From the Director's Desk:

A Most Timely Revival

The sister publication of the Migrant Focus is re-born.

Lain dormant since 1997, the Migrant Focus Magazine is again released by the Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers (MFMW) this year. The quarterly publication serves as a venue for analytical researches and in-depth articles on the issue of migration and the national and global trends of the migration phenomena. It has been a source of valuable information for a better understanding of Filipino migration, issues and concerns of migrants, and the concurrent national context of labor export.

In the light of the burning issues on migration in general and Filipino migration in particular, the MFMW has decided to revive the Migrant Focus Magazine. It shall carry on with its original thrusts of providing educational resources on migration and shall further it by touching on the very lives of Filipino migrants.

The new publication shall feature the life stories of Filipino migrants. It shall dwell on the topics of forced migration and its effects through the concrete experiences of migrant workers themselves. It shall serve as the voice of the migrant workers for they themselves will be the ones to relate their stories. Hand in hand with the sad fate of leaving the country will be stories of courage and struggle.

Migrant workers have had a long history of resistance, a rich history that needs to be told and re-told.

Migrant workers here in Hong Kong, in particular, have always been at the forefront of the struggle for migrant's rights and well-being against oppressive and exploitative government policies. Since the struggle against the forced remittance policy (EO 857) of Marcos up to the current burning issue of increased government extortion from migrants with the EO 197 and the OWWA Resolution 99-016, Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong have shown the strength and courage to fight for their rights. This determination has paved the way to the establishment of the United Filipino in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK), which is spearheading the Filipino migrant's campaign in Hong Kong and the Migrante International, which is taking on the lead in the Philippines and in the global arena.

The magazine shall not only feature stories on the migrant's struggles and victories for their political and economic rights and well-being. It shall also show the valiant efforts of the Filipino migrants to overcome the impacts of forced migration to themselves and their families. The life stories of Filipino migrants who have come to terms with their life abroad and its effects to the families they have left behind in the Philippines shall serve as an inspiration to our compatriots who are facing the same problems brought about by their parting from their families. Stories of migrants in distress who have found the courage to fight for what they rightfully deserve shall also be shared with the Filipino migrants community.

The MFMW and the editorial staff of the Migrant Focus calls on all Filipino migrants to take part in this endeavor. This magazine is a magazine of the Filipino migrant workers. This publication is a publication for the OFWs. And we encourage you to make this magazine another victory by the migrant workers in the continuing struggle for our rights and well-being.