Struggle for our rights as migrants and refugees, end imperialist exploitation and oppression!
SPEECH at Second Conference on Libyan War Refugees in Hamburg - 8 February 2014
Dear fellow migrants, refugees, and friends from Caravan:
In behalf of our organization – Umangat-MIGRANTE in Rome, and the International Migrants Alliance-Europe chapter, (IMA-Europe) we express our warmest and heartfelt solidarity with your event today and with the just struggle of refugees spearheaded by the Libyan war refugees and the Caravan here in Germany.
I have been requested to share with you our experiences and standpoint on the issue of forced migration, the issue of refugees in Europe, the situation of Filipino and other migrants in Europe, and how we can resist the continuing imperialist-instigated wars mainly by the US and its NATO allies in Europe.
Lampedusa is not simply the horrendous event that happened recently in October where over 368 migrants were burned and drowned into the sea, but a painful icon of the plight of migrants, like me, who succumbed to a situation of no choice but to leave because of the imperialist aggression against our countries. I will first share with you the situation in the Philippines - why many Filipinos are being forced to migrate and then, the concrete situation in Italy particularly the exploitation of migrants and oppression of refugees.