CALLS FOR CREATIVE STORY PROPOSALS ON MIGRATION
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Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency is inviting mid-career, print journalists to submit creative proposals for in-depth, investigative articles on Asian migration and its links to reproductive, sexual and emotional health, under its media project 'On the Asian Migration Trail'.

This project by IPS Asia-Pacific headquarters aims to encourage reportage, in both labour-sending and receiving countries, of the often underreported human aspects of migration within Asia and in other regions that host Asian labourers and migrants..

Ahead of World Cup, Crackdown on Foreign Migrants Deplored
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SEOUL - Ahead of the World Cup and Asian Games, the South Korean government is planning a massive crackdown on migrant workers, the workers union Equality Trade Union-Migrants Branch said. Hundreds of illegal migrant workers from various countries are planning to protest mass deportation, which requires illegal aliens to turn themselves in to authorities, in a rall..

Source: Equality Trade Union-Migrants Branch
http://migrant.nodong.ne

Skilled Immigrants Wanted,
No PhD Required

MONTREAL - Think Canada only wants immigrants with PhDs or computer degrees? Think again: Butchers and welders are just two groups that have been admitted into the country recently as one of the world's richest nations deals with a shortage of blue-collar workers.

''We've had a lot of people who have come in the trades areas, like welders, carpenters, metal finishers, machinists, mechanics,'' says Gerry Clement, assistant deputy minister of immigration in the western province of Manitoba.

''Our major source countries have been traditional areas of immigration, with the Philippines the highest, followed by Germany, the former Yugoslavia, the Ukraine and China.'' (IPS)

Adjusting to Life at Home Far from Easy

The Philippine government has paid scant attention to developing Filipino migrants as "foreign investors", say speakers at the International Conference on Identifying Economic Linkages Between Overseas Filipinos and Rural Communities in the Philippines, held in April.
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Recognising the plight of the Philippines' so-called economic heroes, civil society groups are working out ways to re-integrate returning migrant workers into the communities. President Gloria Arroyo agrees there is a need to realign government programmes for these workers.
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Modern-day Comfort Women in Korea
By Jay Padlan APMMF- Korea Coordinator
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SEOUL - On the night of Nov. 29, 2001 at minus 6 degrees Celsius weather, the leaders of KASAMMAKO, an alliance of migrant community and associations in Korea called up and asked me to immediately go to Uijungbu district, south of Seoul. I was informed that there were women we needed to talk to because they had just escaped from the 'prostitution' club near the U.S. bases.

It was almost midnight when my companion and I reached Uijungbu. We were greeted by Neneth, the woman who sheltered the three woman for a day and contacted the cousin of one of victims. The women were a bit restless as they narrated their stories. Their voices shook and at times they were hysterical as they told us of their ordeal. One of them cried as they told us about their escape from the vicious Roxy club.
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Rugged-looking and tanned from exposure tothe tropical sun, Pepe (not his real name) and his friends speak in a surprisingly gentle tone about the woes that come with their jobs as fishing boat workers.

HONG KONG
The Call of the Sea (and its Men)

It is Sunday night in one of the nightspots in Hong Kong's entertainment district of Wan Chai, and the place is thumping.

Crossing the Line

Marie is seated at a corner table, her profile flickering amid the confusion of lights at a popular disco where she works. She is the latest recruit in a virtual army of heavily made-up young Asian women that enlivens Hong Kong's entertainment district of Wanchai.

During the six years she worked in South Korea, Connie (not her real name) sent 400 U.S. dollars every month to her family in the Philippines, so they could invest it in a store that would finance their daily needs and help secure her children's future.

They have just had a baby girl, but Mark and Hanna (not their real names) are hardly the portrait of ecstatic first-time parents. A mere three weeks after their daughter Nicole was born, they had to send her home to the Philippines, where their parents would look after the tiny infant.