at a whim to suit their own selfish needs and in total disregard of the worker's needs or the fact that their foreign worker may have other plans.

Sometimes the employer deducts money at source for spurious reasons and does not pay overtime rates even when the law states they must.

No PAYE, no CINSF deducted or matched by the employer.

They disregard her day off by forcing or coercing her to return to work.

By the time Joanne looks at her pay slip (if she gets one), she has been working for less than $2 per hour.

Joanne has not seen her passport since she arrived as her employer has kept it for ‘safe keeping' and she does not know if she has a bona fide work permit, despite asking her employer for it.

If she wants to leave her employer, the passport is withheld to keep her here and there are frightening scenes of this happening in industry not just in home employment.

People like Joanne may or may not be getting the award wage and they may or may not be working a 40-hour week.

It depends on the contract and the way it is written, which is often aimed at extracting the most benefit for the employer.

However, the employer is only able to get away with these draconian contracts because there is very little oversight once people like her come into the country.

A 40 hour working week for Joanne is a nonsense because she works six days a week from sunup to sundown and sometimes more.

Her average working hours are between 72 and 90, with only the 40 hours being paid.

There is no overtime.

These are conditions that are akin to modern day slavery and it is quite a common scenario in this Christian country we call the Cook Islands.

Immigration struggles with foreign worker complaints and does not have the resources or budget or capacity to follow up on each and every employer who has a foreign worker.

The only time that they do act is when an employer wants their foreign worker to be repatriated and spins a yarn to Immigration to get them out of the country, claiming they are bad employees and should be blacklisted.

Immigration does not have the capacity to follow up on the employer's allegations and thus only hears one side of the story and in many cases an injustice is perpetrated on a foreign worker.

In its defence, Immigraiton has been collaborating with the internal affairs ministry to provide an inter-agency response to allegations against foreign workers by Rarotongan employers.

But it is a challenge getting some immigration officials to accept that in many cases the foreign employee may be the aggrieved party and not the employer.

Joanne, like many of the workers from her country, only wants a fair go from her Cook Islands employers.

These people want to be treated with dignity and fairness, but they are not getting this from some employers.

They don't want to be treated like slaves or children, or abused or coerced, or work or live in slave-like conditions, they want what you and I want.

Is it too hard to be provided with a roof over your head, be paid what you are worth, to have food in your kopu, to be able to educate your children and to be able to take rest and recreation and to socialise without fear of being told off?

These are basic human rights which are being abused and or manipulated by some local employers.

A final story: A traveller was left beaten and robbed by the wayside.

People of means and status in the community walked by and paid him no heed. A person of little means stopped and gave aid and support to this traveller despite them being of different cultures and faith.

This is what you/we need to be doing.

Regardless of who the people of means and status in our community are, we, like the Good Samaritan, need to step up and take these local employers aside and tell them this is not the Cook Islands way.

Workers, if they abuse you, that tells you what sort of people they are: greedy, seedy and definitely not needy. And most importantly, not what you would consider as a friend.

First published by Cook Islands News.
Republished with permission.

Report author Cathy Bi said the story that struck her the most was of a girl who worked a shift at a restaurant, but was not paid because her employer told her it was only a trial.

The girl stood up to her employer and won, Bi said.

"What she communicated to me, is that this isn't common for her friends to stand up to the employer, but it is common for employers to say 'Oh we don't pay for this period' or 'We don't give contracts'".

The report was released at a Thursday evening seminar in Wellington: Unfair treatment of migrant workers - what can we do?

It has been produced to help the Church community to understand the experiences of migrant workers.

Many people who move to New Zealand to work have positive experiences their workplaces.

But the study reveals that some migrants working in Wellington experience unfair treatment and unreasonable working conditions.

It is hoped that the report will put a spotlight on barriers that prevent people from asking for help.

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand director Julianne Hickey says, "Holding employers accountable to good employment practice is a responsibility that sits with everyone."

The study says migrants can be assisted through clarifying basic employment rights, referring them to accessible legal experts, and helping them to look for alternative work.

"It cannot be up to migrant workers alone to report cases of poor employment practice, and our research shows that having a good support person in the community can bridge several of the gaps and vulnerabilities that migrant workers face," Hickey said.

The findings are based on a small-scale qualitative research project about migrant worker experiences that was undertaken by the social justice agency in the Wellington Catholic Archdiocese.

Caritas spoke to 14 people, including migrant workers, unions and lawyers, between April and June this year.

Source

• scoop.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: new-zealand-immigration.com

Many Filipinos are devout Roman Catholics and some found the colourful building site language demeaning and sacrilegious.

"We've heard of Filipino workers walking off a work site, sometimes in groups, because the swearing and shouting got too much, so it's something to consider when you are thinking about who you are pairing new Filipino workers with."

Lana Hart from the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce skilled migrant business service said some employers had not anticipated the level of support needed for migrant workers from a completely different culture. Read more

Garcia explained to me that since the undocumented have no legal status in the United States, they are forced to take undesirable, poorly paid jobs, which offer no benefits. Unlike poor U.S. citizens, undocumented workers and their families cannot receive food stamps, Medicaid, or housing assistance. They are at the lowest rung of American life.

So why do they come?

Garcia said, "They come because most often they and their families are extremely poor, and they cannot find jobs in their native countries that pay a living wage. And that the U.S. has many more low-skilled jobs than there are Americans who are willing to take them."

But why don't they enter legally?

Because there are not enough low-skilled temporary worker visas available. And yet the demand for such workers is quite high. Plus the expense and burdensome government red tape required of employers tempts many of them to use "contractors" who often unscrupulously recruit undocumented workers.

According to "The Hill" (http://bit.ly/1rm6iF0), certain segments of the U.S. economy like agriculture, are overwhelmingly dependent upon illegal immigrants. "In terms of overall numbers, The Department of Labor reports that of the 2.5 million farm workers in the U.S., over half (53 percent) are illegal immigrants. Growers and labor unions put this figure at 70 percent."

Kevin Appleby, director of international migration policy for the Catholic-based Center for Migration Studies, told me the situation is filled with hypocrisy. Among many employers and politicians "there is a nod and a wink" to keep the system benefitting numerous employers at the expense of undocumented workers who have virtually no rights.

Therefore, millions of foreign workers are forced to cross deserts and often face drug gangs to fill vacant American jobs in order to support their very poor families.

To learn more visit Farmworker Justice (www.farmworkerjustice.org).

Saint John XXIII, in his encyclical Pacem in Terris ("Peace on Earth") wrote, "Every human being has the right … when there are just reasons for it … to emigrate to other countries and take up residence there."

Garcia asked that I raise the following questions on behalf of the undocumented: "Should undocumented immigrants have to live in an underground world? Is it right to use closed borders for the purpose of exploiting cheap labor? Why is it so acceptable to have undocumented workers perform the jobs few Americans are willing to do - pick our fruits and vegetables, wash dishes, and work in meat slaughterhouses?"

Lord Jesus, heal our nation's indifference, and inspire us to welcome these strangers as valuable members of your one human family, so that on the Day of Judgment we may gladly hear you say, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me."

• Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings about Catholic social teaching. His keynote address, "Advancing the Kingdom of God in the 21st Century," has been well received by diocesan and parish gatherings from Santa Clara, Calif. to Baltimore, Md. Tony can be reached at tmag@zoominternet.net.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, told a delegation from Kuwait last week that it was "necessary to destroy all the churches of the region".

The sheikh is head of the Supreme Council of Ulema [Islamic scholars] and of the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Issuing of Fatwas.

He is seen as the highest official of religious law in the Sunni Muslim kingdom.

The Arabian Gulf is home to around 2 million Christian migrant workers, and new churches have been built to accommodate them.

But church building is forbidden in Saudi Arabia.

Continue reading

The forum's theme is Migrant and refugee employment.

Valuing diversity is a key issue, given the rebuild being undertaken in the Canterbury region and increased recruitment of migrant workers to help drive the rebuild.

The forum will include a variety of keynote speakers, a number of special topic sessions focusing on key race relations issues, and will conclude with the 2014 New Zealand Diversity Awards.

The forum is preceded by the 2014 Diversity Youth Forum. Find out more