Climate changes people

protest movement, rallying hundreds of thousands of workers, women, fisherfolk, professionals, students and other mass democratic groups seeking change in the socio-economic and political structures of the country.

Our rallies always ended up in front of the Quiapo Church; after all, if you cannot defend your stand in Plaza Miranda, your cause is not

While my speaking sorties were paid for by the inviting organizations, the Marcos intelligence and military arms listed them down as “funded by the Communist Party of the Philippines.” I had spoken before various groups from up North to Zamboanga and Sulu. I remember being a speaker for the with MNLF chairman Nur Misuari among them. Of course, our constant MDP press conferences at UP’s Vinzon’s Hall, and virtually daily interviews on broadcast and print media, lent credence to my being a supposed cadre of Jose Maria Sison.

When the writ of was suspended, I immediately went underground knowing I was among those on top of the hit list of the Marcos government. After three years of playing cat and mouse with the military, then four years of detention, I got my temporary release. Like most martial law political prisoners, I had to report weekly at Camp Crame.

Warned that we would be detained again while being tried by the Marcos military commissions, I was able to escape, and applied for and obtained political asylum in the from exile in 1989 when Marcos himself was forced to seek asylum in the US after being abandoned by Washington and subsequently ousted by People Power.

The economic imperative

Political climate moves people. But mostly, brutal economic winds force people to seek shelter where they can. Metro Manila has been the money magnet that attracts migrants from the provinces. With the seat of the centers in Metro Manila, jobs are seen to be there for the taking, no matter how odd they are.

So, it has been with citizens and nationals of other countries.

Millions of political and economic refugees from South and Central America Africa and Asia brave the harsh trek to the US, Canada, Australia and Western Europe.

The push factors are complemented by the need of nations for migrants.

Borders open and close as the winds of national interests blow hot or cold.

In 1958, Australia passed an immi status of individuals, set guidelines on visas, application procedures, temporary safe-haven rules and migrant limits. Between 1999 and 2000, when manufacturing and extraction industries needed boost, 70,000 visas were allocated to skilled workers. In 2001, illegal immigrants arriving by boat were brought to Nauru and Papua New Guinea for processing. The continuing exodus of refugees not just in Australia but in Europe led to the restriction of migration and keeping the number of skilled migrants to an “acceptable level” as skilled and family migration ran into headwinds. In 2009, with the economy in slowdown, Australia limited the number of skilled migrant numbers to just over 107,000, down from 114,777 the year before. On July 1, 2012, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection set up a points-tested online skilled migrant selection service.

The companion nation in Oceania – New Zealand – had experienced im population changes since the mid-19th century.” By March 2001, the Census of Population and Dwellings recorded residents born overseas at just under 20 percent. In 1989 New Zealand passed the Education Act setting the framework for the enrolment of fee-paying international students. The education sector initiated a drive to recruit international students and the New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS) allowed foreign students to work part time, get job search visas after graduation and offered a pathway to residency.

Tightening immigration rules

The Education Act of 1989 provides the legislative framework for the enrolment of fee-paying international students by New Zealand schools and tertiary education institutions. The number of foreign students steadily increased by 126,503 in 2003, primarily from China. Rising numbers of former international students in low-grade jobs and fear of “breaching the upper limits of the skilled migrant category and residency” forced the government to tighten immigration rules last year,

Heeding a brewing storm, the NZIS set higher annual income levels for students pursuing residency after graduation. The points needed to be invited to apply for residency were raised from 140 to 160, virtually needing a job offer. To be considered a skilled migrant a foreign student graduate must show that the job pays $48,859 a year. In October 2016, the average household income range was $35,500 to $37,300. Clearly, very few, if any, New Zealand employers will pay close to $49,000 to newly minted international students. It should also be noted that this year, the Labour Party teamed up with New Zealand First to govern. Top of the new government’s agenda? Reduce immigration numbers.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, it must be stated that the US and the UK have both targeted immigrants: the US with an “

policy and the UK targeting students to reduce net migration. Perceived economic lechery by United Nations and wilful sending of criminals and rapists to the hot-air tweets from President Trump. UK Prime Minister Theresa May on the other hand – a captive of the Brexit international students from non-EU countries and workers from poorer EU members out of the UK.

So far, only Canada has kept its migration ship on an even keel, even throwing lifelines to economic and political migrants at sea, victims of five-star category hurricanes from other First World countries.