15th of October 2011

3 pm – 10 pm

At Dragon Hall 17 Stukeley Street, London WC2 5LT

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

There will be an

‘Immigration forum on Settlement’

that will commence at 3 pm – 5 pm

Followed by

Music, Dance & Cultural Performances

No entrance fee and Food & refreshments’ will be served free!  

  Please confirm by telephoning 02072638992 or  text 07538797963

In memory of Dr. Fernando Santiago Jr.

  Click here for flyer info

 12th of October 2011, Wednesday

Committee Room 16, House of Commons,

Houses of Parliament,

London SW1A 0AA

Kanlungan invites you to the launch of five  [5] briefings based on its research into the effect of immigration changes on Senior Care Workers in the UK. This is to be held immediately after the meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Care sector in the UK. Through a panel discussion, the launch will address the role migrant senior care workers play in the UK, and the impact immigration changes have had on their lives and will have on the UK care industry.

 Click here for more information

‘Dukot’ (Desaparecidos)

4th December 2010 at 7:30pm
Praxis Hall, Pott Street, Bethnal Green London E2 0EF (map)
(Filmshow is followed by dinner and dance to celebrate the early holiday season.)

Tickets at 10GBP inclusive of film, dinner and dance.
For enquiries, contact Kanlungan and/or CHRP.

Vote for Migrants Rights!

The project aims to gather issues and opinions from different Filipino migrant community organisations and individuals in the UK, in the light of producing a consolidated migrant agenda of the country. A national consultation is planned to take place on 17 April 2009 in London, where selected delegates from different migrant organisations across UK regions will gather to unite on their issues and endorse our own agenda.

To visit the website go to: http://votemigrantsrights.wordpress.com

Saturday 31st October  11 a.m.  – 5.00 p.m.

@ Praxis (community centre) Pott Street, London E2 0EF

Tel: 020 7729 7985 
 Buses: 8, 106, 254 and 388
 Underground: Bethnal Green Station 
(Central Line)

Are you a former health care professional who feels deskilled and wants a change? This training will help you to gain support and advocacy to move in this direction. Taught by Sondra Cuban, PhD, of Lancaster University, you will start a portfolio of hidden but important skills and knowledge about advancement and advocacy in the UK that aims at collective empowerment for students in social care.  The goals are:

• To become aware of global deskilling and transnational care of migrant health care professionals and identify ways that this phenomenon has affected the livelihood of yourself, family and community.
• Information sharing about international, national, and local organizations to assist you, with a guest speaker who can advise on nursing.
• To trace your professional journey and share your story in video format so as to build your presentation skills in a supportive environment and raise public awareness about the situation of many Filipino health care professionals in the UK so as to change common misperceptions.
• To develop greater support systems for advancement and self-determination for your rights as students and people.
• To gain greater assertiveness skills for dealing with agency staff, tutors, administrators, employers, clients and colleagues surrounding abuse and discrimination.

This workshop will involve stimulating activities and include a packet of information with worksheets, including a skills audit and union organizing for the development of your portfolio. Other ideas for future collaboration and actions will also be explored. Please bring some precious items, from your present and past life, including any poems, certificates, music, photos, etc.. to share.

As part of an Economic Social Research Council (ESRC) study, you will be paid £10 for your participation in the training, including, the completion of a short assessment on your experiences, and an additional £10 for a phone interview 3 months after the workshop is over. Video and consent forms will need to be completed at the beginning of the training.

For further information on the content of the training, please contact, Sondra Cuban at: s.cuban@lancaster.ac.uk or 07590698804. For administrative questions, consult Jamima Fagta at Kanlungan at: jfagta@googlemail.com or 07538797963

To download invitation, click here

17 September 2009

Overseas Filipino Workers in UK gear up for protest on Arroyo visit:
- Protect the rights of senior care workers in the UK
- End Arroyo’s labour-export policy

Migrante UK will stage a picket protest on Friday, 18 September 2009 in front of the Riverbank Plaza Hotel at 3:15pm, where Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to give a keynote speech about Philippines’ supposed economic resilience and growth amidst the global crisis during the Economist-led 2009 Emerging Market Conference.

“The supposed stability of the Philippine economy is paid for by the blood and sweat of Filipino migrants through taxations and remittances. How dare Arroyo brag about this when she did nothing to address the problems faced by Filipino migrants in the UK?” lamented Rafael Maramag, coordinator for Migrante UK.

Migrante UK, together with the Kanlungan alliance of Filipino organizations in the UK, are actively campaigning for the right to UK settlement of Filipino senior carers who have fallen victim due to the changes in immigration rules. Kanlungan is set to file a judicial review against the UK Border Agency to challenge the latter’s rejection of settlement applications of affected senior carers.

“We challenge Arroyo to directly lobby the UK government and directly address this issue during her visit. Senior care workers have a right to settle in the UK,” said Jamima Fagta, Migrante UK Secretary-General and project worker for Kanlungan alliance. “It is shameful that Arroyo plans to meet investors and other companies and continue to peddle Overseas Filipino Workers as cheap commodity, while a lot of us Overseas Filipino Workers who have been affected by unreasonable changes in local immigration laws have now become undocumented migrants. Arroyo should put as a priority and push for the proper recognition and documentation of migrant workers in the UK.” added Fagta.

The UK Border Agency has avowed a big shake-up in managing migration, implementing speedy removals of undocumented migrants and failed asylum seekers while instituting return bans for up to ten years for offenders.

“Joblessness and extreme poverty in the Philippines are forcing hundreds of Filipinos everyday to seek jobs abroad, including in the UK, even if it meant the risk of being exploited and becoming undocumented. But Arroyo doesn’t seem to care as long as remittances are being sent back home,” said Maramag. “What Arroyo should do is take action in addressing both the welfare of the more than 200,000 OFW’s in the UK while creating real jobs back home rather than churning out lies of economic resilience in the Philippines,” he added.

Mr. Steve Symonds of ILPA gave a concise yet clear sharing on naturalisation provisions in the new act covering subjects on probationary citizenship; active citizenship, which could vary the length of the probationary period; and other new or amended requirements before a naturalisation application: absences in the UK, continuous employment, family association and qualifying leave.

Moreover, Symonds also stressed prospects to further influence how or whether to implement the Act, which is envisaged to be commenced by the UK Government in July 2011 with impending UK General Elections set next year playing a major factor. Meanwhile, UKBA released two online public consultations in relation to aspects of the naturalisation process, which we are all encouraged to respond:

1.Earning the right to stay: A new points test for citizenship http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/221878/earning-the-right-to-stay/
Responses due 26 October 2009

2.Charging for immigration and visa applications http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/221878/charging09/
Responses due 1 December 2009

During the open forum, students also posited queries on Tier 4 of the Points Based System and sponsorship licence. Over all, Kanlungan’s forum identified human rights issues of old and new migrants under the current trend of immigration policies.
 
The forum was attended by representatives from Migrants’ Rights Network (MRN), Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), Cordillera Student Association (CSA), Igorot UK, UNISON and member organisations of Kanlungan Alliance.
 
Full appended text of Steve Symonds’ lecture here.

Kanlungan’s Judicial Review for Senior Carers
Mr. Raman Purewal of Aston Brooke Solicitors, a law firm which Kanlungan has been working closely with on this endeavour, set out the background of the proposed group Judicial Review for Senior Care Workers (SCW’s).

He highlighted the ‘gaps’ incurred by SCW’s in their visas and work permits in applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain which are being used as basis of refusal by the UKBA. He stressed that these ‘gaps’ are a direct result of the changes made by policy changes of the UKBA and therefore not the fault of the SCW’s themselves.

Furthermore, Purewal put forward guidelines in determining gaps in SCW’s visa or working permit. Some SCW’s who were present had the chance to enquire firsthand about their respective cases.

If you are a Senior Care worker under work permit, please contact Kanlungan.

For full text of Kanlungan’s proposed Judicial Review, click here.

What: Information Forum on the Citizenship Act
Kanlungan’s Judicial Review for Senior Care Workers

Guest speakers: Steve Symonds, ILPA Legal Officer
Kashif Majeed, Astoon Brooke Solicitors

When: 12th September 2009, 12:00nn – 4:00pm

Where: Praxis Hall, Pott Street, London, E2 0EF (map)

How to get there

For more info: contact Kanlungan

View/download flyer invitation here