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No One is Illegal organizer, Harjap Grewal, talks about global migration, guest worker programs and the brewing resistance in what he calls "Fortress North America" at California's San Jose State University this past Spring. Making Contact: National Radio Project

Saudi Arabia should implement labor, immigration, and criminal justice reforms to protect domestic workers from serious human rights abuses that in some cases amount to slavery, Human Rights Watch said in the 133-page report <<'As If I Am Not Human': Abuses against Asian Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia>> released today. Employers often face no punishment for committing abuses including months or years of unpaid wages, forced confinement, and physical and sexual violence, while some domestic workers face imprisonment or lashings for spurious charges of theft, adultery, or "witchcraft".

What lengths would you go to if you found out that your neighbours were being threatened with deportation? All over the country, UK communities are organising themselves to stop their friends and neighbours being deported.

Rachel Stevenson and Harriet Grant are both journalists – they met up with some of the people involved. In this interview for Refugee Week Radio they talk about what they found and about their film ‘The Resistance: On The Deportation Frontline’ (GuardianFilms).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jun/13/immigration

http://www.refugeeweekradio.net

What are the differences between the World Social Forum on Migrations in Madrid and the Global Forum on Migration and Development, which will be held in Manila at the end of October? How is the civil society movement resisting the paradigm of state-driven policies on migration? William Gois, Regional Coordinator of the Migrant Forum in Asia (http://www.mfasia.org) gives his point of view in an interview by Caroline Ausserer for December 18.

An interview with Atty. Star L. Roman, special assistant to Undersecretary Esteban Conejos of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines. She is responsible for the organisation of the GFMD.

The Philippines has more than 8 million of its citizens spread all over the world, in more than 190 countries. The government established an official labour export programme which transforms every year around one million of its citizens into migrants. They leave their country for the sake of improving their life and the life of their families. A report from Manila by Caroline Ausserer and Rutch Reichstein.

Here, Singaporean Susan Buck's reflections start with an unwelcoming overcast June day and end with the importance of mutual understanding and compromise. A job in the travel industry, bowler hats, leg-pulling and turning heads were allpart of the scene in 60's London.

Originally posted on www.traydio.com

Women are the most vulnerable sector in the migration process, says Leila Rispens-Noel in this interview for December 18, done by Caroline Ausserer in Manila. Leila migrated herself from the Philippines to the Netherlands where she works for Oxfam Novib on supporting migrants' organisations.

www.refugeeradio.org.uk present an interview with a Zimbabwean refugee living in the UK

While much of the news about the global financial crisis has focused on failed Wall Street banks, migrant workers and their families around the world are starting to feel the pain of slower economic growth. VOA - Pros Laput New York, Hong Kong, Philippines.

Listen and/or download the Radio 1812/2008 jingle!

The jingle is also available in French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, German and Dutch.

The European Union has adopted several new rules and directives concerning migration. The aim is to control legal migration and to fight against "illegal" migrants. Various NGOs and even governments, for example in South America, criticise the attitude of the European governments. One of them is Peter Verhaege from the Caritas Europa office in Brussels. Ruth Reichstein asked him how he considers the role of the European Union in the context of global migration.

From 10-12 November, CMFD facilitated a workshop in which young media students, representatives of organisations, and survivors of gender violence collaborated to make radio features that will be included on the CD. The end result is some features exploring domestic violence, xenophobia and also the human trafficking issue: what is human trafficking, how does it feel to see a friend in this situation, and how can we prevent it?

Tjoon’in is a Gender Links production in partnership with Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and Gauteng Women in Transport, produced with assistance from CMFD Productions as part of the 2008 16 Days of Activism campaign. The CD is a mix of fun and interesting audio pieces, including spots (PSAs), music, personal testimonies, and reports that raise awareness about various 16 Days themes, particularly gender violence, xenophobia, human trafficking, and men as partners. This feature report looks at the gender persective of  xenophobic violence and how creative energies,  from music to soccer, are bringing cultures together. 

Bernard Canavan is an artist and teacher of history at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, West London. His paintings focus on the experiences of people who left Ireland in the 1950s and 60s to come to Britain in order to make a living. It's a world he knows well, as he himself came to London as a migrant in 1959. In this interview for Radio 1812 he talks to Richard Ellis about the experiences and influence of Irish migrants at the time, about his paintings and about his exhibition 'The Faithful Departed' at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith.

Zak Brophy studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He has travelled widely around the Middle East, including spending time as a volunteer for Unipal in a refugee camp in Lebanon. For Radio 1812, he talked to Cathy Aitchison about his experiences there and about how the people who he met influenced his own attitudes to life and travel.

Trainees from the PEARLS Radio Production and Presentation Course at Desi Radio in Southall, West London, explore the significance and traditions of Diwali for Hindus and Sikhs. Contributors: Manprit Dayal, Rashmi Varma, Rajinder Khabra and Aman Dhaliwal. 

As part of International Migrant Rights Day, December 18th, there will be radio programs and broadcasts throughout the world. In collaboration with this global movement, Making the Links Radio presents a talk by Karl Flecker speaking to the situation in Canada.

On 4 December 2000, the General Assembly, taking into account the large and increasing number of migrants in the world, proclaimed 18 December International Migrants Day (resolution 55/93). On that day, in 1990, the Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (resolution 45/158).

Member States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations are invited to observe International Migrants Day through the dissemination of information on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants, and through the sharing of experiences and the design of actions to ensure their protection.

Producer/Presenter Ike Chime chats with Jacob Galfano on many issues related to migrants and migration.

Jacob Galfano a media communication specialist whose parents migrated to the USA in 1960 is an American citizen resident in Finland. In this chat Jacob talked about his background, his views on migration and some of its fall-outs, such as xenophobia, like the case of South Africa last May. He also provided some possible ways of improving relationship between migrants and their hosts.

As a second generation Irish immigrant in the UK I have always been very interested, proud and aware of my Irish heritage.  For this feature I spent two evenings with an inter-generational mix of my relatives discussing our personal and communal histories as well as looking at what it means to be Irish.

There is currently a lively and very contentious debate in British society about how best to deal with the large numbers of undocumented migrants residing in the country. I met with Houratche Koundarjian from the Strangers Into Citizens campaign and Bethan Lant from Praxis Community Projects to discuss this salient topic.

Young People We Care (YPWC) is a youth led and youth focused organization that is headquartered in Ghana and has satellite offices in the UK, USA and Canada. The organization is operated by young people (ages 15–30) and adult allies working on youth and development related issues worldwide.

Our vision is to provide a ‘youthful voice’ that seeks to address the numerous challenges facing young people. We aim to achieve this by effectively using young resourceful minds to influence the course of global policy formulation and development in a consistent and harmonized manner.

Addressing international migration concerns has undoubtedly become a pressing issue in recent times, not only for governments but also for a broad range of society actors in northern and southern countries/states.