HURIGHTS OSAKA

NEWSLETTER of the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (HURIGHTS OSAKA)
December 2007 Volume 50

Editorial

Peasants and their Human Rights
Peasants/subsistence farmers comprise one of the most marginalized sections of society.
Though their plight has long been recognized, their situation has largely remained
unchanged. Their poverty has not been addressed and their human rights hardly respected.
They do not only suffer from poverty, they also get harassed, arrested, or worse killed in trying to get out of it.
Measures designed to address their situation seem to be failing. Agrarian reform programs
have not improved their situation. Private corporations are preferred over them on the use ofland. Support services including infrastructures such as irrigation systems and farm-to-market roads do not reach their areas.
Government administrative and judicial processes are too slow and too late in bringing relief
to their suffering. National economic policies tend to go against their interests. And so on ...
Governments have to be reminded of the state obligation to "...undertake steps ...especially
economic and technical, to the maximum of [their] available resources, with a view toachieving progressively the full realization of ...[the human] rights..." of the peasants.
Programs that helped the peasants (such as the agrarian reform experience in Japan immediately after the second world war ended) show that government resolve is essential to makethings work.
Peasants/subsistence farmers are capable of improving their own situation if only the systems in society are not against them.

FOCUS Asia-Pacific is designed to highlight significant issues and activities relating to humanrights in the Asia-Pacific. Relevant information and articles can be sent to HURIGHTS OSAKA
for inclusion in the next editions of the newsletter.
FOCUS Asia-Pacific is edited by Osamu Shiraishi, Director of HURIGHTS OSAKA.

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Peasants Situation and Human Rights in Sri Lanka
Sarath Fernando*
ventions.

eventy per cent of the nineteen million populationof Sri Lanka still live in rural areas with livelihood
largely related to peasant farming. With about 1.8 million small farmer families (averaging five members
per family), there are about nine million small farmers
in the country. About one million of them are smallscale paddy farmers, cultivating an average land areaof less than half a hectare.1 About 1.2 million families
have received land from the government since theintroduction of the Land Development Ordinance in19352 with restriction against selling the land outside
the family.

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Plantation agriculture completely denuded the forestsin the central hills. These hills have the highest rate ofrainfall in the country and the starting point of all
major and many smaller rivers that provide irrigation
to the rest of the country.4 Over one hundred fifty
years of erosion and agrochemical pollution caused
serious damage to the land. Although tea, rubber andcoconut plantations were the main income earners forthe country for nearly one hundred fifty years, theplantation workers have remained the most exploitedand deprived people in the country. Even today they
are compelled to work under conditions of near slavery, receiving wages of only Rs. 170 (around one andhalf US dollars) per day when agricultural labor inother sectors receives a daily wage of about Rs. 350 (alittle over three US dollars).

A brief history
Sri Lanka is considered to have over 2,500-year-old
system of small scale, domestic food-producing agriculture. Throughout this history the rulers supported
and encouraged small-scale agriculture through irrigation development and relatively easy access to land
for new settlements. Village communities were permitted to build their own small-scale irrigation
reservoirs and settle down as and when village expansion was necessary.

Green Revolution, introduced throughout the country
since mid-1960s and helped increase production in theearly periods, contributed to the destruction of the natural fertility of the soil and made agriculture heavily
dependent on external inputs. The combined impact ofplantation system and Green Revolution led to serious
destruction of the regenerative ability of nature's
resources. The government admitted that heavy
dependence on imported agrochemicals (such as fertilizers) and food was an unaffordable burden on thenational economy.5

Before the British rule introduced legislations such as
the Waste Lands Ordinance in early 1800s, all lands
were considered owned or under the custody of theking and the regional feudal leaders. However, people
were free to settle down and develop their own formsof cultivation on any available land. The British colonial rulers introduced private ownership of land as ameans to acquire land for plantations (coffee and latertea plantations in the hill country, rubber and coconut
plantations in the mid-country and the plains).

The third intervention that further worsened the situation of small farmers was the introduction of "free andopen market" policies, under the guidance of theWorld Bank (WB) and other international financial
institutions (IFIs) since 1977.6

The ancient food-producing agricultural and irrigation
systems were ecological and adopted a systemic
approach that made the best use of the natural conditions, the gifts of nature, in a manner that did not
destroy the regenerative capacity of nature's
resources.3

The policies adopted by all governments since 1977
aimed at economic transformation based on an exportoriented growth model. All government support
services, helpful interventions and protection given tosmall-scale farming and domestic food production
were withdrawn, largely on the recommendations andThree phases of destruction
The problems facing agriculture and domestic foodproduction and the emerging situation of food insecurity among people, including the small scale rural
farmers, were brought about by three important inter-*Sarath Fernando is the Moderator of the Movement forLand and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR), a network of
farmer organizations, non-governmental organizations,and people's organizations in other sectors in Sri Lanka.

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Although the present government has promised to buy
paddy at Rs 16.50 - Rs 17.50 per kilogram the amountof money allocated for the purpose every season is
sufficient only to buy less than five per cent of the
produce. Monopoly traders buy and stockpile imported rice and keep the rice market prices very high,putting consumers in very difficult situation.

dictates of the WB and other IFIs. This situation
resulted in a near complete breakdown in the agricultural livelihoods of the small farmers and caused theunbearable increase in food prices for the relatively
poor consumers.
Consequences and problems faced by farmers andthe poor in general
The thirty-year application of the neo-liberal economic model in Sri Lanka made the situation of small
farmers extremely difficult.

The WB has been proposing to the government since1996 the issuance of freehold titles to all farmers toencourage them to sell their land and move out ofagriculture.12 The 2003 economic strategy plan of theGovernment (adopted in collaboration with the WB)
expected the decrease of rural population from seventy per cent to fifty per cent by year 2015.13 This infact is the planned strategy of the WB to create a freeland market by making rural small-scale farmers leave
their villages. The urban areas, however, do not provide new opportunities for such a large migrant
population. Thus this strategy can only result in creating a much larger population of landless, unemployeddestitute.

Rural poverty increased very rapidly over this period.
In the early 1990s, the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) identified Sri
Lanka as having the sharpest increase in rural poverty
among 114 countries surveyed.7 The WB's own recent
studies confirm the continuation of this trend. WB's
Country Director said in August 2007 that "even if
real per capita GDP in Sri Lanka grew at a healthyrate of 3.1 percent, it is still lower than" those of
China, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. These
countries also are "much more successful in terms ofpoverty reduction than Sri Lanka." She further
observed that "a key factor behind the low growth [inprovinces other than the Western province] is the stagnation in the rural economy-both the farm andnon-farm economy-over the past decade."8Farmer resistance
While a strong and consistent farmer's movement does
not yet exist, the farmers have strongly resisted tendencies to invite foreign companies to take control ofland and agriculture. They have also been fighting forhigher prices for their produce and for supportive government intervention in marketing and agricultural
subsidies. These struggles have been suppressed fromtime to time. While the government made promises toadopt supportive policies, the promises have not been
seriously kept due to pressures from the WB and otherlending institutions as well as big domestic traders
who have a great influence on whoever political leaders were elected.14

Rural poverty and large income disparities were someof the main contributory factors to the armed uprisingsby the youth. Armed youth uprising in 1971 resulted
in 10,000 deaths and repeated youth uprisings during
1987-1990 period led to thousands of disappearancesof youths.9 A report by the United Nations' Working
Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
noted that the number of cases of disappearances
recorded by it in 1991 was the highest figure ever fora single country.10 Farmer indebtedness kept increasing, resulting in suicides that continued from 2004 till
the present. About a million paddy farmers had to sell
their paddy at prices considerably less than the cost of
production. Studies done by the Movement for Land
and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR)11 over the last
few years in the five major rice producing districts
show that farmers spending over Rs 12 or 13 (about aquarter of a US dollar) to produce a kilogram of paddy
have been compelled to sell between Rs 11 to 13 per
kilogram.

Proposed solution
It is clear that the only way out of this crisis is tostrengthen rural agricultural economy, adopting
approaches that would make it possible for the rural
small-scale farmers to continue their agricultural
livelihood. This requires adjusting agricultural
methodologies to suit the situation of farmers andmake them viable. Domestic food availability ataffordable cost is essential. This can easily be done bypromoting ecological agriculture, making the best useof the helpful natural conditions and the knowledge
and experience that Sri Lanka has in such low cost,-3-

ecological agriculture.15 This should be planned witha vision of restoring the regenerative capacity ofnature's resources that are available as free gift ofnature.

Colombo, 2007.
6. World Bank, Sri Lanka: Non Plantation Crop Sector
Policy Alternatives, World Bank Report, March 20, 1996
inwwwwds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64193
027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64
187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&theSitePK=523679&entityID=000009265_3961019111321&searchMenuPK=64187283&theSitePK=523679.
7. See Jazairy, Idriss and Stanier, John, State of World
Rural Poverty: An Inquiry into its Causes andConsequences. New York: Published for International
Fund For Agricultural Development by New Yo r k
University Press, 1993.
8. See keynote address of Ms. Naoko Ishii, World BankCountry Director for Sri Lanka, before the Sri Lanka
Economics Association in August 2007 in
www.monlar.org/toplink/archives/sessionwb/
9. There is still no confirmed total number of disappeared
through the years. Estimates range from official count of
more than 20,000 cases to unofficial count of around60,000 cases. See footnote 3, pages 11-12 in Romesh
Silva, Britto Fernando and Vasuki Nesiah, Clarifying the
Past and Commemorating Sri Lanka's Disappeared: A
Descriptive Analysis of Enforced Disappearances
Documented by Families of the Disappeare d, Human
Rights Data Analysis Group, Families of the Disappeared(FoD) and the International Center for Transitional Justicein www.hrdag.org/about/sri_lanka.shtml.
10. Paragraph 192, Report on visit to Sri Lanka of threemembers of the Working Group on Enforced or
I n v o l u n t a ry Disappearances (7-18 October 1991),
E/CN.4/1992/18/Add.1 (8 January 1992).
11. See MONLAR, "Solving the paddy crisis, fighting the
World
Bank..."
inwww.geocities.com/monlarslk/news/rice_campaign.htm.
12 .World Bank, op. cit
13 See Government of Sri Lanka, op. cit.
14. See MONLAR, Regaining Sri Lanka and PRSP:
Compelling the poor to subsidize the rich, 2003 i n
www.geocities.com/monlarslk/publications/publications.htm
15. See MONLAR, Proposals of People's Organisations
for Another Development: Observations And Alternatives
on
the
Sri
Lanka
Budget2005
inwww.geocities.com/monlarslk/publications/publications.htm.
16. See MONLAR, Socio-Economic Conditions andUnproductive Lands in the Plantation Sector in Sri Lankain www.geocities.com/monlarslk/publications/publications.htm.

This approach has the potential for giving better livelihoods and better food sovereignty to the plantation
workers,16 the urban poor and also to the rest of the
low income earning population in the country.
In September 2007, the government declared a new
agricultural policy that gives higher emphasis todomestic food production and also declared a programof growing domestic food throughout the country, utilizing the capacity of small-scale farmers, andadopting home gardens. This is an admission by thegovernment that the export-oriented growth model has
failed to reduce poverty and hunger. However, thecommitment of the government to implement thisapproach, facing the pressures of the international
lending institutions and proponents of neo liberal economic policy, is still to be seen.
The farmer's movement in the country has to take thetask of supporting the new policy. It has to mainstream the growing trend among rural people to moveinto affordable and viable agricultural approaches.
For further information, please contact: MONLAR,
1151/58A, 4th Lane, Kotte Road, Rajagiriya, Sri
Lanka; ph (94) 11 2865534, 4407663; fax (94) 114407663;e-mail:monlar@sltnet.lk;
sarafdo@sltnet.lk; www.monlar.org.
Endnotes
1. "Official Poverty Line for Sri Lanka," The Department
of Census and Statistics Bulletin, June 2004, in
www.statistics.gov.lk/poverty/OfficialPovertyLineBuletin.
pdf
2. See Government of Sri Lanka, Regaining Sri Lanka:
Vision and Strategy for Accelerated Development,
Colombo, 2002.
3. See Siran Deraniyagala, "A Note on Man and Water in
Sri Lanka: From Prehistory to History" in Mendis, D.L.O,
Water Heritage of Sri Lanka , Colombo: Sri Lanka
Pugwash Group, 2002.
4. See Mendis, D.L.O., "Ancient Water and Soil
Conservation Ecosystems of Sri Lanka" in Mendis, ibid.
5. See Declaration of New Agriculture Policy, Ministry of
A g r i c u l t u re Development and Agrarian Ser v i c e s,-4-Struggle for Land in Kerala
people have tilled the lands for generations also suffered from state violence. The poor farmers in theChengara estate pledged to fight for their right to land
without using violence.2

n 4 August 2007 thousands of poor farmers started occupying part of the Chengara Harrison
Malayalam estate (also called as Laha estate and operated by Harrison Malayalam Plantations Ltd.) in
Chengara, Pathnamtitta district, Kerala state in India.
The poor farmers are composed of landless Dalits andAdivasis as well as scores of families from othermarginalized communities, Muslim communities, etc.
from all parts of Kerala. They are seeking ownershipof cultivable land for five thousand poor families(with more than twenty thousand family members).
They aim to re-claim ownership of the land that has
been part of a long-standing promise of the State government for land distribution.

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The Kerala State government enacted a Land Reform
Act in 1963. But its implementation was delayed for
fifteen years. And the law only covers tenants, which
therefore excludes Dalits and Adivasis who in"Kerala's context the caste and cultural hierarchy, withstrong oppressive segregation of these communities,
did not allow them to be tenants."3The lead organization of the land struggle, Sadhu Jana
Vimochana Samyuktha Vedi (SJVSV), has opted forthe land occupation as the strategy, remembering the
tradition of the great leader Ayyankali, the militantdalit leader whose mission was to ensure the liberationof dalits from various forms of slavery, and ensure
their right to agricultural land as well as right to education in Kerala. SJVSV sees the Chengara struggle as
an example of government double standards in favorof big private corporations.4

They would like to become permanent owners of theland since the company's possession of the estate has
become illegal when its lease agreement lapsed in
1996. They also allege that the company possesses
much more area than what is included in the leaseagreement, and they (poor farmers) occupy the land inexcess of the area leased.1
Since the start of the land occupation, arrests and illegal detentions have become common in the areas near
the estate. The occupying poor farmers have been facing threats from the local communist party (Marxist)
members as well as workers of the estate. The party
members and estate workers are claiming that theoccupation of the land by the farmers has been affecting plantation activities, yet the rubber trees in theestate are already too old for tapping.

According to SJVSV there are 12,500 dalit colonies
and 4,083 adivasi colonies where tens of thousands offamilies live in extreme lack of basic amenities facing
civil, political, economic and cultural rights violations.
(This article is mainly based on Peoples' Movements
Solidarity Team, A Report on Chengara Land Struggle in
Kerala, c/o ADVOCACY-Indian Social Institute, November
29, 2007 advocacy@isidelhi.org.in. Other sources provided
additional information, see Endnotes.)

A Kerala High Court issued, in favor of the plantationcompany, an order to evict the poor farmers from theestate.

Endnotes
1 P. N. Venugopal, "Kerala's landless dalits battle for
Chengara" in InfoChange News & Features, November
2007, http://justsamachar.com/local/keralas-landless-dalits-battle-for-chengara/?r=http://www.infochangeindia.org/features461.jsp
2 Chengara Pledge in Peoples' Movements Solidarity
Team, A Report on Chengara Land Struggle in Kerala, c/o
A D V O C A C Y-Indian Social Institute, November 29,
2007, advocacy@isidelhi.org.in
3 "Chengara Land Struggle in Kerala" in The South Asian,2
December
2007,
www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2007/chengara_land_stru
ggle_in_kera.html
4 KA SHAJI, The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth?, Tehelka
Magazine, Vol 4, Issue 47, 8 December 2007, www.tehelka.com/story_main36.asp?filename=Ne081207THE_ME
EK.aspThe broader context
Kerala is not known for land struggles until the historic land agreement in October 2001 signed between
protesting Dalits and Adivasis of Kerala and the State
government. The agreement, among others, committed the State government of Kerala to distribute fertile
land to Dalits and Adivasis. This "immediate measure" along with other provisions of the agreement
were unjustifiably delayed for years. At the sametime, state lands were being alienated to private parties and their inhabitants forcefully displaced.
Since then, Dalit and Adivasi land struggles in Kerala
attained a new order of practice. For the first time
ever, a large-scale mass occupation of land happenedin Muthanga. But it was met with violence like inother states in India. Many other places where the-5-Sumilao Land Struggle
PAKISAMA*
he Higaonons are indigenous people of southern
Philippines. Their ancestral land stretches acrossthe valley of Sayawan and Palaopao mountains in
Bukidnon province. But people who did not belong totheir community obtained the legal ownership of theland. In the 1930s, there were forcibly evicted fromtheir balaang yuta (holy land). They returned as farmworkers to the land that had become a cattle ranch.

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The legally registered owners of the cattle ranchchanged through the years, and subsequent owners
divided the land into smaller pieces. In 1984, one hundred forty-four hectares of the land owned by the
Quisumbing family and located in Sumilao town wereleased to Del Monte Philippines, Inc. (DMPI) for ten
years. The adjacent other portion of the land became
the estate of the Carlos family.
With the advent of the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law in 1988 (CARP), the one-hundred-fortyf o u r-hectare ancestral land in Sumilao town was
declared in 1990 as subject to the agrarian reform program. One hundred thirty-seven M a p a d a y o n o n g
Panaghiusa sa mga Lumad Alang sa Damlag(MAPALAD) farmers (later known as Sumilao farmers), all of Higaonon lineage, were declared
beneficiaries of the program. The government issued
in 1995 Certificates of Land Ownership Aw a r d(CLOAs) in their names. For the first time in decades,
the Higaonons regained their lost ancestral land.
Struggle continues
The registered landowner (Norberto Quisumbing, Sr.
Management and Development Corporation or NQSRMDC) opposed the government move of putting theland under the agrarian reform program from the very
beginning. With a series of legal actions, NQSRMDC
was able to suspend the actual distribution of the land
to the Sumilao farmers in 1992.
The municipal and provincial governments, on theother hand, approved in 1993 the conversion of thestatus of the land from agricultural to agro-industrial.
Within the same year, NQSRMDC applied for the permission to convert the use of land into agro-industrial
purpose, and thus exempt it from the agrarian reform
program. NQSRMDC justified the land conversion

application with promises of economic development
consisting of the establishment of a Development
Academy of Mindanao, a cultural center, Institute forLivelihood Science, a museum, a library, a golfcourse, a Mindanao Sports Development Complex, aBukidnon Agro-Industrial Park, Forest Development
and Support Facilities including the construction of a360-room hotel, restaurant and housing projects,
among others.
But the Philippine Department of Agrarian Reform(DAR) denied in 1994 the land conversion applicationon the ground that agrarian rules do not allow such
conversion of prime agricultural land.1 The land titleof NQSRMDC was cancelled and DAR awarded to
the Sumilao farmers their certificates of land ownership in 1995. NQSRMDC filed a court petition tonullify this decision of DAR. At the same time, itappealed the DAR decision to the Office of the
President. The then Executive Secretary Ruben Torres
issued in 1996 the infamous "Torres Decision"
approving the application for conversion, and nullifying in effect the certificates of land ownership of the
Sumilao farmers. The "Torres Decision" considered
the Sumilao farmers as "outsiders" who have no rightto the land. NQSRMDC then moved for the judicial
cancellation of the certificates of landownershipissued to them.
In response, the Sumilao farmers went into a hunger
strike for twenty-eight days in 1997 in front of the
DAR offices in the cities of Quezon and Cagayan deOro. Their peaceful protest caught the interest of the
public, including national personalities such as a
Cardinal of the Catholic Church (Jaime Sin), and thethen candidates for the election of the President,
Senators, members of the House of Representatives
and local legislative bodies.
Due to huge public pressure, then President Fidel V.
Ramos overturned the "Torres Decision" and issued
the so-called "Win-win Resolution" by providing for
one hundred hectares of the land to the Sumilao farmers and forty-four hectares to NQSRMDC. It was apleasant victory for the Sumilao farmers and the*PAKISAMA is a national confederation of peasant organizations in the Philippines.

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The Sumilao farmers appealed to the Office of the
President to reverse the DAR decision. On 18
December 2007, the Office of the President issued anorder granting the petition to cancel the land conversion order.4 Now a new process of legally distributing
the land to the Sumilao farmers has to begin.

whole peasant sector. However, their victory was short
lived.
NQSRMDC filed a petition against it before theSupreme Court. MAPALAD, representing the farmerbeneficiaries, filed an intervention to raise novel
questions such as the validity of conversion of a prime
agricultural land for other purposes, the power of local
governments to reclassify lands in relation to DAR's
authority to approve conversions, and the validity of
the comprehensive agrarian reform law itself.

Ending of funding for CARPThe agrarian reform program continues until its "original scope and mandate" has been completed.5 But by
2008, the law that allotted funds for its implementation will expire. 6 Without a new law providing thefunds, the implementation of the program will virtually stop. In this case, while private agricultural lands
will still be subject to agrarian reform, a more tedious
process of judicial expropriation will have to be
employed.

Unexpectedly, the Supreme Court decided against the
Sumilao farmers. It refused to answer the constitutional issues and focused its decision on DAR's failure toquestion the "Torres Resolution" on time. 2 It thus
skirted the substantial issues of the case and limited its
attention to technical questions. The "Torres Decision"
was reinstated while the "Win-win Resolution" wasinvalidated. Worst, it denied MAPALAD's intervention by equivocally saying that being merely"recommendee farmer-beneficiaries", the MAPALAD
members have no real interest over the land.
MAPALAD's dream of regaining the ancestral landvanished in an instant. That was in 1998.

But there is much to be done under the agrarianreform program. One report states the following
unfinished tasks under the program:7
According to DAR estimates, there will still be some
1,077,538 hectares of private agricultural lands and581,813 hectares of public alienable and disposable
lands that will still have to be distributed after 2008.
These do not include the areas also still to be covered
under leasehold and the differential between the
DAR targets from 10.3M hectares in 1988 to 8.1M
hectares in 1996.

Idle land and endless appeals
Several years passed and the land remained idle. Not
one of the proposed projects of NQSRMDC evermaterialized. The "promises" of economic vitality,
employment and increased income remained promises. NQSRMDC sold the land instead in 2002 to San
Miguel Foods, Inc. (SMFI), the biggest conglomerate
in the country, which planned to put up a piggery
farm.

The DAR also estimates that there will still be some
132,620 agrarian cases pending after 2008.
The recent moves of the government under President
Gloria M. Arroyo and the Philippine legislature(House of Representatives) indicate that the implementation of CARP may come to a halt. The lumpingof agrarian reform with other "asset reform programs"of the government such as on urban land and ancestral
domain instead of the usual separate chapter in the
recent Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan
(MTPDP), the reduction of target for land acquisitionand distribution (LAD) of private agricultural lands toonly 100,000 hectares per year, the legislative proposals to exempt big prawn farms, fish ponds andaquaculture areas from CARP coverage, foreign
investors' leasing of private lands for up to seventyfive years, and the proposed twenty-five-year
moratorium on CARP implementation in the

Meanwhile, in 2003, the adjacent Carlos estate wasdistributed to some of the Sumilao farmers under theagrarian reform program with the full agreement of
the registered landowner, the Carlos family. The farmers received their land ownership certificates.
With the conditions for land conversion remaining
unfulfilled in violation of rules,3 the Sumilao farmers
filed a petition in 2004 to cancel the conversion order,
and to award the land to them. They also argued thatthe planned piggery farm was not one of the agroindustries proposed by NQSRMDC in its land
conversion application. In 2006, the DAR dismissed
their petition.

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For further information, please contact: PAKISAMA,
Room 201, 2nd floor, Partnership Center, 59 C.
Salvador Street, Loyola Heights, Quezon City. Metro
Manila, Philippines; ph (632) 4342079; e-mail: pak isama_pilipinas@yahoo.com; www.pakisama.org

Mindanao region are all veering away from the dutyof the government to fully implement the constitutional mandate on agrarian reform (Section 4, Article XIIof the 1987 Constitution).
No clear land use policy
Massive land conversions all over the country led toestablishment of industrial zones and residential areas
on agricultural lands. Such land conversions pose aserious problem in light of growing population, perennial problem of food security, and threat to theecology.
The absence of national land use policy complemented by inconsistent land reform policies, inefficientland administration bureaucracy, a highly politicizedland tax system, and inefficient agrarian reform andhousing development programs affect the efficiency ofland markets, and thus the country's economic growthpotential and equity.
The future of the Sumilao farmers
The Sumilao farmers were robbed of their ancestral
land through the current system of land ownership.
They tried various ways to recover it. They suffered
forced eviction, violent actions by the police, andharassment by security staff of the landowners. Someof them died in the process.
They marched during October-December 2007 period
from Mindanao to Manila (1,700 kilometer distance)
to make their plea to the government once more. They
demanded that their right to land be respected. The
government finally cancelled its own decision allowing the conversion of their land for agro-industrial
purpose. But the legal process of distributing the land
to them is still to be undertaken.
The one-hundred-forty-four-hectare ancestral land in
Sumilao remains fertile. Its rich soil awaits cultivation. Mt. Sayawan and Mt. Palaopao still protect theland from unwanted weather conditions and theCulaman river runs through the land providing water.
The Sumilao farmers may finally return to their ancestral land.

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Endnotes
1. The rules provide that lands already covered by theagrarian reform program, or with irrigation facilities,
among others, are prime agricultural lands that cannot be
converted to other uses. The Sumilao land has been certified in 1994 as having irrigation system by Presidential
Agrarian Reform Council (PARC), the Provincial
Agricultural Officer and the National Irrigation Authority(NIA).
2. Carlos O. Fortich, et al. vs. Renato C. Corona, et al.,
G.R. No. 131457, April 24, 1998, 289 SCRA 624 in
www.supremecourt.gov.ph/jurisprudence/1998/apr1998/1
31457.htm
3. DAR Administrative Order No. 1, series of 1990 in
relation to DAR Administrative Order No. 2, series of
1990, DAR Administrative Order No. 12, series of 1994
(Consolidated and Revised Rules and Regulations
Governing Conversion of Agricultural Lands to NonAgricultural Uses), and DAR Administrative Order No. 1,
series of 2002.
4. Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, "Palace restores Sumilao
land to agricultural use," Philippine Daily Inquirer, 18
December 2007, http://newsinfo.inquirer. n e t / b r e a kingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=107507
5. See Department of Justice Opinion No. 9, series of
1997.
6. Republic Act 8532, which amended Republic Act
6657, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law(CARL), provided additional 50 billion Philippine pesos(roughly 1.2 billion US dollars) to the Agrarian Reform
Fund (ARF).
7. Why CARP "Extension With Reforms" in 2008?, primerof the AR Now!, PESANTech and PhilDHRRA, 2007, in
http://asianfarmers.org/?p=322.

Indonesian Peasants Today
Aliansi Petani Indonesia*
of conversion of agricultural lands into non-agricultural purposes. These land conversions affect agricultural
production to the point that Indonesia may face foodcrisis in the next decade.2 The alarming rate of conversion of paddy fields into non-agricultural use
affects not only rice production but production of secondary crops (peanuts, soybeans, corn, andvegetables) that farmers produce during dry season.3

he peasants are the backbone of the agrarian sector in Indonesia. They have that status since thecolonial period till the present. And yet since colonial
period, they have largely been deprived of freedom freedom from oppression and poverty. While they produce the food for the people, they have not beenrecognized as heroes/heroines who could share theprestige of the country before the global community.
Rather than allow them to suffer in poverty, their prosperity should be considered a national priority.

T

With the liberalization of the agricultural market,
Indonesia became a big rice importer. It also has toimport corn, soya, sugar, orange, shallot, cattle andmany other commodities because the agricultural sector could not meet the demand. If the conversion ofagricultural lands to other purposes continues, agriculture and its produce will become history.

The Indonesian peasants today are struggling, much
like in the past. The Indonesian military inflict violence on them regarding land disputes. Indonesianagri-business companies patent their seeds and force
them to respect it. They face legal prosecution forbreeding their own seeds.1

But the peasants know that their survival entirely
depends on their own efforts.

Just like other countries that were former colonies,
agrarian reform was used as the means to address theplight of the peasants. But their situation has notchanged.

The case of Pasir Randu4
Peasants tilled the land of Pasir Randu in Cianjur
town, West Java province until a Dutch company controlled the area during the Dutch colonial period.
While the Second World War disrupted the operationof the company, it returned to the area after the war
ended. In 1965, another company (PTPN VIII Pasir
Nangka) entered the area and established a clove plantation with the peasants as workers. With low price forcloves, the company did not do well, and the clove
trees were subsequently abandoned and workers laidoff. Twenty people were left working in the plantationin the 1980s. In the 1990s it was down to four people.
The area has turned into a forest as a result. The company clearly failed to fulfill its obligation to turn theland it was leasing into commercial use. In 1997 thepeasants decided to reclaim the two-hundred-ninetyhectare land and to till it for their livelihood.

Land disputes
Agrarian conflicts occur in the country to the prejudice of the peasants. With a law on agrarian reformlargely unimplemented, the lands tilled by peasants
are not protected from take-overs by agricultural
plantation companies.
In one case in Lengkong district, West Java province,
peasants suffered from violence inflicted by company
security forces and members of the military. They
were arrested, detained, intimidated, forced to leave
their homes, and their farms destroyed.
The company has been enjoying the protection of thelaw on plantations (Law No. 18, 2004). This law
became an easy tool for big private companies to
intimidate and remove the peasants from the land inorder to establish agricultural plantations. The
Indonesian peasants rightly denounce this law forbeing biased against them.

Through their own organization, the peasants petitioned the government to recognize their right to theland. They argued that since the company was nolonger in a position to operate a plantation, its leaseagreement should be cancelled and the land given to
them.

The law's provisions on lease agreements are proof ofthe support that the government gives to plantationcompanies, at the expense of the peasants who
become victims of human rights violations.

Because the government was taking time to decide on
their petition, and with the approval of the plantation*Aliansi Petani Indonesia (API) is a national organizationof peasant federations in Indonesia.

Peasants likewise suffer from the increasing number-9-company, the peasants improved the facilities on theland (irrigation system and roads) using their own
resources and started to till it.
While their right to the land had not yet been recognized by the government, the peasants knew that if
they did not take action their situation would be evenworse. They now benefit from tilling the land again.
Causes of the problems
Land disputes arise because long-term land leases
unjustifiably displace peasants who till the land. The
law on foreign capital investments (Law No. 25,
2007) allows multinational companies to use agricultural land to the prejudice of the peasants. Agricultural
plantation companies compete with the peasants on
unequal terms.
The government resorts to importation to satisfy thedemand for agricultural products in the domestic market instead of optimizing the use of good agricultural
system. It prioritizes the importation of agricultural
products rather than aim at increasing the income ofthe peasants by helping them improve agricultural
production, supporting their training in agricultural
skills and new technology, and repairing/building agricultural infrastructures .
This situation leads to a number of human rights violations, namely:
1. Obligation to respect
The government tolerated the intimidation, expulsion,
torture and other human rights violations suffered byIndonesian peasants. This government stance violates
the human rights law (Law No. 39, 1999) particularly
the provision on the obligation of the government toprotect the right of people to freedom from torture or
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
It likewise violates the obligations of the state ofIndonesia under the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights.
2. Obligation to protect
The government failed to protect the peasants frombeing deprived of water and other publicly-owned natural resources by big plantation companies. The
government violated the human rights law as well as
its obligation under the ratified international humanrights treaties to promote, protect and realize humanrights through legislative and other measures.
3. Obligation to fullfill

The government failed to fullfill the rights of the peasants to work and to live humane lives under thehuman rights law and the provisions of theInternational Covenant on Economic, Social andCultural Rights. It also failed to fulfill the right of thepeasants to own agricultural land individually or collectively under the agrarian reform law.
The alternative solutions
It is important for peasants to strenghten their organization to be able to push for genuine agrarian reform.
Such reform must fulfil the economic, social, politicaland cultural rights of the peasants, and support rural
women to become active participants in the power
structure of rural societies.
Importation of agricultural products (rice, sugar, cornand soy) should stop in order to prevent its negative
impact on the Indonesian peasants. Coordination withcivil society organizations in other countries is needed
for an international campaign with the World Trade
Organization to protect the peasants from being drivenout of the agricultural industry.
Agriculture is an important component of developing
countries and thus should be valued beyond economic
terms. Governments and the international community
should recognize the rights of the peasants to the land
as well as to their culture, and that no law should beenacted allowing the appropriation of natural
resources away from public ownership.
For further information, please contact: API, l. Saleh
Abud No. 18-19, Otto Iskandardinata, Jakarta 13330,
Indonesia; ph (6221) 819 9749; 851 9611; fax (62 21)
850 0052; e-mail: api_bumie@yahoo.co.id; www.apitentang.blogspot.com
Endnotes
1. Hira Jhamtani and Dey Patria, Indonesian farmers
prosecuted for breeding their own seeds, in http://asianfarmers.org/?p=208#more-208.
2. See "Indonesia may face food crisis in next 10 years:
M i n i s t e r," The Jakarta Post, 12 December 2007, in
www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=2007
1211.A04&irec=3.
3. See Fahmuddin Agus and Irawan, "Agricultural Land
Conversion as a Threat to Food Security andEnvironmental Quality," Jurnal Litbang Pertanian, 25(3)2006.
4. For more details on the Pasir Randu experience, seeLand Reclaiming Experience of Indonesian Farmers in
http://asianfarmers.org/?p=211.

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Regional Conference on Enhancing Child Protection
through Database Development
Kimiko Okada*sia ACTs against Child Trafficking (Asia ACTs),a network of non-governmental org a n izations(NGOs) working towards the elimination of child trafficking in Southeast Asia, organized the Regional
Conference on Enhancing Child Protection throughDatabase Development: Mapping of Existing
Database Efforts to Fight Child Tr a fficking inSoutheast Asia on 22-24 October 2007 in Bangkok.
This Conference followed the Seminar Workshop on
the Southeast Asian Guidelines for the Protection of
the Rights of Children Victims of Trafficking organized also by Asia ACTs in 2006.1

A

Due to the nature of the issue, accurate data on trafficking in human beings (including its scale) has beenlacking. Such data is critical in understanding the situation and trends of the issue, in taking appropriate
responses and in developing policies. The United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) 2006
report, Trafficking in Persons: Global Patterns, is an
example of an effort to present the global trends intrafficking in human beings. In Southeast Asia, on theother hand, some of the member-organizations of Asia
ACTs as well as related organizations have their own
data collection initiatives.
Asia ACTs saw the need to develop a regional
database to monitor and prevent child trafficking aswell as to provide information that would help
improve responses to child trafficking. Thus the
Bangkok Conference was held to share information on
data collection initiatives and to come up with recommendations to complement the existing databaseinitiatives of various organizations. There were aroundforty participants, both from within and outside of theregion, from governments as well as NGOs.
Conference proceedings
A researcher of the UNODC introduced the databaseinitiative currently being planned. She mentioned thecriticisms on the 2006 UNODC Report for being
based on secondary data, and categorizing countries
into "sending" and "receiving" countries. She
explained that guidelines for the database framework
would be prepared before developing a new database.
She hoped that it would be continuously updated toprovide information to judges and prosecutors working on trafficking cases, and support publicawareness-raising efforts. The new database will focus
on government responses to trafficking including
court decisions.
The Terre des Hommes Child Relief TACT Project inSouth-Eastern Europe was another example presented
at conference. The project, with database component,
provides assistance to children who are victims of
trafficking. Social workers who are in contact with thechildren input the data, and information is accessible
online. Data include information on the child victims
and the traffickers. Security of information is maintained through multiple passwords and various levelsof access. Several comments were raised such as theimportance of making users become aware of the risks
of information leak, the differences in legal provisions
on personal information that create difficulties in sharing information among different countries, and theneed to clarify the purpose of the database, the participation of users in developing it, and to keep it simple
and easy to use.
Subsequent panel discussions and workshops introduced and discussed other initiatives within andoutside of the Mekong region. Existing and planned
databases generally focus on information on children
who were rescued, returned or came into contact with
NGOs or officials in the course of responding to trafficking cases, the cases themselves, and information
regarding income, education and other relevant matters which may provide bases for developing policies
on anti-trafficking and the welfare of children at risk.
A representative of Save the Children introduced its
database for six countries in the Mekong region thathelps analyze the situation of children and supports
the planning and monitoring of its activities. Children
receiving its services provide information using aquestionnaire. Personal data are stored in local offices,
but information shared among regions and countries
are less detailed. The KKSP Foundation in Indonesia
has a database on children who are victims of violence*Kimiko Okada is a staff of HURIGHTS OSAKA.

-11-

including trafficking for its advocacy activities. The
Philippine Center on Transnational Crime under the
Office of the President operates a database on international crimes including trafficking in human beings.
Information of the victims as well as the traffickers(regarding their personal details, information on theircases, and criminal organizations) are collected tofacilitate monitoring of illegal activities and assist
police operations.
An example of database providing bases for policymaking is the initiative of the Social Development andHuman Security Office of Thailand in Chiang Mai
and two other northern provinces. The database has
information on health, education, migration and othermatters of the residents in these areas that the various
ministries collect, as well as information on entertainment facilities and areas requiring particular attention.
The collected information are used in preparing policies and plans for preventing trafficking, responding
swiftly to cases, and promoting cooperation with otherrelevant ministries and agencies. The Subaybay Bata
Monitoring System of the Philippine Council for the
Welfare of Children, an inter-agency body monitoringand evaluating the implementation of policies and programs for the welfare and protection of children, wasanother example introduced in the conference. In thisscheme, data from the studies and reports from various ministries as well as information collected by thebarangay (community) officials provide the basis forformulating policies and decision-making. The data
are also used to promote dialogue and sharing of
responsibilities among national and local officials.
The discussions centered on the importance of information security in all the initiatives presented, and themeasures needed such as passwords, access restrictions, as well as keeping some data off the website.
Issues regarding sharing of information between government agencies and NGOs were also pointed out.
With initiatives involving information collection
directly from the children, many speakers mentioned
the necessity of keeping the questionnaires and user
manuals short and easy for those taking the information. It was emphasized that the interest of the childshould be the priority in all stages of the process.

The participants agreed on the need for a regional
database to serve a number of purposes, namely:
1. Provision of evidence for advocacy for the adoption and implementation of the human rights
standards for trafficked children
2. Provision of authoritative information about theissue
3. Presentation of the real situation on trafficking ofchildren for policy advocacy
4. Identification of gaps on services being provided
to victims
5. Development of coordination among service
providers from both government and NGOs andmonitoring of governments initiatives
6. Drawing up of regional trends on the work doneon the issue.
(See next page for the full text of the conference statement and the recommendations regarding theestablishment of a regional database system.)
The Conference was attended by representatives ofNGOs and government agencies in Southeast Asia
involved in anti-child-trafficking programs. Terre desHommes Netherlands, the European Commission and
the Japan Foundation provided support.
For further information, please contact: Asia Acts
Against Child Trafficking (Asia ACTs), Rms. 322
Philippine Social Science Center, CommonwealthAvenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila,
Philippines, ph (632) 929-0822; fax (632) 929-0820;
e-mail: asiaacts@tri-isys.com; www.stopchildtraffick ing.info.
Endnote1. For more information on this seminar workshop, see"Protecting Children Against Tr a fficking: Southeast
Asian Guidelines" FOCUS Asia-Pacific, Vol. 44, June
2006,
HURIGHTSOSAKA,
http://www.hurights.or.jp/asia-pacific/044/06.html On the
Guidelines, see Seminar-Workshop on the Southeast Asian
Guidelines for the Protection of the Rights of Children
Victims of Tr a f f i c k i n g, AsiaACTs against Child
Trafficking, 2007.

On the final day of the Conference, the participants
discussed and adopted a statement including recommendations towards a regional database.

-12-Regional Conference on Enhancing Child Protection Through Database
Development:
Mapping of Existing Database Efforts to Fight Child Trafficking
in South East Asia (October 2007)
Conference Statement
We, the participants of the "Regional Conference on
Enhancing Child Protection Through Database
Development: Mapping of Existing Database Efforts toFight Child Tr a fficking in South East Asia" held in
Bangkok on 22-24 October 2007 coming from non-government and government organizations from Burma,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao People's Democratic
Republic, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, support the initiatives of the Asia Acts Against Children Trafficking
protecting the rights and dignity of the trafficked children
in South East Asia, and hereby recommend the following:* Intensify efforts to collect information on traffickedchildren at the grassroots level and from reliable sources
where possible such as reports from the media, social
workers, and the police;* Work towards having a common regional database system on child trafficking that would aid efforts to combat
child trafficking by various stakeholders;* Agree on common objectives, indicators, and definitions based on the ASEAN Guidelines for the Protectionof the Rights of Trafficked Children to guide the development of a national/regional database on childtrafficking;* Develop comprehensive training and users manuals to
include detailed technical and ethical guidelines in thecollection, collation, and dissemination of information
on child trafficking;* Explore or intensify collaboration with the government
at the national and regional levels, where possible, in thedevelopment of a centralised database system on childtrafficking;* Intensify lobbying efforts for the adoption and implementation of the ASEAN Guidelines for the Protectionof the Rights of Trafficked Children;* Contribute information on the situation of child trafficking in South East Asia and undertake parallel
activities in preparation for the World Fit for Children
session in New York in December 2007, and the 3rdWorld Congress on Commercial Sexual Exploitation ofChildren in Brazil in 2008;* For Asia-ACTS to revisit its position on child trafficking not only as a human rights issue but also as a law andorder problem.
The Recommendations of the Conference
Regarding a Regional Database
Rationale:
A regional database
1. Provides evidence for advocacy for the adoption andimplementation of the human rights standards for trafficked children
2. Provides authoritative information about the issue
3. Presents the real situation on trafficking of children forpolicy advocacy
4. Identifies gaps on services to victims
5. Develops coordination among service providers fromboth government and NGOs and monitors what the governments are doing
6. Draws regional trends on work done on the issue.
Results:
After three years, the following results will be generated
from the database:
1. Situational analysis of child trafficking in the region
2. Facilitated development of at least one cross-bordercoordination effort in case intervention; at the country
level, identified gaps in service delivery/provision ofinterventions to victims
3. Adoption of the proposed guidelines on protecting therights of children-victims of trafficking.
Strategies:
1. Develop the standard documentation format (paperand electronic formats). This includes systems for data
entry, pre-testing and hands-on training, identification offields in the database, determining cases that cannot becovered due to inaccessibility, deciding on informationthat cannot be shared, updating frequency, and development of controlled vocabulary. At the country level,
review and improvement of existing formats
2. Formation of the data management team (including
adoption of criteria for identifying the [members of the]team, formulation of the operational structure and defining the roles and functions of the team)
3. Development of users' manual
4. Data collection, data entry, data retrieval, data analysis, packaging and dissemination of results
5. Training on data analysis (regional and country level).

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Korea-Japan Symposiums on "International Marriage" and"Female Migrant Workers"
Koonae Park*
URIGHTS OSAKA held two public symposiums
on the human rights of foreign migrant women in
Japan and Korea in August and October 2007. These
symposiums were co-sponsored by the Asian Center
for Women Studies of Ewha University (Seoul),
Women's Study Center of Osaka Prefectural
U n i v e r s i t y, and Seoul Foundation of Women &F a m i l y. The first symposium was held at Ewha
University in Seoul on 3 August 2007, focusing on thesituation of foreign women who respectively married
Japanese and Korean men, and reside in Japan and
Korea. The second symposium was held on 27
October 2007 in Osaka at the Dawn Center (Osaka
Prefectural Women's Center) with the cooperation of
the Osaka Gender Equality Foundation. In both symposiums, non-governmental organization (NGO) workers
and researchers in Japan and Korea shared and discussed the issues.

H

Japan and Korea situations
The two symposiums revealed the similarity of situations of migrant workers in Japan and Korea. The
number of migrant workers in Japan started to increasein late 1980s. While Korea was sending a lot of its
workers to work abroad as migrant workers till late1980s, by 1990s it was receiving foreign migrant workers. For every eight married couples in Korea, one is aninternational marriage. In Japan, the ratio is 16:1. The
foreign spouses (mainly women) in Korea are mostly
Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Filipinos. While inJapan majority of the foreign spouses (also mainly
women) are Chinese, Korean, Filipinos, and Thais (inthe order of their number). Korea has more than one
hundred thousand foreigners at present while Japan has
more than two million.
This situation is becoming a major issue of globalization. The feminization of migration is increasing in
Asia. Japan and Korea are similarly experiencing aging
societies and decreasing birthrate, while receiving foreign female migrants.
"International Marriage from the Women's Human
Rights Perspective" - Seoul symposium
The symposium in Seoul, held on 3 August 2007,
focused on "international marriage" because of therapid increase in the number of international marriages-14-

in Korea and the establishment of programs by Koreannational and local governments for female spouses fromdeveloping countries. The symposium was also part of
the HURIGHTS OSAKA's study tour to Korea to learn
about issues regarding, and NGO efforts in support of,female migrants.
One hundred fifty people from various sectors including the twenty Japanese participants in the study tour
attended the symposium. Professor Kim Young-ok of
Ehwa University in her presentation entitled "Female
Migrants through International Marriage and Multinational Family" introduced the recent debates about
multiculturalism, and nationality and citizenship in academic community. She also mentioned the limited
discussions in Korea about the development of policies
for families of international marriages that support thefull participation in the society of the foreign spouses,
and also gender-equality. Ms. Yoko Yoshida, a Japaneselawyer, presented the Japanese situation on international marriages and some aspects of the human rights
violations under Japanese laws and policies.
Ms. Han Kuk-yom of Korea Women Migrants Human
Rights Center gave a presentation entitled "Human
Rights Situation and Issues regarding Female Spousesin International Marriages in Korea." She pointed out
cases of trafficking in the guise of international marriages and the discriminatory attitude of Koreanhusbands and the society as a whole toward the foreign
spouses. Ms. Enoi Yukari, a staff of the To y o n a k aInternational Exchange Association in Toyonaka city
(Japan), introduced her organization's activities sup*Koonae Park is a staff of HURIGHTS OSAKA.

porting foreign women married to Japanese men, andtheir children.
Ms. Oh Hyeran of the Seoul Foundation of Women &Family presented the recently launched activities of thefoundation to support families of foreign spouses insouthern part of Seoul. Ms. Baek Mi-Soon of the
National human Rights Commission of Korea discussed
the Commission's policy and activities on protecting thehuman rights of foreign migrants, including its future
activities such as research projects in sending countries.

"Securing the Human Rights of Female Fore i g n
Migrant Workers" - Osaka symposium
One hundred participants from various sectors attended
the Osaka symposium, which focused on the issue of
female foreign migrant workers. As in the Seoul symposium, the program included several presentations.
Professor Ito Ruri gave a presentation entitled"Globalization and Female Migrant Workers: JapaneseSituation and Problems." She presented an analysis of
the feminization of international migration in Asia ingeneral and Japan in particular. She pointed out the lackof gender perspective in Japanese foreign labor policy,
the issues regarding migrant workers (such as caregivers from Southeast Asia) and concrete measures toprotect their rights. Ms. Jang Myung-sun of the Seoul
Foundation of Women & Family presented the legal
status of migrant workers, the foreign labor policy, thehuman rights violations caused by the employment system for foreign migrants, and the social structure in
Korea. She stressed that female foreign migrant workers suffer from harsher conditions than their malecounterparts.
Ms. Wang Tong, a graduate student of Osaka Sangyo
University and a former trainee from China, spoke
about her experience being a trainee at a manufacturing
company in Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. She pointed out
the wide gap between the provisions of training contracts and the harsh reality of the working place.
Ms. Hayasaki Naomi of the Rights of Immigrants
Network in Kansai (RINK) presented the implementation of the Industrial Training and Technical Internship
Program of the Japanese government and the increasing
number of female trainees under this program. Ms.
Yang Hyewoo of the Korean Migrant Workers Human
Rights Center discussed the newly introduced"Employment Permit System" (which replaced the"Industrial Training Program") and the situation of
female foreign migrant workers. She also mentioned
the entertainer visa system and the government's special
policy of accepting people of Korean-descent from
China, Russia and Central Asia.
Some notes
While many problems discussed in the two symposiums
were similar in the two countries, there were differences in terms of government policies and measures.
The Korean parliament passed a law on the rights offoreign migrants, including female foreign migrants, in
response to strong recommendations and lobby by the
National Human Rights Commission in the country.
The law, aimed at integrating the foreign migrants into
the Korean society and protecting their rights, started to
be implemented from the early part of 2007. Bills related to female foreign migrants, such as measures tosupport 'multicultural family' and the regulation of theactivities of international matchmaking agencies, havebeen discussed in the Korean parliament.
On the other hand, the Japanese government appears
less serious compared to its Korean counterpart inenacting legislations and measures on foreign migrants.
It was also noted that there was relatively weaker advocacy of NGOs on these issues. However, several local
governments in Japan have enacted ordinances to protect the rights of citizens and foreign residents alike, in
addition to taking several measures to support female
foreign migrants. The programs of Toyonaka City (suchas consultation and interpretation services, freeJapanese language class, special class for foreign children to learn their mother tongue) implemented incollaboration with NGOs were examples of local government initiatives for foreign migrants.
The symposiums were the first experiences of collaboration between HURIGHTS OSAKA and universities
and other institutions on foreign migrants issue in East
Asia. Opportunities for further collaboration on theissue may have to be created. The unexpected highnumber of participants in both symposiums proved highinterest on the issue.

For further information, please contact HURIGHTSOSAKA.

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HURIGHTS OSAKA CALENDAR
HURIGHTS OSAKA recently launched the online version of its Directory of Human Rights Centers in AsiaPacific (http://hurights.pbwiki.com). The online version is designed to allow the staff of listed human rights
centers to edit their respective draft center profiles or for other centers to provide the profiles. A printed versionof the directory will follow in early 2008.

PRINTED MATTERAIR MAIL

May be opened for inspection by the postal service.

HURIGHTS OSAKA, inspired by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, formally opened in December 1994. lt has the following goals: 1) to promote human rights in the AsiaPacific region; 2) to convey Asia-Pacific perspectives on human rights to the international community; 3) toensure inclusion of human rights principles in Japanese international cooperative activities; and 4) to raisehuman rights awareness among the people in Japan in meeting its growing internationalization. In order toachieve these goals, HURIGHTS OSAKA has activities such as Information Handling, Research and Study,
Education and Training, Publications, and Consultancy Services.

HURIGHTS OSAKA

HURIGHTS OSAKA(Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center)
1-2-1-1500, Benten, Minato-ku, Osaka 552-0007 Japan
Phone: (816) 6577-3578 Fax: (816) 6577-3583
E-mail: webmail@hurights.or.jp
Web site: http://www.hurights.or.jp