Greetings! This is a monthly update from BEBESEA to our valuable friends, colleagues and resource persons who have participated in and supported our activities.  

News from BEBESEA:

• Upcoming Event: A public policy discussion “The New Southbound Policy and Its Impact on the Life of Migrant Workers in Taiwan” will be held on Tuesday 17th May 2022 at 2-4pm (GMT+7). This is an online event via zoom. Register through this link:  https://bit.ly/MwsInTaiwan2022  (English – Indonesian interpretation available)

• Voicesea podcast: The new episode “‘Freedom Fighter with Writing from Chin State:  People’s Resistant against Tatmadaw” is a conversation with Tual Sawn Khai, PhD Fellow in Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, discussing people on the Move – stateless people, IDPs, and refugees from Myanmar.

• Opinion Article: Tual Sawn Khai also contributed his article “The plights of forgotten Chin people under the military coup in Myanmar”, which discusses how the military coup in Myanmar exacerbated poverty and the humanitarian crisis among the Chin people. Prior to the coup, for many years, Chin State was known as Myanmar’s poorest state, with more than half of the population living below the national poverty line.

News from Our Network:

• In Memory: Our deepest condolences to our friends and colleagues of HOME (Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics) for the recent loss of the founder Ms. Bridget Tan, an untiring advocate and champion of the rights of migrant workers. Before setting up HOME, Bridget worked in the field of human resources and was the Chairperson of the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ACMI). Rest in Power – to know more about Bridget visit HOME Facebook page. 

• Film Festival: Congratulations to Carmina Cruz whose short film “Lanie”, which was produced as part of BEBESEA Story Fellowship programme, was screened at Busan International Film Festival’s AFiS Hub program. 

• Media Spotlight: Work of the Aid Centre for Migrant Workers in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand was spotlighted in an online media “วิถี”. The Centre, located in a border area, began with providing food and PPE for migrant workers during the lockdown in the first wave of pandemic. It has expanded its work to focus more on migrant workers’ rights as well as their access to healthcare. Suebsakun Kidnukorn, a leading member of the centre was one of field researchers of BEBESEA’s report “Repression and Resilience: COVID-19 Response Measures and Migrant Workers’ Rights in Major East and Southeast Asian Destinations”, and a guest speaker of our podcast episode “Thailand: COVID-19 & Migrant Workers Series”.

If you have any resources or events you would like BEBESEA to share widely, please do get in touch!