Tokyo is gearing up for the 2020 Olympics. While athletes are training hard, the Japanese government is working equally hard to get the facilities ready in time. To do so, it has recently relaxed immigration procedures to allow more foreign workers to work on the construction of new olympic venues. It has also introduced new regulations for foreign domestic helpers from the Philippines and Vietnam, easing the situation in the previously restricted sector. With this, sources say that this service industry will be worth 600 billion yen (US$5.45 billion) in the near future.
Fr Ando Isamu SJ and Jessie Tayama from the Tokyo Migrants Desk presented these developments to the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific’s migration network during its meeting from April 19 to 21 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Their stories reflect a growing trend in many developed countries with labour shortages resulting from ageing populations. These countries consider migrant workers as supplementary – and temporary – labour and hence not eligible for the rights and provisions available to citizens or permanent residents.
Sr Wei Wei of Rerum Novarum in Taiwan relayed a similar story. The Taiwanese government has just extended the duration of work visas to up to 14 years. Although this is good news for migrant workers, the limit is a year shy of the legal duration for which migrants will be eligible for permanent residence in the country.
The situation is similar in Korea. Fr Kim Min SJ and Fr Lee Sung-gyoon SJ from Yiutsari reported that in Korea, the work contract is extendable up to five years and ten months, just under the six years of residence required by the law to be eligible for permanent residence.
On the other side of the migratory flow, higher demand means higher profits. Countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam are happy to meet the need for more migrant workers. For many years, millions of migrant workers from these countries have sent billions of dollars in remittances to their families, bringing valuable hard currency for cash-strapped governments. However, as Fr Joseph Dao SJ of Vietnam, Astuti Sitanggang of Indonesia and Fr Pat Falguera SJ of the Philippines explained, this increase in demand often translates into mechanisms that put the lives and dignity of migrant workers at risk. Migration for labour has become a lucrative business and protection of the vulnerable often comes second to profits.
The migration network brings together these various experiences of migratory flows and facilitates collaborative ways to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable. However, the meeting in Ho Chi Minh revealed that Jesuit ministries particularly in the so-called sending countries are still found wanting.
Fr Benny Juliawan SJ, JCAP Coordinator for Social Apostolate and migration, said, “Although the network is in its second year, this apostolic priority is in need of serious commitments. We had hoped to be able to move forward with concrete actions as a network this year, but this has turned out to be a year of change in leadership for three of the six provinces in our network so it may be a while before we can resume our discussion on a common action.”
Yiutsari’s new director, Fr Lee, has to work right away to oversee the construction of a new office for the centre. In the Phillipines, Fr Falguera is the new province coordinator for the social apostolate and is going to foster better collaboration between its various migration initiatives. By the end of this year, Sr Wei Wei will retire after 21 years of dedicated service with Rerum Novarum.