Labor exploitation

Happy the pizzamakers

Happy the pizzamakers

By Michelle Hough Take some flour, water, yeast, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and a pinch of salt. Add 15 immigrants from around the world. Mix them together with a Caritas Roma course… The fire’s stoked up, the ingredients are ready and for 15 immigrants in Rome, today is exam day. They’ve gathered at a cooking school ...

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Needed and Exploited – the Invisible Suffering of Migrant Domestic Workers

Needed and Exploited – the Invisible Suffering of Migrant Domestic Workers

The issue of migrant domestic workers is a major one in many parts of the world. It is sometimes linked to trafficking in human beings and it affects women to a large extent. Migrant domestic workers are often victims of severe human rights violations, which often are unreported and go unpunished. The most extreme forms ...

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Imagine a migrant’s rights protected: Caritas in action

Imagine a migrant’s rights protected: Caritas in action

Caritas organisations belong to ERSO (European Reintegration Support Organisations). Led by Caritas Austria, it offers counselling to migrants before they leave their country. In 2008, the project focused on assisting migrants on their return home, especially those who had been rejected for asylum. The book “The Travails of Sri Lankan Migrants” by Fr George Sigamoney, ...

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Imagine a migrant’s rights protected: Migrants rights

Imagine a migrant’s rights protected: Migrants rights

• Priority should be given to economic and social policies which promote development in poorer countries so people do not feel forced to migrate, • Restrictive migration policies are not the answer. More opportunities in countries of origin would make staying at home more enticing, • Better regulation of the labour market to help avoid ...

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Migration: weighing up the options

Migration: weighing up the options

They cross deserts in Mexico and they take to rough seas in unsafe boats in North Africa. They risk alienation, rejection and poverty far from home to create a better life for themselves and for their families. Many of the world’s migrants do this because there’s no better alternative. “History has shown us that people ...

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No domestic bliss for migrants in Lebanon

No domestic bliss for migrants in Lebanon

Aneesa*, 23, arrived in Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel. She left her home in the Philippines to become a domestic worker with a family. With battles being fought on the streets of Beirut, Aneesa was very afraid and wanted to go back home after just two weeks. It was too difficult to leave so ...

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Fight Trafficking: What to do in the European Union?

Fight Trafficking: What to do in the European Union?

They are forced into sexual slavery, their organs are removed, they are exploited in the workplace. These are just some of the realities of the people who fall victim to human trafficking. Caritas members are currently at a meeting in Paris to urge the current French Presidency of the EU to raise awareness about the ...

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Caritas urges European Union not to turn migrants into criminals

Caritas urges European Union not to turn migrants into criminals

Caritas is calling on European governments to stop the criminalization of migrants as outlined in new EU legislation. Caritas organisations in Latin America and the Caribbean have urged Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and European Union states to review their harmful common migration policies. Caritas and church organisation in Europe backed the call, saying ...

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Lebanon Migration Center

Lebanon Migration Center

Starting with a small team of three people in 1994, the Caritas Migration Centre today helps thousands of foreigners living in Lebanon. In spite of political and economic difficulties, Lebanon hosts many refugees in need of protection and better living conditions. Palestinians, Sudanese, and tens of thousands of Iraqis are now in the country.. Caritas ...

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Pan Asia campaign against trafficking

Pan Asia campaign against trafficking

Alice was 25 when she left her job in Manila, the Philippines. She is a qualified civil engineer, yet her salary was not enough to pay for her four brothers and sisters to go through school. When she saw an advertisement offering well-paid posts as civil engineers in Kuwait, she contacted the recruitment agency immediately. ...

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