Pinoy family face deportation in Ireland

12 March 2010- A Filipino family who has been staying in Ireland for eight years is now facing a possible deportation from Irish authorities due to his participation in a recent labor struggle of some workers in a food factory at Co Kildare, Ireland.

“According to reports, John Recto, together with his wife and kids, are being threatened of a possible deportation from Ireland upon the confiscation of their immigrant visas by Irish authorities. We are concerned that this is another case where a worker is punished for fighting for his rights!”  Garry Martinez, chairperson of Migrante International, said.

According to a news report posted at Republican Sinn Fein’s website (http://www.rsf-kildare.ie/), Recto joined a hunger strike together with shop steward Jim Wyse and John Guinan, both Irish workers, against the Green Isle Food Factory last week to claim their compensation after being sacked by the company last summer. Soon after the dispute was amicably settled with the help of local unions, Recto sought to renew his working visa but it was confiscated instead.

“We believe that the confiscation of immigrant visas of Recto and his wife was discriminatory and was meant to punish Recto for joining the strike. This was meant to be a signal to all migrant workers to better be silent or else…!” exclaimed Martinez. “This is a clear violation of labor and human rights of John and his innocent family.”

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) are now making representations on behalf of John Recto and his family to stop their deportation. John was the third man to join the Green Isle Foods hunger strike. He has worked at the said factory for eight years.

His family joined him in Ireland from the Philippines five years ago. His two oldest children grew up in Ireland and his youngest child was born there. They now face deportation because his work visa has not been renewed.

“We call on the Department of Foreign Affairs to immediately assist the Recto family and exert all diplomatic means possible to stop the deportation process. We would like to remind the Philippine government that it has ratified the International Convention on the Rights of Migrants and their Families, which is clearly being violated in the case of the Recto family,” Martinez explained.

Migrante asserted that even if Ireland is not a signatory of the said convention, the Philippine post can still invoke the right of the Recto family for a due process under the laws existing in Ireland.

“We are grateful that Irish trade unions are now taking up the cudgels to protect John and his family. It is incumbent upon the Arroyo administration to do its share in assisting the Recto family on the injustice being perpetrated against them,” Martinez added.

The group plans to take the issue of the Recto family to the Irish government and international bodies related to the protection of migrant rights.