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December
18: International Migrant’s Day
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WASHINGTON,
December 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – As the world prepares
to mark for the third time the International Migrant’s Day on December
18, a report issued Monday, December 2, by a U.S. university said that
Immigrants were the backbone behind the U.S. economic boom in the 1990s,
providing half the expansion of the U.S. work force.
According
to a study by Northeastern University titled “Immigrant Workers and
the Great American Job Machine”, “one of every two net new labor
force participants in the United States over the past 11 years was a new
foreign immigrant.”
Between
1990 and 2001, the U.S. labor force grew from 125.8 million people to
141.8 million, up just under 16 million or 12.7 percent, the report
said, citing government statistics.
The
number of new immigrant workers in the period was 8.03 million, it said.
“Thus new immigrants accounted for 50 percent of the growth in the
civilian labor force over the 1990-2001 period.”
“The
great American job machine was largely fueled by new immigrant labor, a
finding that has received insufficient attention from most economic and
labor market analysts,” it said.
“At
no time in the past 90 years was the nation so dependent on immigrant
labor to meet its growing need for labor, especially among male workers,
whose native supply barely increased in the past decade and actually
declined in a number of regions and states, especially in the
northeast.”
Seventy-nine
percent of the increase in the U.S. male civilian labor force between
1990 and 2001 was due to new male immigrants, against 30 percent of the
growth in the female work force.
“The
main finding, however, is quite clear. The so-called new economy of the
United States in the 1990s was overwhelmingly dependent on male
immigrant workers for its employment growth.”
Compared
to their U.S.-born colleagues, new immigrants were much more likely to
be aged under 35 and to be less well educated, although both sectors had
a similar proportion of people with four-year degrees.
Sixty-one
percent of new immigrant labor force participants were aged under 35,
compared to 38 percent of native-born members of the work force. Less
than five percent of the foreign immigrants in the labor force were aged
55 or over, compared to 13 percent of those who were native born.
On
the education front, one-third of new immigrant labor force members
lacked a high-school diploma, a ratio three times higher than that of
the U.S. workers.
But
immigrant males without a diploma were three times more likely to be
employed, especially when young.
A
nearly identical 27 percent of both immigrants and U.S.-born workers
held a bachelor’s degree or higher.
New
immigrants took jobs across the spectrum, but because of the larger
proportion of workers with no diploma and limited English, they were
overly concentrated in areas such as agriculture, service jobs such as
cooks or barbers, factory floor work and helpers or cleaners.
One
quarter of the immigrant workers were employed in professional,
management-related, technical and high-level sales jobs.
The
study said its authors agreed with recent estimates by the U.S. Census
Bureau and the Urban Institute that there were likely nine million
undocumented immigrants in the United States, many of working age.
“Our
national immigration policies have largely been a failure in reducing
undocumented immigration and our work force needs are being met by a
group of workers who possess few rights.”
The
fifty fifth session of the U.N.’s General Assembly in 2000 proclaimed
December 18 as International Migrant’s day:
“The
General Assembly, taking note of Economic and Social Council decision
2000/288 of 26 July 2000,
“Considering
that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that all human
beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone
is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set out therein, without
distinction of any kind, in particular as to race, color or national
origin,
“Taking
into account the large and increasing number of migrants in the world,
“Encouraged
by the increasing interest of the international community in the
effective and full protection of the human rights of all migrants, and
underlining the need to make further efforts to ensure respect for the
human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants,
1.
Decides to proclaim 18 December International Migrant’s Day;
2.
Invites Member States, as well as intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations, to observe "International Migrant’s Day",
through, inter alia, the dissemination of the human rights and
fundamental freedoms of migrants, the sharing of experiences and the
designing of actions to ensure their protection;
3.
Requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the
attention of all Governments and appropriate intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations.”
The
date was chosen because it was on December 18, 1990 that the U.N.
adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of
all Migrants Workers and Members of Their Families.
Countries
around the world will be marking this occasion. In Belgium, on December
17, Flemish NGOs and trade unions are organizing in Brussels a study day
entitled: “Migration: a question of rights! What has the U.N.
Convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and
members of their families to offer?”
In
Ireland, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions started an online
campaign for the ratification of the U.N. Migrants Rights
Convention. They will present the received messages of support for the
ratification of the U.N. Convention to the Irish government on
Wednesday, December 18.
In
Japan, the Japanese National Network in Solidarity with Migrant Workers
is celebrating their 5th International Migrants’ Day in Tokyo. With
one more ratification needed for the U.N. Convention on the Protection
of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the
main theme of the 2002 Tokyo gathering is “We Appeal for
Ratification!”
In
Korea, the Joint Committee of Migrants in Korea is organizing together
with the Committee for Opposing Crack Down on Migrant Workers, Abolition
of Trainee System and Securing Migrants’ Rights (COCATS, 167 civil and
social organizations involved) a celebration to mark the day.
On
the International Human Rights Day on December 10, the 2002 Social
Minority Rights Declaration will be released. A rally will also be
planned on December 15 as well as a seminar on December 17 on the
situation of migrant women in Korea.
In
Spain, Catalan organizations will celebrate the International
Migrant’s Day and will use the day to inform the general public about
the human rights situation of migrant workers in Spain.
In
Holland, the Dutch Migrant’s Week, organized by Dutch Council of
Churches from November 10 to 17, opens a month
of celebrations and events.
The
International Migrant’s Day will be celebrated December 14 in The
Hague. Building up to this main event, regional workshops on
“Migration and Development” are organized.
In the Philippines, the Institute on Church and Social Issues (ICSI),
through the OFW Journalism Consortium, in cooperation with the
University of Santo Tomas (UST) Journalism department, will organize in
view of the IMD a Discussion Workshop on Philippine Migration
Journalism.
In
the U.K., the United Nations Association of the U.K. will use the Human
Rights Day, to debate the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Migrant
Workers.
The
Conference “Migrant
Workers: Who Benefits? - Debating the UN Convention on the Rights of
Migrant Workers.” is to be held at Church House, Westminster,
London.
In
the U.S., the Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, are organizing
an art show for the occasion. The NIRR is a national organization
composed of local coalitions and immigrant, refugee, community,
religious, civil rights, and labor organizations and activists.
They
show will be held on the broad theme of migrant, refugee and immigrant
rights, global migration and impacts on communities. It will celebrate
the contributions of migrants to their host and home countries
throughout the world, as it also addresses some of the urgent issues
affecting immigrants and immigrant communities in the U.S.
