Goodbye from December 18 and Radio1812

Date: 22/04/2013 - 09:08

Dear colleagues and friends,

Two years ago we announced that because of a difficult funding situation, we were closing down our office in Brussels and putting some activities of our organization on hold.

Despite these difficult decisions we did manage to pull off two further successful editions of the annual Radio1812 event and even introduced some new elements such as the Odysseia audio magazine. This would not have been possible without the continued - although very limited - financial support and the contributions from the team of volunteers.

Who's Rights? International Monitoring of Compliance with Human Rights of Migrants in the Netherlands

Date: 18/02/2010 - 11:52
What viewpoints have international human rights organisations adopted since 2000 on a number of aspects relating to the treatment of migrants in the Netherlands? How have politicians and the press responded to these viewpoints? And have any steps been taken as a result of international criticism? Three circumstances serve to illustrate the importance of these questions. Government policy on immigrants has undergone continuous change since 2002, and successive governments have been exploring limits ever since that year.

Thailand: Rights groups protest deportation of Burmese migrants

Date: 17/02/2010 - 11:29

Over 2 million migrants have been threatened by the Royal Thai Government (RTG) with deportation after 28th Feb. 2010 if they fail to enter a nationality verification process (NV). Over 80% of these migrants are from Burma and face ethnic and political conflict as well as continuing economic deterioration in their homeland, which is controlled by a military government.

House says help is on the way for Indonesian maids

Date: 16/02/2010 - 09:43

Lawmakers from House of Representatives Commission IX overseeing health, manpower and transmigration promised on Sunday to pass a law this year to protect the rights of Indonesia’s four million domestic workers.

E-consultation on Migration and Rural Development Launched

Date: 08/02/2010 - 16:47

We are pleased to announce the third series of our e-consultation where we will discuss about the role of migrants and diaspora organisations in rural development.

There are many studies referring to the positive contributions of migrants’ remittances to development. However, many of these policy debates tend to separate remittances from migrants, or better said, they talk about remittances but not the senders of remittances.

USA-Mexico: The 800 Mile Wall

Date: 08/02/2010 - 16:23

A few years ago I grew concerned about the massive escalation of security infrastructure that was being built along the U.S. Mexico border. I was born in Tijuana, Mexico and grew up on the flip side of the border in San Diego, California only a few hundred yards from the actual borderline. As a kid, there were always border patrol around but I never felt threatened by our proximity to Mexico. As an adult, I couldn't figure out what had changed. Why, six long years after 9/11, were Mexico and our neighbors to the south a threat to our safety and sovereignty?

UN expert on migrants raises alarm on threat of massive deportations from Thailand.

Date: 18/02/2010 - 10:34

GENEVA – The UN human rights expert on the human rights of migrants, Jorge A. Bustamante, today raised serious concerns about the nationality verification process in Thailand and warned that its implementation in its current form may lead to forced deportation of a great number of migrants, in breach of fundamental human rights obligations.

EU: Migrants sent 32 billion euro to their former country of residence.

Date: 18/02/2010 - 10:35

Eurostat reports that in the EU27, money sent by migrants to their former country of residence, usually referred to as workers' remittances, amounted to 31.8 bn euro in 2008, compared with 31.3 bn in 2007 and 19.4 bn in 2004. These figures include both intra-EU27 and extra-EU27 flows. The increase in workers' remittances over recent years was mainly due to a sharp rise in extra-EU27 flows (from 11.5 bn in 2004 to 22.5 bn in 2008), while intra-EU27 flows rose less rapidly (from 7.9 bn to 9.3 bn).

Philippines: Labour official attacks plan to ban Filipina maids

Date: 16/02/2010 - 09:41

ABU DHABI // The Philippine government should resist the call to protect maids from maltreatment by preventing them from seeking work in the Middle East, a Filipino labour official in Abu Dhabi said.

Instead, the government should provide domestic workers with information they can use at mandatory pre-departure briefings, said Nasser Munder, the labour attaché in Abu Dhabi.

“Many of them are attending the seminar just to comply with the requirements for overseas employment.

Connecting the Dots: A Fresh Look at Managing International Migration

Date: 08/02/2010 - 16:31

Over a period of three months, ICMC has consulted leading policy makers and actors within the migration field, bringing them together for informal discussions on the diverse challenges associated with global migration flows and approaches, and to discuss ways to improve international migration management. Connecting the dots offers a summary report of these first conversations, including recommendations for next steps.

Download the paper here

USA: Working without Laws

Date: 08/02/2010 - 16:09

Last week, the National Employment Law Project released Working Without Laws, a landmark study exposing systematic and routine violations of employment and labor laws in core sectors of the economy in New York City. In industries ranging from construction, food manufacturing and industrial laundries to restaurants, janitorial services and home health care, workers are enduring minimum wage, overtime and off-the-clock violations at alarming rates, and face retaliation for speaking up or trying to organize.

December 18 is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Financial support for operational costs and projects are occasionally provided by a range of funders.

December 18 is the International Resource Centre on the Human Rights of Migrants. Interested in becoming a volunteer, click here.