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154th Warn Sporns Against Attacking FTrash! U Scared?

makapaaa

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Fewer jobs = more attacks on migrant workers
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Hate crimes on the rise as out-of-work locals resent foreigners for taking away jobs </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Shefali Rekhi, Assistant Foreign Editor
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Migrant construction workers staging a strike to demand their pay in the city of Yekaterinburg, Russia, last month. Foreigners are not always easily accepted as fellow workers contributing to the economy and social workers fear the downturn could lead to unrest in some countries. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A few weeks ago, on the streets of Moscow, a group of skinheads gunned down a Tajik migrant worker, chopped off his head and e-mailed the gruesome picture to human rights groups.
The 20-year-old victim was one of the millions of migrants from impoverished former Soviet republics who seek a better future in Moscow.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>FOREIGN WORKERS WORLDWIDE

Of the nearly 200 million migrant workers worldwide, it is estimated that nearly one-third live in Europe. Here is a snapshot of migrant movements:

Europe


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>But with Russia experiencing a sharp slowdown, he ended up becoming one of the victims of hate crimes against migrant workers.
A group calling itself the Militant Organisation of Russian Nationals claimed responsibility, according to an Associated Press report. In an e-mail, it said the killing was 'a demonstration of its resolve to fight against non-Russian occupation and a warning to officials that the same will happen to them if they do not stop the flow of immigration'.
As economies across the globe falter, social workers worry that some migrant workers will become a target for resentment among citizens of host countries who have fallen on hard times.
Even in the best of times, foreigners are not always easily accepted as fellow workers contributing to the economy. Now, in the downturn, there are fears that things could get ugly - leading to divisions and social unrest in some countries and attacks against them in others.
More than 100 foreigners were killed in Russia last year in hate crimes, four times higher than in 2004, according to the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights.
Thousands of kilometres away, in New York, an Equadorean immigrant ended up brain-dead after an attack in Brooklyn last month.
The victim was standing next to a bar when a car stopped. A man, shouting anti-Hispanic slogans, jumped out and smashed a bottle on his head. Another swung a baseball bat at him.
While thousands of Equadoreans live in the city, many for years, observers believe the victim could have been mistaken for one of the illegal migrant workers who are resented for accepting work at lower pay.
While such incidents are still rare, nations are beginning to worry about tensions between immigrant and local communities and whether they will intensify.
Yet, they face a dilemma - for retrenching foreign workers would not be in their best interests, as they would be needed as the slowdown abates.
Tension has been brewing in Spain. Madrid has spent years trying to attract foreign workers since the 1990s, and increased its population by 15 per cent with over five million immigrants.
Yet, with projections that its unemployment rates will rise from 12 per cent to 20 per cent within a few years as the nation witnesses its worst recession in 50 years, there are concerns about what to do and the social unrest that could follow if the unemployed remain in the country.
Spain makes payouts of up to 70 per cent of salaries for two years depending on how long the workers pay into the social security system. But for many, those payouts are now coming to an end.
Unlike previous years, the financial crisis is set to hit almost all nations and consequently, the International Labour Organisation estimates that world unemployment will go up from 190 million to 210 million by late this year.
In the United States alone, it is estimated that the nation's unemployment rate of 7 per cent, its highest in 14 years, could cross 11 per cent before any turnaround can be expected.
Europe is also on its knees with hundreds of construction and consumer service workers leaving - it is estimated that nearly half of the one million Eastern Europeans who have moved to Britain since 2004 have returned home in the downturn.
This time, the slowdown has affected parts of the Middle East too, a destination that has been the hope for millions of job seekers despite its heat and strict regulations.
The sharp plunge in oil prices has led to a temporary slowdown in development projects in the Gulf Cooperation Council states - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.
Economists estimate that nearly 13 million workers in the region face an uncertain future, though as oil prices move up, prospects could improve.
'There is no place to hide - everyone will be affected,' wrote MrSupachai Panitchpakdi, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in an article carried by the Inter-Press Service.
'More dramatically, the number of working poor living on less than a dollar a day could rise by 40 million, and those earning two dollars a day by more than 100 million.'
Economic and social observers worry about the consequences in Asia - a region that accounts for a substantial part of the world's migrant workforce.
The first signs that some workers are beginning to seek opportunities at home are evident but a tide of such immigrants would raise the challenge by several notches for policymakers in many of the economies in this region.
'We are facing a frightening economic situation,' said Professor Richard D. Arvey, head of the department of management and organisation of the National University of Singapore Business School.
'We must watch the next one to two years. Asian countries will feel another shock. But the impact on each country will vary depending on how well each nation prepared itself after the last crisis.'
Already, some places in the region are beginning to put restrictions on the number of foreign workers as protectionist sentiments show an increase. Last month, hundreds of workers protested in Taiwan, near the Council of Labour Affairs building, demanding a review of labour protection policies and a tightening of foreign worker rules.
There are concerns also about the impact on nations that rely heavily on remittances to keep their economies moving.
Given the downturn, Mr Supachai's agency expects remittances from workers in the West - after growing by 18 per cent in 2006 and 16 per cent in 2007 - to drop by a significant amount.
'These payments, sent by cash or Western Union to villages in Asia, Africa and South America, account for the largest single source of economic growth in many countries, and outstrip foreign-aid spending,' wrote Mr Supachai.
Yet, there could be a silver lining, said Singapore Management University's Assistant Professor of Law Eugene Tan.
'Migrant workers' home countries may be compelled to pay more attention to broader economic and social development policies so as to be less reliant on migrant workers' remittances.
'The costs of international migration are often neglected - these include the impact on family members left behind, issues relating to protection of migrant workers, and brain drain.
'Maybe these issues will finally get the attention they deserve.' [email protected]
 
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