"I was a stranger and you made me welcome" (Matthew24:34-35)

1. "I was a stranger and you made me welcome"(Matthew24:34-35) Presented by : Justice and Peace Commission of the HK Catholic Diocese, April 2011

2. The International Human Rights Convention • According to the Employment and Emigration Convention, the Convention on Elimination of All Kinds of Discrimination Against Women, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the government has the responsibility to ensure that all employees are treated equally in the job market, regardless of sex and no matter that they are local or migrant workers. • The Universal Declaration on Human Rights recognizes the right of every person "to leave any country, including his own and to return" (art. 13,2) without however saying anything about the right to enter another country different from one's own.

3. Migration is at times the lesser evil. • The Church defends the human right to migrate (CCC, 2241), but she does not encourage its exercise. She knows, in fact, that migration has a very high cost, and that it is always the migrant that has to pay. On the other hand, she also recognizes that migration is at times the lesser evil. • The Church does everything she can to assure that the society of arrival considers migrants not as means of production but as persons endowed with the dignity of the children of God with inalienable rights.

4. Poverty, is the generator of migration • Migration today is practically an expression of the violation of the primary human right to live in one's own country • These situations are to be corrected through the promotion of balanced economic development, progressively overcoming social inequalities, scrupulous respect for the human person and the proper functioning of democratic structures. • Poverty, which is the generator of migration, requires an urgent solution.

5. Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate) • In his latest encyclical entitled, Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate), Pope Benedict XVI refers to the mass movement of migrant labour around the world as a fact of modern life to which far too little attention is paid. He issues a warning that forces are at work seeking to treat migrant labour as a simple commodity and as just another production factor. • “This is a striking phenomenon because of the sheer numbers of people involved, the social, economic, political, cultural and religious problems that it raises, and the dramatic challenges it poses to nations and the international community,”

6. The Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church • Emigration workers should not be disadvantaged in comparison with other workers of a society in terms of working rights, nor be an opportunity for financial or social exploitation(Laborem Exercens, Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II, on the Dignity of Work, 23).

7. The Priority of Labour • In view of this situation we must first of all recall a principle that has always been taught by the Church: the principle ot the priority of labour over capital. • This principle directly concerns the process of production: in this process labour is always a primary efficient cause, while capital, the whole collection of means of production, remains a mere instrument or instrumental cause. (Laborem Exercens, Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II, on the Dignity of Work, 12).

8. World Day of Migrants & Refugees • In the Roman Catholic Church, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees is celebrated in January each year, having been instituted in 1914 by Pope Pius X. • In 2011, The theme of the papal message for the Day "One human family," affirms that all people are one community, although scattered throughout the world and, therefore, of different cultures and traditions, may be one, as the Lord wishes.Remembering the Holy Family - has always lived within itself the experience of migration.

9. International Catholic Migration Commission • ICMC was established by the Holy See in 1951 and was further granted public canonical juridical status in 2008. • ICMC is an international commission of Catholic Bishops Conferences, and working with migrants and refugees on national and regional levels.

10. Religious Support • Weekly Newspaper: Mubuhay (Complimentary copies attached with the Sunday Examiner) • Political News and the Church development in the Philippines • Labor News • Spiritual Reflection in both English & Tagalog

11. HK Church Involvement • Migrant Shelter • The Filipino Catholic Association (FCA) which is located at the Kowloon Rosary Church has the longest history since Apr 1958. • Jesus Is Lord Church (JIL Church) is a Christian organization that originates in the Philippines • Mass Service in Tagalog and in English • Diocesan Commission for Pastoral Services to Filipino Migrants– Bishop John Tong as the Chairperson since 1994

12. Caritas HK • Hotline Service - basic informations on community services • Counseling services – marital, parent-child and employer-employee relationship • Education Programs – orientations, labor laws etc • Training programs – Language, domestic works • Cultural exchange programs - traditional festival celebration • Community education for local peoples

13. How about HKJP? • Joint Declaration against all kind of abuses against Foreign Domestic Workers; • Protest action against Levy, wage cut, exclusion of SMW, Two-weeks rule… • Articles and Newsletter on the Situation of FDW; • Financial Support • Conducted In-depth research on the migration • Response on the Human rights situation of the sending countries.

14. Say NO to Discrimination • 3000 copies of Booklet on “Population Policy 2003” • Flyers against the discrimination of Domestic Workers, and the exclusion of SMW • Submission in the LegCo • July 1st Rally, May Day Rally etc

15. The more we involved.. • The more we become involved, the more we have realized that there are rampant cases of violation of human rights, sexual harassment / exploitation, denial of justice & freedom and there is an urgent need to act to bring about change in the present scenario.