KAAD seminar: “Labour Migration – Asia in the World”

Labour migration in Asia is particularly diverse, with internal migration from rural areas to urban areas playing just as big a role as migration between countries. Under the direction of Dr Anselm Feldmann, the participants, who included three Cusanuswerk scholarship holders and two scholarship holders from the Albert Magnus Scholarship Programme, focused in particular on labour migration to so-called '3D jobs' ('dirty', 'dangerous', 'difficult') in the fields of care and domestic work, construction, fishing, and agriculture. The participants were also able to look at the life and work of the Vietnamese community in Berlin, which plays a special role in the history of the two countries. Through the different focal points in the approach to the topic, the seminar attempted to take into account the very heterogeneous forms of labour migration from and within Asia.

First, Ellene Sana from the Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA), Philippines, presented the work of the CMA, the particular problems of (labour) migrants in and from Asia, and the effects of labour migration via Zoom. The CMA aims to raise awareness among those affected for the dangers of smuggling and modern slave labour, for workers' rights in the various countries of Southeast Asia, local assistance, but also the challenges faced by those left behind (family members, especially children and spouses). Ellene Sana also presented the lobbying work of the CMA, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and other organisations in the nation states of Southeast Asia. The lively Q&A session then addressed more specific issues relating to labour rights in Bangladesh's textile industry, slavery in Thailand's fishing industry, and the difficulties faced by family members of mostly female caregivers from the Philippines.

Participants in the seminar then gave presentations on the topic. Minh Doi Nguyen spoke about internal migration in rural and urban areas in Vietnam and the housing and educational opportunities of migrant workers as well as their understanding of affiliation. Kamol Gomes from Bangladesh gave an insight into the self-reinforcing dynamics of environmental pollution and rural exodus. He illustrated the cycle of how pollution in his home country leads to lower agricultural yields, increasing the pressure for further industrialisation and expansion of the textile industry, which in turn exacerbates the problem of pollution. Matthew Etabo Edung complemented the lectures with his presentation on the Indian minority in Kenya. Most of the Kenyans of Indian descent were brought to Kenya during the colonial period and today contribute significantly to Kenyan society; they have therefore been recognised as a new tribe in Kenya. The Head of the Asia Department, Dr Anselm Feldmann, concluded by addressing the predicament of modern slave labourers in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia. In Thailand in particular, an industry has developed that is increasingly relying on the exploitation and slave labour of migrant workers from Myanmar and Cambodia due to environmental degradation and increased energy costs. Even though the Associated Press news agency received the Pulitzer Prize in 2016 for its research on this topic and Western companies have adapted their supply chains, the problem remains. The issue was made particularly poignant by the fact that family members of KAAD grantees were also affected by exploitation and slavery in the past.

On the second day of the seminar, the group first visited the Vereinigung der Vietnamesen in Berlin und Brandenburg e.V. (Association of Vietnamese in Berlin and Brandenburg), where the vice chair, Chu Tien Tang, reported on the work of the association. The association was founded in 1992 to support the interests of contract workers from Vietnam who had been recruited by the former GDR. Since then, the association has been dealing with issues relating to residence rights, offering advice on family and school matters, running a cultural centre, and referring people seeking advice to other organisations and authorities if they need it. Chu Tien Tang himself came to the GDR in 1974 to study engineering to help rebuild Vietnam after the war. After returning to Vietnam in 1979, however, he came back to the GDR in the early 1980s as a translator for the first contract workers. He gave an impressive description of the different generations and places of origin of the immigrants. It was also interesting to hear that the first and second generations of Vietnamese migrants in particular are still unable to come together. The division between South and North Vietnam - expressed in Germany by the settlement of Vietnamese in East and West Germany respectively - lives on in the minds of these migrants and only lessens in later generations. Chu Tien Tang also states that a considerable proportion of the latest generation of Vietnamese migrants entered Germany irregularly and the pressure to pay off debts to smugglers, send money home and at the same time make a living in Germany regularly leads to the neglect of children and domestic violence. He therefore no longer sees Vietnamese children as "role models" of successful school integration.            

At the Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie, Klaus-Günter Jacobi guided the group through the exhibition and the history of the division of Germany and the Berlin Wall. He drew the attention of the participants, who had dealt with labour migration, to the unique nature of this border within Germany, within a city, because the aim here was not to prevent people from entering the country but to prevent them from leaving. His descriptions of the creative ideas for overcoming the Wall were particularly impressive. For example, he had the idea of converting a BMW Isetta into an escape vehicle in 1963 to enable a friend to escape, which was ultimately successful. Students copied his idea and helped another 18 people escape from East to West Berlin. For the seminar participants, this made the division of Germany and Berlin tangible.

Finally, the group celebrated a beautiful mass - crowned by the singing of our scholarship holders - in the Catholic Academy Berlin under the direction of Father Christoph Wichmann OP, who thankfully stood in for the spiritual advisors of the KAAD, Father Prof Dr Ulrich Engel OP, and Father Prof Dr Thomas Eggensperger OP.