Little has changed a hundred years after Komagata Maru insist advocates in national statement
Release. Over one hundred South Asians and advocacy organizations release national statement on eve of Komagata Maru centenary calling for permanent status for migrant workers
Canada – Over a hundred South Asian advocates, artists, social workers, labour unions, academics and community groups are issuing a joint statement marking the centenary of Komagata Maru’s landing in Canada on May 23rd, insisting that little has changed in the last hundred years, and calling for permanent immigration status for temporary foreign workers.
“The Komagata Maru is not just a historic incident that can be washed away by commemorative stamps,” says Toronto based workers rights organizer Sonia Singh. “We need to seriously change the course of Canadian immigration policy and include access to permanent residency for poor and working class migrants now rather than wait a 100 years to apologize for the mistreatment of migrant workers.”
Signed by over 100 individuals and organizations from across Canada, the statement reads “We call on the Government of Canada to immediately reverse the moratorium on migrant workers in the food sector. Canada and its provinces must ensure access to permanent residence and full citizenship, a living wage, rights and benefits for poor and working class migrants and their families…We refuse divide-and-conquer strategies that pit unemployed citizens against migrant workers and newly arrived migrants against those who have lived here for generations.”
Harsha Walia, author and activist based in Vancouver adds, “The expansion of the temporary worker program is a direct legacy of the racist exclusion of the Komagata Maru. Restrictive immigration and refugee laws continue to make it impossible for refugees, family members, and skilled workers to live in Canada permanently. And the calls to deport and exclude migrant workers echo the same sentiment as one hundred years ago.”
Montreal based South Asian Women Centre’s Dolores Chew agrees. “Today we need to reflect on how Komagata Maru’s legacy continues in the current immigration system rather than put it aside as a now dealt with historical incident. For the ones aboard the Komagata Maru that were turned away, and eventually jailed and murdered, we can only begin to justly honour their lives when such atrocities no longer happen.”
The full statement can be found at http://komagatamarulegacy.tumblr.com/ and below.
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Migrant Workers exclusion is part of Komagata Maru’s legacy
Over one hundred South Asians and advocacy organizations release national statement on eve of Komagata Maru centenary
On May 23rd, we commemorate the immense injustice that was the turning away of the Komagata Maru. We remember our elders in Vancouver and across Coast and Straits Salish Territories that raised money, and attempted to defy the blockade to take supplies to those trapped aboard the ship. We honor those that were jailed, and murdered upon their return to a colonized India. This May 23rd, we mark one hundred years of resilience and resistance against racisms and oppression, despite which our communities continue to live and flourish here.
For us, the Komagata Maru is not a historic ‘incident’ but one step in an ongoing history of exclusion of our communities.
We have seen the mass arrest of migrants aboard the MV Sun Sea and the drumming up of racist hysteria against the Tamil community. Recent anti-immigrant and anti-refugee policies have made it impossible for most of us to reunite permanently with our parents, grandparents, spouses and children. Conditional permanent residence requirements for some spousal sponsorships mean that women facing abuse may be forced into further vulnerability or risk losing status. Fewer members of our communities doing lower wage jobs are able to come here with full immigration status. Even those that do arrive with permanent immigration status and higher qualifications often end up de-skilled or living in poverty.
On April 24th, a moratorium was placed on temporary foreign worker jobs in the food sector. Now nearly 50,000 migrant workers are locked into potentially abusive jobs with even less ability to move within the industry. Workers that have paid thousands of dollars to unscrupulous recruiters to get jobs in Canada are also severely impacted. Those working in the food sector are almost entirely racialized, and many of them are South Asian.
Many organizations are calling for the ban to be extended to all migrant workers. These demands are part of the ongoing legacy of exclusion that the Komagata Maru embodies. Just as the Komagata Maru’s arrival was accompanied by racist trumpeting from governments, and mainstream voices, we see our newspapers today filled with the claim: “Foreigners are taking our jobs”. There are rallies against migrant workers in Alberta today, just as there were against the Sikh, Muslim and Hindu families from Punjab aboard the Komagata Maru in 1914.
The Refugee Exclusion Act, the so-called Human Smuggling Act, Labour Market Opinions, Work Permits, Quotas and Moratoriums are the legal tools of exclusion today, just as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Head Tax and the Continuous Journey regulations have been before.
The Komagata Maru is not a failure of the past that can simply be recovered through apologies and commemorative stamps. Those are important steps in a process of reconciliation that has barely begun. But, it is imperative that we stop exclusionary laws and policies now, rather than wait for apologies from future governments.
We call on the Government of Canada to immediately reverse the moratorium on migrant workers in the food sector. The temporary worker program is undoubtedly a racist and classist program, but recent calls to deport and exclude migrant workers denies their mobility rights and basic humanity. Instead of exploiting migrant workers as cheap and deportable labour, federal and provincial governments must ensure access to permanent residence, a living wage, rights and benefits for poor and working class migrants and their families.
As South Asians, as migrants, and as allies, we refuse divide-and-conquer strategies that pit unemployed citizens against migrant workers and newly arrived migrants against those who have lived here for generations. We commit to working together, and in solidarity with all those that deserve and demand fairness and dignity, particularly, low-income, migrant and Indigenous communities.
It is time to stop the injustice personified in the Komagata Maru.
Signed by:
(most updated list: http://komagatamarulegacy.tumblr.com/Signatories)
Individuals (please note: organizational affiliations are listed for identification purposes only and do not denote organizational endorsement)
Abeer Majeed, Family Doctor, Toronto
Ajay Parasram, Carleton University
Alex Sangha, Author and Social Worker
Alina Chatterjee
Amar Bhatia, Catalyst Fellow, Visiting Professor at Osgoode Hall Law
Amina Ally, Secondary public school teacher, Toronto
Amy Casipullai, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
Andalee Adamali
Anita Khanna, Board Member, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
Anjula Gogia
Anna Saini
Annu Saini, Frequency Feminisms
Anu Radha Verma
Aruna Boodram, Board Secretary, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
Asam Ahmad, It Gets Fatter Project
Berkha Gupta, Planned Parenthood Toronto
Bindy Kaur Kang, Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program, UBC
Chin Banerjee, Department of English, Simon Fraser University
Chris Ramsaroop, Justice for Migrant Workers
David Moffette, York University
David Udayasekaran, T.E.A.C.H. Program, Planned Parenthood Toronto
Davina Bhandar, Canadian Studies, Trent University.
Deena Ladd, Workers Action Centre
Dilani Mohan, Immigration and Refugee Lawyer
Dolores Chew, South Asian Women’s Community Center
Dr Benita Benjun
Dr Tania Das Gupta
Dr. Haider Nizamani
Dr. Minoo Derayeh
Enakshi Dua, Professor, Director, Centre for Feminist Research, York University
Eshan Rafi, Artist
Farha Najah Hussain, South Asian Women’s Community Centre
Fariah Chowdhury
Farrah Miranda, York University
Farzana Doctor, Author
Fatima Jaffer, Activist and Journalist
Fazeela Jiwa
Gurpreet Singh, Journalist
Harjap Grewal, Council of Canadians
Harsha Walia, No One Is Illegal – Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories
Heidi Mehta
Himani Bannerji, York University
Ilan Kapoor, Professor, York University
Imtiaz Popat, Cultural worker
Indu Vashist, Executive Director, South Asian Visual Arts Centre
Isaac Oommen, UBC Education Studies
Jaggi Bikramjit Singh, No One Is Illegal-Montreal / La convergence des luttes anticapitalistes (CLAC)
Jahanzeb Hussain, Journalist and Writer
Jeannie Samuel, Public Health Researcher
Judy Persad, Toronto York Regional Labour Council
Karin Baqi, Staff Lawyer, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
Kaushalya Bannerji, Phd. Student, Osgoode Hall, York University
Kavita Bissoondial, LGBT Youth Line
Khalid Chowdhury, Workers Action Centre
Khalilah Alwani
Kimberly Rygiel, Wilfrid Laurier University (Department of Political Science) and the International Migration Research Centre at Laurier.
Krisna Saravanamuttu, Advocacy & Research Director, National Council of Canadian Tamils
Krittika Ghosh, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Writer
Leela Acharya, public secondary educator, Toronto
Manjot Bains, Digital Handloom, jugnistyle.com
Meb Rashid, MD
Mera Sivanesan
Mo Dhaliwal, Skyrocket Digital, past Chair Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration
Nadia Hasan, York Centre for Asian Research/ York University
Nailasada Alidina, South Asian Women’s Community Centre
Nausheen Quayyum, York Centre for Asian Research.
Naveen Girn, Project Manager, Komagata Maru 1914-2014: Generations, Geographies, and Echoes
Naveen Mehta, United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Navjeet Sidhu, Social Planning Toronto
Navprit Singh
Neelam Khare
Nisha Ahuja, Artist
Nishant Upadhyay, Instructor, Department of Social Science, York University
Noaman Ali, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Parmbir Singh Gill, University of Oxford Sikh Society
Prabha Khosla, Cities and Gender Consultant, UN-Habitat
Pramila Aggarwal, OPSEU local 556
Preethy Sivakumar, Asian Canadian Labour Alliance
Rathika Vasavithasan, Staff Lawyer, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
Ranjith Kulatilake
Rita Kaur Dhamoon, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Victoria
Rosina Kazi, Musician LAL
Rup Sidhu, Musician and Youth worker
Sadhu Binning, Author and Poet
Saif Khalid
Sailaja Krishnamurti, York Centre for Asian Research/ York University
Sara Abraham, Lawyer
Satwinder Kaur Bains, Director, Centre for Indo Canadian Studies, University of Fraser Valley
Shahzad Nazir Khan
Shaila Kibria-Carter, Executive Director, Labour Community Services of Peel
Sharmeen Khan, Canadian Association of Labour Media
Sheila Sampath, Principal and Creative Director at The Public
Sonia Singh, Workers Action Centre
Sukhwant Hundal, Co-editor Watan
Sunera Thobani, Associate Professor, UBC
Syed Hussan, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change
Tasha Nijjar, Sanctuary Health
Tess Augustin, Chairperson, Migrante Canada
Tracey Jastinder Mann, No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
Tria Donaldson, CUPE Media Relations
Yogi Acharya, Alliance for South Asian Aids Prevention
Organizations
8th March Committee of Women of Diverse Origins/le Comité 8 mars des Femmes de diverses origines
Alliance for South Asian Aids Prevention
Asian Canadian Labour Alliance
Association of Filipino Parents in Quebec
CERAS (Centre sur l’asie du sud) Montreal
Coalition of South Asian Women Against Violence
Council of Canadians
Fraser Valley Peace Council
Health and Racism Working Group, Mississauga
Justice for Migrant Workers
Migrante Alberta
Migrante Canada
Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto
No One Is Illegal – Toronto
No One Is Illegal-Vancouver Coast Salish Territories
PINAY – Quebec
Q? Y Art? Project
Siraat
Shameless Magazine
South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
South Asian Visual Arts Centre
South Asian Women’s Centre – Toronto
South Asian Women’s Community Centre (SAWCC), Montreal, Occupied Kanienkehaka Territory / Le Centre communautaire des femmes sud-asiatiques (CCFSA), montréal, territoire occupé Kanienkehaka
Trikone Vancouver
UBC Race, Autobiography, Gender and Age
United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Vancouver Status of Women