18th DECEMBER 2022: MIGRANTS’ DAY MESSAGE
TO LIVE THE UNIVERSAL FRATERNITY WITH MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
Migrants and refugees are exploited and discriminated against in their destinations. It is necessary to promote sustainable development and ensure the dignity of all human beings, including migrants. In 2022, more than 100 million refugees around the world (the source is UNHCR) have been forced to flee their homes to flee their fears due to persecution and violence caused by conflict and civil war. In 2021, the number of refugee recognition applicants in Japan was 2,413. As a result of the refugee recognition procedure, 654 foreigners were allowed to stay in Japan. Of these, only 74 foreigners were recognized as refugees, and 580 were not recognized as refugees but were allowed to stay in Japan due to humanitarian considerations. The number of foreign residents in Japan is 2,961,969 as of the end of June 2022.
INFOR October 2021: "Review of «three T» campaign: land, housing and work"
Through the articles written by some movements, I would like to highlight the important work done by the forty and nine WMCW movements (affiliated and contacts) around the theme «Land, Housing and Work for a decent life».
This theme has found many echoes in all the continents and has strengthened our mission. We were also encouraged pope Francis’s words that, in the meeting of popular movements on 28th October, 2014, said: «There is a thing that every father, every mother wants for their children; an aspiration that should be at the reach for all, but which unfortunately it escapes it more and more to the most is: the land, the housing and the work. It is strange, but when I say this to some people, they tell that Pope is a communist. They do not understand that love to the poor is at the heart of Gospel. Land, housing and work, for which we fight, are sacred rights. Affirming that it is possible is the Social Doctrine of the Church».
And it is above on the basis of these sacred human rights that this INFOR issue presents testimonies about different ways of action around the right of Land, Housing and Work.
World Day for Decent Work: Decent Work, a Core Commitment for Peace and Social Justice
In a world beset by conflict, marked by deep inequalities and ecologically unsustainable, decent work represents a route to peace and social justice. In fact, as the Universal Church1 states, it is access to free, creative, participatory and inclusive work, as well as land and shelter that enables each of us to earn a dignified living. It also ensures that we are collectively able to take care of the planet and make this world a more habitable and beautiful place. Decent work enables us to walk together as a people towards a more dignified life. Access to work for all is an inalienable priority.
We have embraced His Holiness Pope Francis’ appeal to remain engaged and move forward together on the path of intergenerational dialogue, education and work.2
We condemn the exclusion of many migrant workers from employment and social rights. Workers who provide essential services often lack sufficient social recognition and decent working conditions. Working conditions, resulting in increasingly impoverished working families, do not ensure that everyone’s basic needs are met, nor are they compatible with personal and family care needs, particularly in a global context of soaring prices and rampant inflation.
“Informal” work does not promote personal, family and community development and endangers the fundamental principles underlying social cohesion, peaceful coexistence and social justice. It does not promote the implementation of collective social achievements and does not offer many people, particularly young people and women, any prospects for the future.
INFOR June 2021: "Telework and Digital Work"
Do telework and digital work contribute really to a greater working freedom?
Not if the labour legislation remains being what it is, if trade unions are still at company doors, if workers are still persecuted by thinking differently, if the normal working day is not reduced, etc. In this context, teleworking from home can only mean more exploitation and greater subjugation of worker –and his family– to work.
In many places, due to the need to confine our professional activity in our living space, teleworking has been seen as a panacea for many evils, among them the difficulty of reconciling working and professional life.
New forces are transforming in the working world. COVID-19 pandemic has social and political consequences: a «virtualisation of human life» and a social control” has been established. The world as we knew was stopped at the beginning of 2020 and the governments, supporting by science, had to implement measures to save lives.
It is true that life goes on, but undoubtedly we have adopted the most unusual way of working of this generation. The challenge for policy makers is how to remain protecting people’s life and health without, at the same time, causing any irreversible damage to the economy.
- May 1st: Covid19 Lockdown And Its Impact On Workers
- WMCW Message For Womens' Day: "The Challenge Of Going On Caring The Threads Of Life"
- WMCW Message for the Year 2021
- MIGRANTS’ DAY MESSAGE – 18th DECEMBER: "LET’S BUILD BRIDGES, NOT WALLS!
- MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON THE OCCASION OF THE FOURTH WORLD MEETING OF POPULAR MOVEMENTS