I am an EPS worker form the Philippines. I am an MTU member. I am here on this occasion to express our deep sentiments on this deeply saddening situation of migrant workers especially now. I have stayed in Korea for more than three years. And for the three years that I have stayed here, I am filled with deep sadness, fear, insecurity and low self worth.
I have always thought that coming to Korea would be a means to provide for a better life for me and my family, the best opportunity for me to help my country, an opportunity for me to gain new skills, a family in the form of our employers and co-workers, a well of hope that good things will come if I worked hard enough and dedicated enough.
Instead in my entire stay in Korea I have experienced so many things that were far from my expectations. Employers tell us that they are treating us like family while working non-stop ‘til we can no longer afford to keep awake and alert while operating dangerous machines. A Filipino worker in Jeongnam died in his sleep inside his factory. We can only assume that is it because of overworking, working from 7:30pm to 2:00pm the next day every single day. He did not get his salary, no insurance, no benefits, nothing. His mother had to borrow money to send his body back home.
Despite of our sacrifices, despite of our hard work the media portrays us foreigners, us migrant workers as dangerous criminals, “dangerous Asians” as they call us. They pollute the media with their propaganda and sensationalist news. Now I realized that in Korea, traffic violations are a serious crime for migrant workers and they deserve to be reported to the public like the child-rapist who got 12 years of prison term. Is this what you call balanced news??! What about the gangster groups of migrant workers? They could do not even provide details or prove the existence of these groups. They base their reports on police speculations only. Without hard evidence these reports should be filed in the fiction story section.
I have also experienced the harsh treatment of the immigration in doing their crackdown. Despite of its unconstitutionality the government is still intensively and violently conducting the crackdown. The immigration is breaking in the migrants’ residences and factories, physically assaulting migrant workers and conniving with sajangnims so that they can avoid paying fines while they deport the people who have sacrificed more that their time and energy working in Korea. Our friends who have filed money claims with the Nodongbu found themselves arrested by the immigration because they refused to sign the waiver that would free the sajangnim from any obligation to them. He hated having to pay their 퇴직금 so he gave out the list of the undocumented workers to the immigration and told the immigration where these workers live. The sajangnim was very cunning. He did this so that the workers will not be caught in his factory so he can avoid paying both the fine and the 퇴직금. These workers are treated no better than disposable cups. I urge everyone, help us stop this inhumanity.
Stop the criminalization of migrant workers! Stop discrimination of migrant workers!
Stop Crackdown!
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Stop Crackdown! - Voice of migrant workers
