Filipinos across Canada to rally against unjust deportations of Live

Filipinos across Canada to rally against unjust deportations of Live-in Caregivers

Thursday, 12 January 2006, taken from: http://www.illegalvoices.org

Vancouver Area Nannies

For immediate release: January 10, 2006

Filipinos in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto are set to rally this Friday, January 13, 2006 to protest the unjust deportation of live-in caregivers. The national day of protest is being coordinated to mark the delivery of over 1000 signed petitions calling for a stop to the deportations to Citizenship and Immigration Canada Minister Joe Volpe at his Toronto campaign office.

Members and supporters of SIKLAB – Canada (whose name means “Flameburst” in Tagalog and whose acronym stands for Uphold and Advance the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers) a national alliance of Filipino migrant workers will lead the protest actions.

Since April, 2004 SIKLAB has been campaigning for a moratorium on the deportation of live-in caregivers who cannot complete the requirements of the program. In the majority of cases, the deportations are due to the women’s inability to complete the 24 months of live-in work within three years of entering Canada. However, Filipino live-in caregivers can also be deported for not living-in their employer’s homes or for working for more than one employer at a time.

“This is an urgent issue for our community,” says Glecy Duran, National Vice-Chairperson for Western Canada of SIKLAB. “The situation for those working under the LCP is quickly worsening. More and more women are being deported for unjust reasons,” she adds.

Through answering phone calls and conducting research focus groups, SIKLAB – Vancouver currently knows of at least ten members who cannot complete the required 24 months of live-in work within three years and are expecting deportation orders.

SIKLAB-Canada has also documented cases all over Canada of Filipino live-in caregivers who faced deportation or who have been deported from Canada. (see attached)

SIKLAB also criticized CIC for the expansion of their temporary worker program. They noted that some of those live-in caregivers facing deportation were given an extension of their working visas, not under the
LCP but under the temporary worker program with no chance to apply for permanent residency.

“The LCP is really unfair,” said Susan (not her real name) a live-in caregiver who was unable to complete the requirements of the LCP and isfacing deportation. “I came to Canada because I want to work and to help my family in the Philippines. I don’t want to start again from zero,” she added.

In Toronto, SIKLAB members will rally between 4 – 5 p.m. outside the campaign office of Immigration Minister Joe Volpe at 1500 Avenue Road. They will also hand-deliver the over 1000 collected petition signatures.

In Vancouver, SIKLAB will hold a protest vigil for those live-in caregivers deported from Canada between 6-7 p.m. outside the Regional Headquarters of Citizenship and Immigration Canada at 800 Robson St. (at Burrard).

In Montreal, SIKLAB members will also hold a rally in Cote des Neiges and a community forum in the evening.

For more information, please contact:

- Montreal: Roderick Carreon, SIKLAB Chairperson @ 514-344-2709.

- Toronto: Yolyn Valenzuela, SIKLAB Vice Chairperson (Eastern Canada) @
416-878-8772 or e-mail: siklab_ontario@yahoo.ca

- Vancouver: Glecy Duran, SIKLAB Vice Chairperson (Western Canada) @
604-215-1103 or e-mail: siklab@kalayaancentre.net

SIKLAB recorded cases of Filipino live-in caregivers who faced deportation or who have been deported from Canada: [1]

·Two Filipino live-in caregivers in Winnipeg faced deportation in the
early 1990s for living outside of their employer’s homes. One was not
given a room by her employer. The other was receiving treatment for
cancer and was living with her family while undergoing treatment.

·Leticia Cables, a Filipino live-in caregiver in Edmonton, was deported
from Canada in 2000 after she worked for more than one employer. Despite
sizeable support, including being granted sanctuary by an Edmonton church,
former Minister Elinor Caplan ignored the cries for justice and approved
her deportation order.[2]

·Melcah Salvador, a Filipino live-in caregiver in Montreal with a
Canadian-born five-year old son, successfully fought against her
deportation order in 2000 with the support of Filipino and other community
organizations across Canada. Salvador was unable to complete the 24
months live-in requirement due to pregnancy.[3]

·Acier Gomez, a Filipino live-in caregiver in Prince George, British
Columbia, was deported for “misrepresenting” her status as single when she
came to Canada. Despite having a Canadian-born minor daughter and
evidence that Acier was unaware of her rights when she came to Canada, she
lost her appeal against her deportation order. A campaign was launched by
the Philippine Women Centre of B.C. in 1997 to support her struggle to
stay in Canada and remain with her daughter.[4]

·Eleanora Carag, a Filipino live-in caregiver from Vancouver, lost her
appeal in the Federal Court of Canada in 2002 against a deportation order.
After arriving in Canada in 1997, Carag discovered that she was pregnant.
Following a difficult pregnancy, during which she was medically unable to
work, she gave birth to a daughter. Her then 4-year-old daughter was
later diagnosed with asthma. Carag did not complete the 24-months live-in
requirement. After losing her case, Carag said "I thought Canada was a
compassionate country. Instead, I face the prospect of being permanently
separated from my Canadian-born child. This is how Canada treats its own
children - by ignoring their rights!" [5]

“Grace,” a Filipino live-in caregiver in Vancouver, was deported after
Canada refused to grant her permanent residency on humanitarian and
compassionate grounds. She was forced by her abusive husband to stop
working under the LCP, so she was unable to complete the 24 months live-in
requirement. Later, her husband withdrew his sponsorship application.

·“A.D.,” a Filipino live-in caregiver and nurse in Vancouver, was deported
after Canada refused to grant her permanent residency on humanitarian and
compassionate grounds. She was unable to complete the 24 months live-in
requirement because she was terminated without notice by her employer,
then found it difficult to obtain a new position and also faced long and
bureaucratic processing delays by CIC.

·In Ottawa, the group Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
reports of a case of Maria Georgia Talon, Filipino live-in caregiver
jailed for working without a permit. She was eventually deported from
Canada on August 26, 2004.