MIGRANTE International
Migrante International condemns the attack by anti-immigrant rioters against two Filipino nurses in Great Britain last August 2. The Filipino healthcare workers in Sutherland, northern England were on their way to provide emergency services when their taxi was pelted by racist mobs with rocks. Local police arrested the rioters following the hate crime. The two nurses were unharmed but left terrified in their host country.
Our Filipino migrants were assaulted during the recent far-right riots in the United Kingdom. Following a disinformation campaign where migrants were falsely accused in the wake of a knife attack in England, racist mobs took to the streets to target migrant communities and shelters with acts of violence. We stand in solidarity with not only Filipinos in the UK, but the broader migrant community in Great Britain and Northern Ireland as they face these anti-migrant attacks.
The recent acts of anti-migrant violence in the UK are a consequence of the rise of anti-migrant governments. Far-right governments and anti-migrant policies are on the rise in the UK, Europe, and the broader Western world. Western governments like that of the UK are provoking a racist culture of hate and discrimination against migrants. They are denying millions of migrants their rights to live and work without hate and discrimination.
The Philippine government, through its Embassy and Migrant Workers Office in London, must not stand idle as Filipinos in the UK bear these attacks. Through emergency public services, relief aid packages, and the opening and maintenance of migrant shelters, the Marcos Jr. government can and should protect Filipino migrants in the UK from brutal and racist attacks.
We also demand that Marcos Jr. use diplomatic channels to assert protections from the UK government for Filipinos in the country. Both governments should work together to hold to account the instigators of these racist assaults and prevent any more attacks on migrant communities.
No migrant should have to work under a climate of fear and hate. Discrimination has no place in a world where the rights and dignity of migrants and workers should be upheld. We will not let any racist attack impede our cause to advance the welfare of migrants everywhere.
