Dear friends --
Attached and below is the text of the letter delivered earlier today to the South Korean Consulate in Montreal by a small delegation of activists representing No One Is Illegal, Solidarity Across Borders and the Immigrant Workers Center. We have included a few photos. The last photo shows the Consul-General taking our second copy of the letter, after ripping our first copy; he was upset that we had taken photos. We insisted in taking photos to send to our allies in South Korea.
In solidarity and struggle,
The members of No One Is Illegal-Montreal, with the support of Solidarity Across Borders and the Immigrant Workers Center.
December 13, 2007 -- MONTREAL (QUEBEC, CANADA)
HAND-DELIVERED
TO: The Consul-General of South Korea in Montreal
1 Place Ville-Marie, Suite 2015, Montreal, Quebec, H3B 2C4
FROM: Members of No One Is Illegal, Solidarity Across Borders, & the Immigrant Workers Center (IWC) in Montreal
RE: Crackdown on Migrant Workers in South Korea
Dear Sir/Madam –
We are writing to express our outrage at the recent arrests of members of the Migrant Workers Trade Union (MTU) on November 27, 2007. We demand the immediate release of Kajiman Khapung, Raju Kumar Gurung (Raj) and Abul Basher M. Moniruzzaman (Masum) from the Cheongju detention center. We also demand and end to the targeted crackdown and labor repression against the MTU, and an end to the crackdown and deportation of undocumented migrant workers!
It is our understanding that Kajiman, Raj and Masum might have already been summarily deported. If so, we condemn the removal of these three men, and demand their return to South Korea, if they so choose.
We condemn the current crackdown on migrant workers in South Korea. Migrants come to Korea to do the "3-D" jobs: dirty, dangerous and difficult. They are the super-exploited amongst Korea's working people, and their lack of permanent status denies them basic rights.
Like other social justice organizations in South Korea, we are also writing to support the immediate regularization or "legalization" of all migrant workers in South Korea. As we say in our campaigns: "If they're good enough to work, they're good enough to stay". The more than 200,000 migrant workers in South Korea should be given full rights, as any citizen.
We make these demands as we also struggle for justice for all migrants and non-status persons in the Canadian state. Similar to the South Korean government, the Canadian government exploits "temporary" foreign labour; moreover, upwards of 500,000 people live in Canada without status. We express our solidarity with migrant workers in South Korea with this letter, but also with our day-to-day campaigns for justice and dignity in our own communities.
We ask that the South Korean Consulate express these concerns to the highest levels of the Korean government.
With sincere outrage,
Degane Sougal & Jaggi Singh
No One Is Illegal-Montreal
514-848-7583 - noii-montreal(at)resist.ca
http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com
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