Hundreds celebrate World Day for Migrants and Refugees

The Diocese of Macau celebrated the 101st World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) yesterday with migrant communities of various nationalities and religions presenting their folk cultures.
“To promote the life of migrants and the itinerant people,” the diocesan celebration took place in Macau for the seventh year. This year, it was themed “The Church without frontiers, Mother to all,” which emphasizes a culture of acceptance and solidarity.
“I think the theme is for togetherness: with unity, we get stronger,” said Ms Ann Nuraeni, after performing an East Javan dance called “Reog Ponorogo” on the cultural presentation with her fellows from the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (IMWU Macau).
Besides sharing a legendary story through the traditional dance, the group also voiced a number of aspirations for Macau’s migration policies.
“Standard contract and protection, insurance, and minimum wage. These are our demands,” Ms Nuraeni told the Times “Also to shorten the six-­month re-entry ban; and no more two-day visa that only allows us to stay for two days if our contract is terminated within six months.”
According to Ms Nuraeni, “a lot” of their fellow migrants are being detained due to overstaying, although there are some cases due to crimes like drug-dealing. She indicated that a lack of care and protection from both their home country and the local government has been a reason to those cases.
“We have friends staying in jail due to over-stay. But our government doesn’t give any care or protection. Of course they don’t have money, if the Indonesian government helped them to buy plane tickets to get back home, or the Macau government gave them more time before leave, they wouldn’t have to overstay,” she explained.
These migrant workers believe that when they encounter problems such as being underpaid or abused, the Macau government isn’t likely to provide support. “We ask some help from other organizations to cooperate, like from the IMWU in HK,” said Ms Nuraeni.
A missionary who insisted on remaining anonymous also suggested it’s necessary to provide better welfare and protection to migrant workers in the territory, whereas the migrants should collaborate in negotiating groups to fight for their rights, not only in shows and performances.
“The migrants are here to hope for a better future; they are struggling,” he told the Times. “Workers with good working conditions can contribute more to the local community.”
The celebration started in the morning with a Mass at St. Augustine Church that was officiated by Bishop Lai, and was followed by an agape-fellowship lunch and a series of cultural presentations at the St. Joseph Seminary. Several speeches were given at the Seminary including one by Bishop John Ledesma.
The organizer stated that the event is a “testament of solidarity and unity amidst the great diversity in our community,” which aimed to establish an avenue for dialogue among migrants and also with the local community.
“The local community is exhorted to be welcoming to the migrants and extend a caring hand to them. The celebration can build awareness, in the church community as well as in the public, regarding the needs and concerns of the migrants as well as their positive potentialities,” they stressed.
“This gathering can also be a reminder to migrants of the spiritual aspects of life, which is of great importance,” added the Diocese, revealing that currently in Macau, migrants constitute a large share of church-goers, particularly on Sundays, and more than half of active church-goers are migrants.