#Cambodia- Human Rights Watch (HRW) to EU: End migrant abuse

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the European Union (EU) to renew efforts to eliminate forced labour and other abusive treatment within the Thai fishing industry, noting that a large number of workers were from Cambodia and Myanmar.

In a letter to EU officials, dated July 5 but published on Monday, HRW claimed that migrant workers were still falling into debt bondage within the commercial fishing sector.

Delayed payment and salaries below the minimum wage were two issues highlighted in the document.

Its statement said HRW found that “captains compelled predominantly Burmese [Myanmar] and Cambodian fishing workers to work overtime beyond those set out in law . . . [owners] frequently paid fishing workers once every six months – or in some cases once a year at subminimum wages”. 

The report said ATM cards and bank books were frequently taken by bosses in order to thwart Thai reforms requiring monthly direct deposits.

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HRW regional director for Asia Brad Adams said: “The Thai government’s reforms in the fishing industry still fall far short of resolving serious labour rights abuses . . . the EU should use its leverage as a major seafood importer to demand changes to the lives of migrant fishing workers on Thai vessels.”

Government spokesman Phay Siphan, said the state was paying attention to Cambodian workers in Thailand, citing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed previously regarding the issue.

“We signed the MoU with the Thai government and also with the Thai fisheries association,” Sophan said.

“Cambodia is working with the Thai government . . . to help our legal and illegal fishermen,” he said, adding that the Kingdom is pushing to give undocumented workers the help they need to get the right papers.

A statement in May from the International Transport Workers’ Federation, which launched the Fishers’ Rights Network, said there were “approximately 600,000 fishermen in Thailand”, predominantly from Cambodia and Myanmar.

Source - PhnomPhenPost

Philippines' President Duterte threatens to expel EU ambassadors

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday told ambassadors of European Union countries to leave the Philippines after he slammed the EU for being critical towards his administration.

“You leave my country in 24 hours. All of you,” Duterte said in a speech during the inauguration of the newly-renovated press briefing room in Malacañang.

  “Just like that you tell us: ‘You will be excluded in the UN’. Son of … go ahead,” Duterte told reporters, adding European nations were taking advantage of the Philippines being poor.

“You give us money then you start to orchestrate what things should be done and which should not happen in our country. You bullshit. We are past the colonization stage. Don’t f… with us.”

Duterte said he was prepared to kick European ambassadors out of the country if their governments tried to expel the Philippines.

 

“You think we are a bunch of morons here. You are the one. Now the ambassadors of those countries listening now, tell me, because we can have the diplomatic channel cut tomorrow. You leave my country in 24 hours, all, all of you.”

The EU had no statement calling for the Philippines’ removal from the UN but a seven-member delegation from the Progressive Alliance and the Party of European Socialists visited the country and called on the Duterte administration to stop killing suspected drug addicts and silencing its critics.

 

It was the New York-based Human Rights Watch that warned the Philippines would be at risk of being removed from the UN Human Rights Council because of alleged human rights violation in the country.

In a statement, the EU said it never called for the ouster of the Philippines from the UN.

“The recent visit of the delegation of the ‘International Delegates of the Progressive Alliance’ to the Philippines on 8-9 October was not a ‘European Union mission,’ as falsely reported by some media outlets,” the EU said.

The EU said it “was not part of the organization or planning of that visit – neither the Delegation of the European Union in the Philippines nor the European Union institutions in Brussels.”

“The statements made by the Progressive Alliance during its visit to the Philippines were made solely on behalf of the Progressive Alliance and do not represent the position of the European Union,” it said.

The EU and the Philippines, it said, both “work constructively and productively together in a close partnership in many contexts and areas, including, of course, in the UN context.”

 

“The cooperation covers a very wide range of subjects, including trade, where this year the Philippines made extraordinary progress on its exports to the EU,” it said.

Sought for comment, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said there was no instruction from the President yet as of posting time.

“I was informed that as far as our relevant offices are concerned, at this time, DFA has not received any instructions on the matter,” DFA spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said.

President’s expression of outrage

In a statement, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella clarified Duterte’s remarks.

“The President’s expression of outrage is in reaction to statements by a 7-member delegation of the International Delegates of the Progressive Alliance which has falsely portrayed itself as an EU mission,” Abella said.

He said the “delegation’s irresponsible statements protesting the alleged killings under the Duterte administration demean our status as a sovereign nation.”

“The call of the President for EU ambassadors to leave the country in 24 hours must be taken in this light,” he said.

“For so long has our President tolerated these undue interferences in our domestic affairs, and he has decided that these must stop if only to preserve the integrity and dignity of our State as a sovereign nation,” he added.

Source - TheNation 

Push for visa-free travel between #Britain and the #EU

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The travel industry in Britain is appealing to the British government to maintain visa-free travel between Britain and the rest of Europe, and to protect British holidaymakers’ rights to health insurance and free mobile-roaming during Brexit negotiations.
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Recently, the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) released a report titled “Making a success of Brexit for travel and tourism”, outlining a set of priorities the group sees as essential for the travel industry’s post-Brexit prosperity.
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Given that the EU is Britain’s biggest market for overseas holidays, Abta is asking the government to maintain visa-free travel to countries within the EU.
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In 2015, British residents made 37 million holiday and business trips to countries within Europe.
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Conversely, EU residents also made more than 16 million trips to Britain.
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“While immigration is a contentious issue, securing visa-free travel for holidays and short business trips should be the goal of the government,” reads the report.

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 “It is important that we maintain fast and efficient processes through our airports and ports and avoid lengthy queues to enable EU nationals to easily visit us, and UK visitors to travel to the EU.”.
The group is also urging the government to safeguard consumer travel rights that all European citizens enjoy, including access to free or reduced cost healthcare via the European Health Insurance Card (Ehic) which was used more than 215,000 times in 2015 by British citizens. As part of EU membership, travellers are likewise entitled to compensation for delayed and cancelled flights, while the EU Package Travel Directive protects people on package holidays..

Abolish roaming fees.
“Abta urges the government to secure the UK’s continued participation in the Ehic scheme, which guarantees UK travellers reciprocal access to healthcare systems across Europe.”

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The group is also asking that Britons be able to take advantage of the abolition of roaming fees in Europe that will be effective next month.

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“The government must replicate this EU-level agreement to ensure that British and EU customers continue to benefit from the abolition of these additional charges.”

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Source - TheJakartaPost