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Migrant Workers Celebrate 200 Days of Sit-In Struggle in Seoul

by schock
Sunday marked 200 days of struggle in the heart of Seoul by the migrant workers of Myoung Dong Sit-In Struggle Collective, whose demands are: Stop Crackdown! Legalize all Migrants! Koreans are also currently protesting against a proposed US-Korea Free Trade Agreement, against the government's decision to send S. Korean troops to Iraq, against plans for another US military base in S. Korea, and against a nuclear dumping facility.
migrant.jpg
(S.Korea): A protest and celebration on Sunday marked 200 days of struggle in the heart of Seoul by the migrant workers of Myoung Dong Sit-In Struggle Collective. They are demanding an end to the crackdown on migrant workers, an end to deportations, regular working visas, the right to move from workplace to workplace, and an end to the 'EPS' program that threatens mass deportation for tens of thousands of migrant workers.

The 200 day sit-in action, the forced deportation of migrant organizers under antiterrorism laws, and the martyrdom of several migrant workers involved in the struggle have all forced the plight of S. Korea's 4 million migrant workers into public consciousness. The migrant workers have received support from media activists of jinbonet and labor news production, from the left human rights organization Sarangbang, from students, from korean anarchists, and from many others. Some support has come from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), but KCTU has recently faced internal splits between permanent and temporary workers, and hasn't fully put its weight behind the migrant workers' struggle. It is yet to be seen whether the recent election of 10 members of the leftist Democratic Labor Party will translate into increased political support for migrant workers.

Members of Equality Trade Union, Migrant Workers' Branch have been living in tents in front of Myoung Dong Catholic Cathedral, a site in the heart of Seoul symbolic for the role it played as a refuge for workers and students during times of mass mobilization against the authoritarian state that held power until the late '90s, when the current government took power. After a surprise victory partly impulsed by online news sites, used widely in the most wired country in the world (around 80% of Koreans have access to broadband internet), the new government was widely touted in the Western mass media as liberal, even progressive. However, the new government has revealed its neoliberal stripes, and Koreans are currently protesting against negotiations for a US-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and against the government's decision to send S. Korean troops to Iraq. Yesterday there was a festival in protest against another planned US military base in S. Korea, which would be the largest in Asia.

The migrant workers who have been living in a tent city at Myoung Dong cathedral for over 200 days are fighting for the rights of 4 million migrants from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and other Asian countries, as well as Russia; they also oppose the war and occupation in Iraq; oppose S. Korean troops going to Iraq; oppose the construction of new US bases in Korea; and call for an end to US imperialism. They support labor rights, freedom of movement, and freedom to work.

For more information:

migrant.nodong.net/sitin/
jinbonet
sarangbang
anarclan
KCTU
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