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	Fatal Journeys: Migrant Fatalities Worldwide: 40,000 since 2000 by International Organization for Migration   The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has released “Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost During Migration,” the world’s most comprehensive tally to date of migrant fatalities across land and sea.   With a count surpassing 40,000 victims since 2000, IOM calls on all the world’s governments to address what it describes as “an epidemic of crime and victimization.”   “Our message is blunt: migrants are dying who need not,” said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing, “It is time to do more than count the number of victims. It is time to engage the world to stop this violence against desperate migrants.”   The research behind “Fatal Journeys,” which runs to over 200 pages, began with the October 2013 tragedy when over 400 migrants died in two shipwrecks near the Italian island of Lampedusa.   The report, compiled under IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, indicates Europe is the world’s most dangerous destination for “irregular” migration, costing the lives of over 3,000 migrants this year.   Calculations based on incidents compiled by The Migrants Files, a joint project conducted under the aegis of Journalism, suggests over 22,000 migrants have died trying to reach Europe since 2000, mainly on treacherous routes across the Mediterranean Sea.   Besides counting fatalities, the Missing Migrants Project is part of a broader effort to use social media to engage communities around the world.   With this month’s Malta shipwreck tragedy, IOM offices worldwide received calls and emails from family members across Europe and the Middle East seeking news about their missing relatives, many of whom are now feared dead.   Going forward, the Missing Migrants Project will lend a powerful voice of deterrence to keep future victims from embarking on these dangerous journeys.   “People are already looking for information about missing migrants on Facebook. We know as well that people are trafficked around the world using Facebook and other social media,” says IOM spokesperson Leonard Doyle.   “We want to turn #MissingMigrants into a powerful voice to warn future migrants against taking these high risk journeys. It is not doing it with a poster or a radio spot, but with the most persuasive means out there - the voices of survivors and the family members of missing migrants,” he adds.   ”Fatal Journeys” notes that since 2000 nearly 6,000 more migrant deaths occurred along the U.S.-Mexico border and another 3,000 deaths from such diverse migration routes as Africa’s Sahara Desert and the waters of the Indian Ocean.   The true number of fatalities is likely to be considerably higher. “Fatal Journeys” uses statistical data compiled by governments and other agencies, as well as NGOs and media sources, but collecting data on migrant deaths has never been a priority for most governments around the world.   “Although vast sums of money are spent collecting migration and border control data, very few agencies collect and publish data on migrant deaths,” says IOM Head of Research Frank Laczko.   Many deaths occur in remote regions of the world and are never recorded. No organization at the global level is currently responsible for systematically monitoring the number of deaths which occur.   According to Laczko, data tends to be scattered, with a range of organizations involved in tracking fatalities. Some experts now believe that for every dead body discovered, there are at least two others that are never recovered.   IOM believes the publication of “Fatal Journeys” will begin to provide some clarity to what many consider to be a growing epidemic of crime against migrants. It represents an initial step towards a more comprehensive accounting of what is happening to the victims and a wake-up call for governments.   “The paradox is that a time when one in seven people around the world are migrants, we are seeing an extraordinarily harsh response to migration in the developed world,” says IOM Director General Swing.   “Limited opportunities for safe and regular migration drive would-be migrants into the hands of smugglers, feeding an unscrupulous trade that threatens the lives of desperate people. We need to put an end to this cycle. Undocumented migrants are not criminals. They are human beings in need of protection and assistance, and deserving respect,” he adds.   http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/news-and-views/news-releases/news-listing/iom-releases-new-data-on-migrant.html http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/news-and-views/press-briefing-notes/pbn-2014b/pbn-listing/iom-director-general-calls-for-a.html http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home http://www.unhcr.org/53a060139.html http://reliefweb.int/report/world/humanitarian-coffers-near-bankruptcy-third-committee-hears-top-refugee-official-calls http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home.html http://humanitariancompendium.iom.int/ http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48749#.VBz77xb_J30 Visit the related web page
	Indonesian maid named one of Time magazine"s top 100 most influential people by Reuters, CNN, Amnesty & agencies Hong Kong   Apr 2014   Time magazine has named an Indonesian maid, allegedly tortured by her Hong Kong employer, as one of the world"s 100 most influential people, shining a spotlight on the city"s treatment of its migrant domestic workers.   The magazine has hailed Erwiana Sulistyaningsih"s bravery in speaking out against her employer and pushing for laws that better protect foreign helpers in Hong Kong.   Ms Sulistyaningsih reportedly suffered months of abuse in a case which has renewed concern over the treatment of helpers in Hong Kong and sparked angry protests.   The 23-year-old domestic helper says she was delighted at the news of being named on Time"s list.   "I give thanks to God, I am very happy and I hope more attention will be given to the fate of migrant workers throughout the world," she said.   "I also hope that there will not be any more migrant workers who experience what I went through."   Time"s recognition of Ms Sulistyaningsih brings international attention to the treatment of migrant domestic workers in the city, according to Eman Villanueva, spokesman for the Hong Kong-based Asian Migrants Coordinating Body.   "The inclusion itself only proves that the issue of migrant domestic workers, the slavery, the exploitation and abuse is something that the international community should pay attention to," Mr Villanueva said.   He described the situation as "ripe for abuse" in the city, where maids are required to live with their employers.   Mr Villanueva also said Ms Sulistyaningsih"s actions and her inclusion on the list would empower more victims to speak out.   Law Wan-tung, a 44-year-old Hong Kong mother-of-two, has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Ms Sulistyaningsih.   Prosecutors have alleged that Law turned household items such as a mop, a ruler and a clothes hanger into "weapons" against her.   Law was also charged with common assault and four counts of criminal intimidation related either to Ms Sulistyaningsih or to her two previous Indonesian domestic helpers.   The trial has been adjourned to April 29, with officials awaiting Ms Sulistyaningsih"s medical records from Indonesia, where she was admitted to hospital in critical hospital in January.   Thousands of people rallied in Hong Kong in January to demand justice for Ms Sulistyaningsih.   "We are workers, we are not slaves," a crowd of several thousand domestic workers and their supporters chanted as they marched to the city"s government headquarters.   Some held up grisly photographs of Ms Sulistyaningsih"s battered face and body.   "We have to end modern day slavery like this," Ila Hasan, a 32-year-old domestic worker from Indonesia"s island of Java, said. "The employer isn"t human, these things shouldn"t happen."   Amnesty International in November condemned the "slavery-like" conditions faced by thousands of Indonesian domestic helpers in Hong Kong and accused authorities of "inexcusable" inaction.   Hong Kong is home to nearly 300,000 foreign domestic helpers, most of them from Indonesia and the Philippines.   January 21, 2014 (CNN)   Finally going back home to Indonesia this month after toiling for 13 years in Hong Kong, migrant worker Riyanti was looking forward to being reunited with her child.   But as she waited at the airport departure gates she couldn"t help noticing the distressed condition of one of her compatriots.   With blackened skin and obviously in pain, Erwiana Sulistyaningsih told Riyanti her condition was due to a skin allergy exacerbated by the winter cold.   But when she couldn"t stand up to walk to the departure gate, Riyanti knew that something was seriously wrong.   Erwiana was so weak, Riyanti put her on a trolley to wheel her to the gate. Eventually, she had to help her onto the plane.   "She said, "I"m scared." I asked her why and told her she didn"t need to be scared because I was there to help. I immediately took photos of her hands, her body. I asked again, are you sure these are really from allergies?" Riyanti told CNN.   "Then she told me: "The truth is I was tortured by my employer. She beat me up and didn"t give enough food to eat. I got very weak so she sent me home."   "I told her we should report it to the police but she said "No, I"m scared because she threatened to have my parents killed by her husband"s friends."   Riyanti, one of four Indonesian workers who came to the aid of Erwiana at Hong Kong Airport, traveled with the ailing domestic helper to her home in Ngawi, East Java, and stayed on to help her.   "Because I"m already involved, I refuse to be silent," Riyanti said. "I can"t accept what happened, that kind of torture. How she suffered while she was walking, while she was sitting (at the airport). I wonder what she went through during the months she worked there."   Erwiana"s case is now at the center of an investigation and protests by thousands of people who rallied in Hong Kong to demand justice for the young Indonesian maid.   Erwiana"s plight has drawn attention to the risks faced by migrant workers in Asia and the Gulf regions.   The employer also threatened to kill Erwiana and her family if she revealed the abuse she suffered, Eni Lestari, head of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Network, told the South China Morning Post.   Erwiana is now recovering from her injuries at a hospital in Sragen, a city in central Java. The maid had suffered extensive injuries but her condition was stabilizing, the South China Morning Post reported.   At the heart of the issue is a Hong Kong law that requires domestic helpers to live with their employers. While domestic helpers in Hong Kong are guaranteed a minimum wage of HK$3,920 ($505) a month under heavily policed labor laws, support groups say the live-in law contributes to abuse.   Hong Kong"s Mission For Migrant Workers (MFMW) released a study last year based on interviews with more than 3,000 foreign domestic workers. It found that almost one third had no proper accommodation within the house.   "They do not have their own room provided and have to either share the bedroom with other members of the household or sleep in common areas of the apartment, such as the living room, study or playroom where there is very little privacy," the study reported.   "Some even sleep in unsuitable spaces such as the bathroom, toilets, veranda, corridor, kitchen and storage rooms, with only makeshift beds on top of ovens, cupboards or bathtubs. There are foreign domestic workers that are forced to share the room with young adult male members of the household," it added.   MFMW director Cynthia Ca Abdon-Tellez told Hong Kong media that the government requirement that maids must live with their employer meant they had nowhere to run when they were abused.   She also urged the government to scrap a policy that requires domestic helpers to leave Hong Kong just two weeks after their contracts expire, saying it did not give workers enough time to find new work.   "It often forces the helpers to endure abuses so they can hold on to their jobs," she said, adding that they needed the jobs to support their families back home.   http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA17/041/2013/en http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/hong-kong-2015-02-10 http://www.migrants.net/ http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/domestic-workers/lang--en/index.htm http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-landmark-victory-domestic-workers http://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/10/27/claiming-rights http://undesadspd.org/WorldYouthReport/2013.aspx http://migration.unu.edu/
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