Ireland may deport OFW family for joining strike

A Filipino family that has been staying in Ireland for eight years is now facing possible deportation by Irish authorities due to the father’s participation in a recent workers’ action in a food factory at County Kildare, Ireland.

“According to reports, John Recto, together with his wife and kids, are being threatened of possible deportation from Ireland with 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,” said Garry Martinez, chair of migrants’ rights group Migrante International, in a statement.

In a news report posted on the Website of the Irish political party Republican Sinn Fein (RSF), Filipino worker John 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 work visa but it was instead confiscated in a police station. His and his wife’s immigration cards were also confiscated.

“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 is a clear violation of labor and human rights of John and his innocent family,” Martinez said.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union are now making representations on behalf of John Recto and his family to stop their deportation.

John, who has worked for the factory for eight years according to the report, was the third man to join the hunger strike.

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, the report added.

“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 Recto family’s right to 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 migrants’ rights.

The RSF also asked Irish citizens to lobby their local councilors and TDs (Teachta Dála, or member of the lower house of the Irish parliament), on behalf of the Recto family.

“If John Recto and his family are deported it will send out a message to all non-EU workers in Ireland not to join a union, or stand by their colleagues in a dispute,” the RSF said.—JV, GMANews.TV