Photo by circo_de_invierno, from Flickr under CC BY 2.0.

Words about violence must break SILENCE

UNIFEM, in the Say No to Violence channel on YouTube has already documented some of the actions being taken around the world to end gender violence. This first video shows the Ngara Girls High School in Nairobi, Kenya, where young girls are being taught to say No to Violence, to stand up for their rights and also how to deal with rape, assault, harassment and other forms of gender violence:

Also in Kenya, the Kenyatta National Hospital has a Gender Violence Recovery Center, where women and their children can go and receive care in cases of violence against them. In this next video, they tell of their experience running the center, the context they are in, and women who have been victims of gender violence speak out:

In Peru, the Flora Tristan organization is having a protest and mass gathering for another aspect they believe is related to gender violence: the denial of free access to birth control methods and the new law that determined that the day after pill (emergency contraception) wouldn't be distributed free of cost. They will be doing an educational campaign in a park in Lima and giving out information about birth control, also handing out day after pills and birth control packets as a symbolic protest:

In the context of all Latin America and the Caribbean, UN-INSTRAW launches this video as part of an awareness campaign :

Latinoamérica y el Caribe es un lugar peligroso para las mujeres. Más de 50 por ciento de las mujeres de la región han sido objetos de agresiones. En la República Dominicana, por ejemplo, 1,453 mujeres fueron asesinadas entre los años 2000 y 2008. En el marco del Día Internacional para la Eliminación de la Violencia Contra la Mujer, UN-INSTRAW lanza un nuevo video sobre la seguridad de las mujeres latinas y caribeñas.

In Spain, women participated in the 5th Self-Defense seminar against gender violence, where they are taught how to protect themselves in case they face a dangerous situation. Training is geared towards enabling them to disable their aggressor momentarily so they can run away from danger.

And from Chile, Hip Hop Artist COFLA has made a song titled Femicide. Whereas hip-hop lyrics are often thought to promote violence against women, this artist has put out a song condemning how men go from promises of love and protection to violence, aggression and even murder:

Have there been similar efforts and activities in your hometown or country? Please let us know in the comments how your community is moving towards ending violence against women!

These ventures weren’t picked by any scientific method; nor do they constitute any consensus of how ICTs will look in the next few years. These are just projects that caught my eye. Because these projects leverage technology in rural areas, let’s start with a discussion on how public internet kiosks could develop in the next few years.

Broadband? by wseltzer on Flickr.

In his blog ICTlogy, Ismael Peña-López wonders whether public internet kiosks like telecentres and cybercafés will evolve into enhanced e-centers, “where communities will gather and benefit from several community resources, computers and Internet access among others? Or will they just disappear?”

He continues:

As libraries have provided more than books, but a place where to learn to read and find kindred souls, it is my guess that public Internet access points will disappear as such, and will either be embedded within existing structures (libraries themselves, or civic centres, to name a few) or the existing telecentres and cybercafes will evolve into a next stage where the learning and community factors will be much more relevant. We are indeed seeing plenty of examples of this, and it is a matter of time that priorities or the focus turns upside down: instead of going to access the Internet and finding people, one will go and find people and use the Internet as an enhanced way to socialize. At its turn, this should be accompanied by the end of this false dichotomy on whether your a citizen or a netizen, as if the network had a live and a citizenry on its own. But time will tell.

Shilpa Sayura

Shilpa Sayura, which means sea of knowledge, is an interactive digital self-learning system based in Sri Lanka. Shilpa Sayura’s course of study began with eight subjects that parallels the national education curriculum so students in remote and rural areas can prepare for national school examinations in Sinhala, the country's predominant local language. The project has added another three courses, including lessons in Tamil and English.

Shilpa Sayura's open-source software was given away to non-profit educational providers and to rural Nansalas, a chain of government-developed telecentres. These telecentres in Sri Lanka fulfill many roles: Some provide connection to the web, but also offer fax, photocopying and printing services. They make money from phone calls, VOIP, and provide a bill-payment service. They are also places, the government hopes, where other ICT projects can bloom.

Harsha Liyanage, originally from Sri Lanka, blogs at Sustainability First: In search of sustainable telecentres. He records some of the issues Shilpa Sayura is attempting to overcome.

[The] Absence of competent teachers and adequate facilities handicap rural students in 80% of the Sri Lankas population. Now over 500 telecentres at rural outskirts provide a new window of opportunity. Shilpa Sayura enables students to interact with ICT to study 8 subjects digitally at tele centers and develop their knowledge to prepare for national examinations.

In March, 2008, Liyanage explained that Shilpa Sayura was undergoing growing pains.

Having a success story of a very compelling pilot, the project struggles at scaling up. Every telecentre operator of over 500 telecentres in Sri Lanka needs to have Shilpa Sayura installed in their telecentre. But, e-Fusion acknowledges it is not feasible at this present state.
• It needs technological improvements to ensure trouble free smooth run.
• Also needs technical capacity building at the telecentre operators to assist the users.
• Need to improve help-desk capacity to accept escalating demands
All these needs significant capital investments. They recognize it is not reasonable to tax the government to support further. Thus eyes at the CSR goodwill of the corporate partners.
In the mean time they plot the plans for an appropriate business model.

The blog Technology and Cultural Festival in Kandiyapitawew from Sri Lanka explains the educational benefits of the project.

We believe ‘Shilpa Sayura’ could contribute to addressing the issue of the shortage of school teachers, especially in distant rural area one which continues to be a setback to the county’s educational system.

The ‘Shilpa Sayura’ e-learning package covers eight school subjects, in Sinhala from grade six to O level. Shilpa Sayura’s simple interactive means of self study caters to students in remote communities with no access to urban educational resources. Still in its pilot stage Shilpa Sayura now operates in 20 ‘Nenasalas’ or tele-centers located in distant villages and promotes the concept of self learning among students in these secluded communities…The next phase would be the transformation of Shilpa Sayura into a National project to strengthen rural education and bridge the gap between rural and urban students.

M-Pesa

The next project takes place in Kenya, where the blog Global Warming contends the mobile phone is revolutionizing society.

There are presently over 17 million [mobile phone] subscribers and the fact that it is presently facilitating money transfers almost says it all. There are the two things that make everything work. One is communication and the second is convenience of transferring cash. After that you are in business anywhere.

M-Pesa began in 2007 as a way to perform simple banking transactions through cell phones. The telecom firms behind the project didn’t charge registration fees or require customers to have a bank account, often a major hurdle in Kenya because few people deal with traditional banks. Once signed-up, customers can use the M-Pesa application to pay bills, purchase more phone credits and transfer money within Kenya through data-enabled mobile phones. M-Pesa now allows customers to book airline tickets. Safaricom, the company responsible for M-Pesa, is beginning a pilot project to let customers pay for water usage.

M-Pesa agent in Bunda by emilsjoblom in Flickr.

In July 2009 M-Pesa totaled more than seven million subscribers, who collect or send money through a network of more than 1400 bank agents, making it the largest bank in the country. These customers transfer more than $2.5 million every month.

Just a few weeks ago, M-Pesa went international, moving into the United Kingdom by allowing people to send money back to phone numbers in Kenya through a web interface. The transaction costs as little as $8 US for sending 150 Pounds. A 2005 study found traditional money transfer firms charged fees between 2.5 and 40 percent of the transfer for anything below 100 Pounds.

David Zarraga, from the blog Mobile Behavior has a good rundown on how M-Pesa works.

Registered M-PESA customers can “deposit” hard currency with any M-PESA agent in exchange for e-money, which is uploaded into the customer’s M-PESA account. For 38 US cents, the customer can then transfer this money to another registered customer’s M-PESA account via SMS. Once the recipient receives the SMS confirmation, the hard currency can then be withdrawn from the nearest M-PESA agent, completing the money transfer process.

How does the M-PESA service benefit the average Kenyan? Olga Morawczynski, a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh who spoke at the GSM World Congress in Barcelona last February, shared the story of Martin, a shoe-maker in Kibera, an informal settlement just outside Nairobi. Martin makes about US$ 20 a day from his trade and sends a quarter of his earnings to his wife and mother, who live in Western Kenya, over 100 miles away. M-PESA saves Martin time, allowing him to work his trade instead of having to travel far outside his place of work to find a bank. The service also enables him to make frequent transfers – about 5 times a month – thereby allowing him to send a week’s earnings when his family needs the money most.

The blog Bankelele: Nairobi Banker lists advantages and disadvantages for banking with M-Pesa.

Benefits of m-pesa banking
- 24 hour banking: More reach & access than any bank or ATM network
- Mobile banking with operator tends to be cheaper then mobile banking via bank provided services
- Saving in transport costs and banking transaction costs
- Can pay a variety of bills for utilities at a low cost
Challenges of m-pesa banking
- Lack of float at dealers to transact/occasional mpesa system downtime
- No credit history; and the clumsy expensive statement from Safaricom not useful yet
- Calls for discipline to build savings
- Funds are not insured, and are more prone to crime. And dealing with a stolen phone in Kenya is not a pleasant experience.

eChoupal
Indian Tobacco Company, one of India’s largest exporters, created eChoupal, a series of rural information centers where farmers can communicate directly to other farmers, different markets and experts through the internet. These village internet kiosks were first installed for farmers to learn in local languages the latest information regarding national and international prices in soy, wheat, tobacco and shrimp. But the platform has morphed to providing other important information, such as weather conditions and the latest scientific practices. In 2006, eChoupal counted 3.5 million farmers who used 5,200 internet kiosks throughout more than 30,000 villages.

Harvesting Wheat #1 by Meanest Indian on Flickr.

The farmers pay a local coordinator a small sum to use the kiosk, which can also be used to order seed, fertilizers and other goods.

The blog NeoProducts Kiosks, from the UK, makes the point that part of eChoupal’s success comes from leaving behind the traditional buyers.

e-Choupal has been created by ITC Limited to enable rural farmers in India to buy and sell agricultural produce like soya beans, wheat, and coffee. It does this by allowing them directly to negotiate the sale of their produce via a network of PCs and kiosks in 6,500 centres spread across 100 districts in 10 states. Previously, the farmers had to go through numerous and sometime corrupt intermediaries.

What a great idea and what a fantastic use of kiosks! Allowing shared public access to interactive technology is what kiosks are all about. And this is only the beginning.

Chirag Jethmalani is a management student from Mumbai who blogs about Indian business in Squamble. Here he provides his take on e Choupal.

e Choupal was conceived to tackle the challenges posed by the unique features of Indian agriculture, characterized by fragmented farms, weak infrastructure and the involvement of numerous intermediaries…

Traditionally, these commodities were procured in “mandis” (major agricultural marketing centers in rural areas of India), where the middleman used to make most of the profit. These middlemen used unscientific and sometimes outright unfair means to judge the quality of the product to set the price. Difference in price for good quality and inferior quality was less, and hence there was no incentive for the farmers to invest and produce good quality output. With eChoupal, the farmers have a choice and the exploitative power of the middleman is neutralised.
ICT platform that facilitates flow of information and knowledge, and supports market transactions on line.
* It transmits Information (weather, prices, news),
* It transfers Knowledge (farm management, risk management)
* It facilitates sales of Farm Inputs (screened for quality) and
* It offers the choice of an alternative Output-marketing channel (convenience, lower transaction costs) to the farmer right at his doorstep
* It is an interlocking network of partnerships (ITC + Met Dept + Universities + Input COs + Sanyojaks, the erstwhile Commission Agents) bringing the best-inclass in information, knowledge and inputs.

Just because e-Choupal has a good platform and business model doesn’t make it a gurantee for success in India. To do this, people must understand rural markets.

Rural markets are both economic and social networks and there is a strong connection between the operation of social and economic transactions. Understanding the operations is vital before the systems are conceptualized. Use of local population, as much as possible helped the network to get the acceptance closely.

Do all pregnant women deserve equal human rights, or do pregnant women in prison forfeit those rights?

There are a few questions that come to mind regarding a pregnant woman's right to live and to raise her child when she has been convicted for some sort of crime:

• What is it like for them to be pregnant and have their child behind bars?
• Should they be a priority when there are other women outside of correctional facilities without medical assistance?
• Should maternity overrule any other legal conditions to ensure a pregnant woman's human rights?

USA: women in labor no longer to be shackled.

Could you imagine a woman giving childbirth with her hands in handcuffs and her feet shackled to the bedposts? Malika Saada Saar, founder and executive director of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, tells us about this practice which still happens in the United States of America, where pregnant women serving time have been routinely shackled during labor and childbirth as a common practice in some correctional facilities, even though it is dangerous for the health of both mother and child. Following is a video interview included in the same article written for RH Reality Check, an online community on sexual and reproductive health and rights which does information and analysis for reproductive health:

What happens to an inmate's baby after childbirth?

Different countries have different regulations regarding children in prisons. For example, in Argentina, according to Ajintem, an information portal for migration information, a law was passed last year specifying that pregnant women, women with children younger than 5 and those with handicapped children would benefit from spending their prison term at home under house arrest. This law would benefit not only the mother, who in prison wouldn't receive suitable health care during her pregnancy, but also the child, who would either be raised in an unsafe environment deprived of freedom with deficient health controls and food, or be raised away from the mother, causing another series of problems. However, the message is for magistrates to follow the spirit of the law and grant this permission to those women not involved in violent crimes, to ensure that the rest of the civilian population doesn't see pregnancy as a get out of jail free card.

In the Canary Islands, according to the Prisiones y Penas blog, which writes about the issues surrounding jails and prisons, women are allowed to keep their children of up to 3 years of age with them in their cells, but in the company of other inmates, which isn't the best environment. Thus, pregnant women or women with children under 3 are told upon entry to the prison that it isn't good for the child to grow up behind bars, and options are given for them to send the child off to family members. This is also the case in Peru and Russia. In the US, there are only two correctional facilities which allow for this, in New York and in Nebraska, as told by renowned photographer Jane Evelyn Atwood in her 3 part photo documentary for Amnesty International, called Too Much Time, where she visited dozens of prisons all over the world to record and document the lives of inmates.

Why does the US correctional system not generally allow women with babies to keep them? Atwood explains that due to the hostage situation, it is not allowed. In the Prison Photography Blog they address this claim:

Children are excluded from all but a couple of US prisons. The security threat is cited as the reason: a child inside a prison is a constant vulnerable life and constant hostage target. The claim seems a little bogus when penal systems of other countries are brought into consideration.

The Atwood documentary in the Amnesty International site features both a section on the process of giving birth in shackless as told in Vanessa's Baby and another on prison systems and motherhood, with fotographs of the women while the photographer reads an essay on her experiences visiting the prisons and taking the pictures.

Pregnancy as a bargaining tool?

Why are rights for pregnant women in prison so controversial? In Russia Today, a Russian broadcasting channel, the subject is mentioned when discussing children born and raised in the Russian correctional system:

Skeptics think some mothers deliberately get pregnant simply to ease life in prison. Hospital leave, then lots of scheduled time with your child – it is all better than sitting in a stone cell, they claim.

And there are women for whom it seems that pregnancy is the only way to escape a sentence, as was the case back in June, when a British woman incarcerated and sentenced to death in Laos due to drug smuggling got pregnant in prison and escaped being executed, since the Laos government would not execute a pregnant woman. The claims made according to the Daily Express, a British newspaper, are that she got artificially inseminated “to secure a more lenient term”.

In their words: Women tell of their children and prison life

Geraldin Rodríguez, an Argentinean spending time in an Ecuadorian jail due to drug trafficking tells Marcos Brugiati, a writer who contributes with the art related online publication Plastica-Argentina, the story about acting and performing in jail, getting pregnant in prison and having her child. She was allowed to keep her baby with her, but decided that the child needed to grow up free:

“Decidí que salga para vivir, tenía miedo que sufra de grande los traumas que hoy tengo. Se lo llevó al año mi hermano quien se hice cargo con su esposa”.

Juvinete is in a Spanish prison, and was pregnant when she was incarcerated for drug trafficking. She tells her story to regional Spanish newspaper NorteCastilla. Three years after giving birth to her baby in prison, her child had to leave her side, and was sent to a foster family. Juvinete sees her daughter every 15 days and every two months she gets a 2 week leave to spend time with her. However, things don't seem to be looking up: there is a chance Juvinete will be deported to her natal Brazil, and she fears for the consequences this change would have on her child. She does have advice for any woman who decide to get pregnant while in jail:

-Intento convencerlas para que no se queden en estado dentro porque ver a un niño privado de libertad es muy duro, es irresponsable. Ellos no tienen que pagar nuestros errores.

In Woman and Prison, a website dedicated to visibilizing women's experiences in the correctional system, inmate Kebby Warner speaks of her own pregnancy while doing time in a US prison, and how she was treated during her pregnancy, labor and afterwards, when her child was taken away from her. Here is an excerpt where she writes about the birthing process:

During the labor, no one is allowed in the delivery room. My family didn't even know I was in labor or had her until after I left the hospital. During the three days some of the guards stayed in the room, but most of the time, when the nurses asked them to sit outside the door, they complied. I have heard horror stories of women being chained to the delivery bed. I am so grateful as to have not experienced this. Most of the nurses treated me as a human instead of a prisoner.

You can read more testimonies about growing up with a parent in prison and the different effects incarcerating women may have on their children in Women and Prison.

So what do you think? With pregnant women around the world not receiving health care of any sort, should additional efforts be made to benefit women who are in prison? Is there a difference between mothers serving terms in correctional facilities and those outside? Should they be treated differently?

Image used to illustrate post is “17 de noviembre” by daquella manera.

On 30 August, 1999, hundreds of thousands of Timorese voters braved an Indonesian-directed terror campaign to cast ballots for independence in a U.N.-organized referendum. This event, which ended Indonesia’s 24-year illegal, brutal military occupation, led to the creation of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste as the first new nation of the millennium. The vote was the culmination of decades of struggle by Timorese people, supported by solidarity activists around the world.

The release of journalist Max Stahl's video recording of the outrageous Massacre de Santa Cruz in 1991 increased global awareness about the crimes occurring in East Timor under the Indonesian occupation.

In 1996 Jose Ramos-Horta and Bishop Ximenes Belo were awarded the Peace Nobel Prize and only three years later Indonesian President Habibie allowed the people of East Timor to choose between autonomy within Indonesia and independence. And the world united along with East Timor.

"Die-in" protest in the US. Credit: www.etan.org

Solidarity movements able to pressure their governments and protest Indonesian abuses sprung up in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Portugal, France, Holland, Ireland, Germany, the UK, Canada and the US during the 1990s. Even within Indonesia, East Timorese had friends working to stop abuses and promote self-determination.

In the summer of 1999, in the lead up to the Referendum, the International Federation for East Timor assembled the Observer Project, an international team of members from at least 22 countries to go to Timor and monitor the vote. The security arrangements for the months preceding the referendum were shaky, as the UN-brokered agreement for the Referendum left security to the Indonesian police.

UN poster that reads "We will not leave" credit to Australia Timor-Leste Friendship Network

IFET monitors bravely fanned out across the territory, a project report from August 22, 1999 explains

We have rented houses and deployed teams in every area of East Timor. Upon arriving in a town, an IFET-OP team first makes contact with the police and local authorities, and then with various community leaders and advocates on both sides of the campaign. They settle into a house which an IFET-OP advance team has arranged, and begin observing and inquiring about events and perceptions related to the campaign and other aspects of the consultation. Each team reports in nightly by phone and files a written weekly report. Although nobody on any of our teams has been injured, several have witnessed violent or intimidating incidents, and have reported such events to the appropriate authorities, UNAMET, and IFET-OP headquarters in Dili.

The IFET observers reported the violence that engulfed East Timor after the vote, which it turned out, was overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia. The IFET Observer Project reported on September 3

The observers, members of the International Federation for East Timor Observer Project (IFET-OP), traveled to the Becora neighborhood of Dili to investigate reports of militia burning houses in the area yesterday. When they arrived, they found a house newly ablaze, and with both firefighters and journalists at the scene, the IFET-OP team went to investigate. Ten minutes after the observers arrived, the Indonesian military-backed militia showed up at the house.

The Aitarak (Thorn) militia struck one U.S. IFET-OP member in the face. Another team member, a woman from Finland, was hit in the back by a militia holding a gun. Yet another Finnish team member was threatened at gunpoint. The militia members also punched the IFET-OP driver and smashed a window on his car.

With militia violence kicking off again almost immediately after the vote, solidarity groups around the world began to demand their governments pay attention to the worsening situation in East Timor. The following video, from Jose Budha, portrays how Portugal stood up and stopped in that period:

[Subtitles] The images of a country standing for 3 minutes in solidarity with a distant people ran the world, as did the aerial view of a 10 kilometers human chain. Thousands ended up heading towards Madrid, so that they could shout loudly their rebellion against the Indonesian Embassy. Indonesia eventually accepted the entry of an international force in East Timor. The UN took another week to send this force. We do not know how many people died. Out of the 18 accused in Indonesia of involvement in the events of 99, only 1 was convicted and the others were acquitted in different instances. There is a certainty that in the future, when necessary, there are millions of voices ready to scream, reaching as far as 14,000 kilometers away, to Timor Lorosa'e.

After the results were out in the 4th of September numerous atrocities, killings and devastation happened as TAPOL reported in 1999:

After the referendum results were announced on 4 September, the militias and their Kopassus bosses unleashed a scorched-earth policy of gigantic proportions. Para-military forces joined the fray, along with six TNI battalions, including two notorious local battalions, 744 and 745. Altogether about 15,000 men were involved. Without such a large contingent of men, it could never have taken hold so rapidly.

Although [Operation] Sapu Jagad-II sought to create the impression that this was a spontaneous outpouring of anger by pro-Indonesia forces, there is overwhelming evidence that the destruction was a well-prepared military operation. In many places, villagers were forced to destroy and burn their own neighbourhoods, even their own houses. The aim was to destroy as much as possible and punish the pillars of the pro-independence movement. The Catholic Church, which had given sanctuary to fleeing East Timorese throughout the occupation, was one of the main targets.

Photo from "Genocide Watch: East Timor 1975-1999", researched and written by Adam Jones. Shared under a license for non-profit use.

All IFET OP volunteers were forced to leave Dili by September 7, 1999 under extremely harrowing circumstances

Today, September 7, the last of our observers was forced to leave East Timor. Over the past two days, the Royal Australian Air Force evacuated 60 of our nonpartisan volunteers to Darwin from Dili and Baucau.

We left East Timor for safety, but with tremendous sadness. The East Timorese people have no Australia to run to, no place to hide from militia terror. Last night, Australia and Indonesian military officers prevented one of our East Timorese staff members from boarding the plane with us — and he faces an unspeakable horror shared by hundreds of thousands of his fellow East Timorese.

Most international observers and media fled East Timor before IFET-OP had to leave, and we were the last international NGO to leave. UNAMET has withdrawn from the entire country except Dili, where their communications and electricity has been cut off, and they are surrounded by militias who shoot into their compound virtually without interruption.

The mentioned “world pressure” became more and more real as citizens did not resign. Some photos of solidarity ties in Portugal may be seen in Tane Timor website. Maremargo posted images from Spain. Antonio Jose, from Uma Lulik blog, illustrated and emotionally described what was happening in Lisbon in a never before seen solidarity during the 7th and the 8th [pt] of September 1999:

As sirenes dos bombeiros ouviram-se ininterruptas nesses 3 minutos… parámos por Timor-Leste como nunca parámos por mais nada… TODOS (…)
Durante toda a tarde do cimo daquele prédio foram lançados constantemente papeis e papelinhos, rolos de papel higiénico, tudo o que vinha à mão era material para protesto. No final da tarde percebe-se que esse stock acabou pois eram as páginas amarelas que fluíam nessa altura… aquele ventinho sempre a ajudar e a depositar os protestos em plena embaixada dos EUA, nas árvores, no seu jardim e envolventes. No topo do prédio viam-se gente de gravata e camisa, a causa era a mesma…

"Civil non-obedience for Timor Loro Sa'e" in front of the US Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal, September 1999. Photo by Flickr user nopasaran, used with permission.

While the East Timor Action Network put people on the streets in September 1999, it was also able to count on the phone calls and letters of over ten thousand Americans

ETAN grew during 1999, enlarging our membership from 8,500 to 11,700. […] Using our experience and national activist network developed through eight years of dedication to a cause many called hopeless, ETAN mobilized public and official pressure. […] In September, ETAN’s web site was visited by more than 40,000 people a week. […] During September, our most active staff and volunteers were featured or quoted in countless mainstream media articles and programs, reaching tens of millions. ETAN activists authored op-eds in major U.S. newspaper, wrote letters to the editor, and appeared on local and national radio and TV shows.

On the other side of the world, the decisive moment for international intervention happened on the eve of the APEC summit in New Zealand, when Bill Clinton privately met with Pacific leaders. Only days prior he had announced the suspension of US military training with Indonesia. According to blogger Nigel Morley of “Writing for the Future“

To some readers this may seem fanciful but when Timorese Nobel Peace Prize winner José Ramos-Horta met United States (U.S.) President Bill Clinton at the APEC meeting in New Zealand in 1999, Clinton remarked that Ramos-Horta had more influence with Congress than he did (Zubrycki: 2002).

New Zealanders turned out in numbers to welcome Clinton, Ramos Horta and Australian Prime Minister Howard. Australians also “Take To The Streets Over East Timor”:

From Sidney, Australia, "Mother & Child" photo by Flickr user Potsy, used with permission

Banners saying “Stop The Slaughter” and “Wiranto - Murder.” Chants of “Free East Timor” and “Viva Timor Leste” (long live East Timor) came from the crowd after it heard from East Timorese resistance leader Mr Jose “Xanana” Gusmão during a live telephone hook-up from Jakarta.

“We need you, brothers and sisters of Australia, we need your voice,” Xanana Gusmao in Jakarta said by telephone, “I think it is important to send a message to the Indonesian Government that the Australian community and Australian workers will do everything they can to stop the killings. Viva East Timor,” he said. “Viva,” the crowd yelled back.

Students from Kingsgrove High School pledge their support for a free Timor in 1999. Photo by Flickr user sHzaam!, used with permission

During the torturous days of September 1999, world leaders moved slowly to intervene in East Timor, when it was clear that the Indonesian military and its proxies were completely destroying the territory, and setting off a humanitarian crisis of massive proportions. But the decisive protest and advocacy of groups of concerned citizens across the world shamed the US, Australia, and Indonesia into turning a new page for East Timor.

A decade later, it is time to celebrate that global union. Several events are scheduled in Dili, such as a photo exhibition in Fundação Oriente (which was itself the place where a massacre occurred in 1999) describing solidarity movements over the years.

This is the first in a series of posts to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the popular referendum in East Timor, a vote which led to the territory's internationally recognized independence. If you would like to share memories from the acts of global solidarity for East Timor in 1999, please do so below.

The Ecuadorian National Secretariat for Migrants SENAMI [es], for its initials in Spanish has posted a bulletin saying that the Secretary is not ready to be part of this “media circus.” It also states that Ecuadorian State has no responsibility in this personal matter and it has let Dueñas know about what services are available to all emigrants.

These events have attracted strong reactions in blogs and in mainstream media from those criticizing Dueñas' actions and also brought focus on the plight of immigrants in Spain. There are others that have looked to the role that the Ecuadorian government should play in this matter.

A Sunset at Bahía de Caraquez - Manabí/Ecuador - Photo used under Creative Commons license by http://www.flickr.com/photos/jorgeloor/

There is speculation on some blogs that the Ecuadorian government will eventually step in and provide the funds needed for the medical care so that Dueñas does not have to resort to such tactics. Some bloggers believe that Dueñas should not receive special attention, and is being harshly criticized by commenter Kojudo Mayor on the blog post by Guayaquil Insumiso [es] written by Yitux.

In addition to the criticism about the possible use of public funds to “save” the woman, Yitux is troubled by those who are judging Dueñas' decision what to do with her own body:

De nuevo el ridículo moralismo interviene. Esa mujer optó por vender algo que es suyo, su cuerpo, su virginidad. ¿Dónde está lo malo? Es una noticia llamativa, es verdad, las miles de prostitutas que venden sus cuerpos día tras día ya no nos llaman la atención; en cambio esta chica vende a sus 28 años, su virginidad, y lo hace en subasta por Internet. ¡Claro que llama la atención! Pero es su cuerpo, es su desición, es su vida.

Lastimosamente como vivimos en la sociedad del qué dirán, ahora todo el mundo opina, piensa, juzga, analiza, etc.

This story reminds many of the plight of some immigrants living in foreign lands. Rafael Mendez [es] says that meanwhile an immigrant woman has to auction her virginity in Spain, the Ecuadorian media makes money publishing those types of stories, than other information about emigrants abroad. He writes, “Can't the media, at least the national media, write about positive emigrant stories once in a while?”

He also posts an extract of his book ‘Que mi alma se la lleve el diablo' (May the Devil Take my Soul Away) and transcribes one paragraph of his ‘Sudacas‘ a poem about Ecuadorians leaving their country:

Nada bueno hacen por allá/salvo morir trágicamente/andar en pandillas/puterías/conciertos de tecnocumbia/y ya que estamos hablando del asunto/aportar con el nosecuánto por ciento del PIB

This is not the first time that Ecuadorians have had to resort to such actions. There have been other incidents where Ecuadorians have sold organs such as kidneys, lungs, and bone marrow because they were experiencing serious economic problems in Spain.

On the Wikipeli youtube channel they've been posting step by step updates of how the film is coming along. This next video shows the main directors apologizing for not being able to find a gray limo for the shooting. The color was decided by the winner on a local radio show.  They couldn´t find a gray limo, and it would be really expensive to paint it, so they had to go with white, however they justified themselves by stating that since the limo was where a bride would be transported, white is not completely inappropriate.

This is the general dynamic for decisions made during the WikiPeli production: for example, when they needed a male actor to be “devoured”, they received many entries, and with audience voting, they finally selected Abel:

Here you can see the other competing casting videos for the male actor:

They have also counted on participant's suggestions and submissions to select the soundtrack:

Currently, they have finished filming and are currently editing the movie, and on the last post on their blog they explain the difference that special effects make in movies:

Para ilustrar esto que os digo, os dejo un vídeo de un momento del rodaje, para que veáis el papel de los efectos especiales, que formarán parte de una de las escenas más impactantes. Os queremos mostrar cómo se lo montaron los especialistas para que, en una puerta metálica, apareciera una terrorífica figura humana, con la consiguiente reacción de pánico de Martín Rivas, nuestro Álex.

At the moment, they are in the process of selecting the name the movie will have, which were narrowed down to three from all the others the participants (called co-directors) sent in.

Also known as swine influenza A or H1N1, swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs that can be passed between humans mainly through coughing and sneezing. In Mexico, there are over 100 deaths possibly linked to swine flu and more than 1,600 people have been sickened with suspected or confirmed cases of the virus. Confirmed cases of swine flu have now also been found in the U.S. and Canada, while New Zealand, Spain, France, Israel and Brazil all have suspected cases. Liz Borkowski, blogging on The Pump Handle, elaborates on why there is concern about the spread of swine flu:

“Swine flu is fairly common, but it’s usually only transmitted from pigs to humans. This new strain appears to be capable of human-to-human transmission, and it’s also sickening young, otherwise-healthy adults. This means the virus has the serious potential to cause a pandemic, so it’s appropriate that Mexico has closed schools until May 6 and barred large public gatherings, including church services.”

American health officials declared a public health emergency on April 26 after confirming 20 cases of swine flu in the states of California, Kansas, New York, Ohio and Texas. Most of these cases were mild, though, and no deaths have been reported. Canada also confirmed six mild cases of swine flu in the provinces of Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

News of swine flu has spread quickly on the Internet, as people search for answers and share their thoughts on the disease. Swine Flu and #swineflu are the top trending topics on Twitter at the moment, and various Google maps have been created to track the outbreak. Bloggers around the world are also talking about swine flu.

Daniel Hernandez, blogging on Intersections, describes this scene in Mexico City:

“On Saturday, while the top brass at the WHO convened an emergency meeting in Geneva, soldiers in Mexico City were passing out face-masks at traffic stops, metro stations, and plazas. A militar in fatigues handed me a mask upon entering metro Bellas Artes, but it fell apart before I could even get on a train. On board, passengers eyed one another suspiciously and made every effort to avoid contact with strangers.”

Matthew Yglesias, blogging for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, expresses concern over how those without health insurance in the U.S. will deal with this disease:

“I have no opinions on this subject beyond the observation that it would be nice to live in a country where, if fell seriously ill due to viral infection, your access to effective medical remedies was not determined by your wealth, income, or employment status.”

Jim McVeagh, blogging from New Zealand on MacDoctor, thinks that more needs to be done in his country and worldwide to contain the virus. In New Zeland, 13 students who recently visited Mexico are suspected of having the disease. McVeagh says:

“Considering the massive over-reaction that occurred with bird flu, one would have hoped for a somewhat more vigorous response to this one than simple monitoring. I would have thought isolation of cases and restriction of travel to Mexico would have been a minimum response until we have more data. Since the CDC [the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] is now waking up probably about a week too late and the WHO insists on sitting on its hands, New Zealand’s lackadaisical response looks almost brisk in comparison.

While this might indeed be another non-event, it would be nice if health authorities made that call in hindsight rather than apparently up-front with incomplete information.”

Many countries are implementing safety measures to prevent the spread of swine flu. For example, some airports are screening travelers from Mexico for flu symptoms, and China and Russia plan to put anyone with symptoms under quarantine. Vijay Sadasivam, blogging on scan man, says that no preventative initiatives are being taken in India, though, while boinky, blogging on Finestkind Clinic and fish market, describes one measure happening in the Philippines:

“The Philippines will stop importation of pork from the US and Mexico to stop the spread…this is funny, since the flu is being spread human to human, and our own pigs have Ebola Reston…

but of course it's fiesta time, and so far no talk of a human quarantine such as they did with SARS…”

Many bloggers point out that while we should take this threat seriously and be prepared, there's no need to panic just yet. For instance, a post on Utah Preppers says:

“Some quick anti-panic notes…

Swine flu CANNOT be transmitted by food. Eating pork does NOT put you at risk.

This is NOT the first time the ’swine flu’ has transmitted to humans. It’s happened several times before without it becoming a pandemic.

This variant of swine flu, as with any flu, is a virus and primarily spread person-to-person through coughing or sneezing.

This is just a flu! The key here is to NOT GET IT.”

The WHO isn't currently recommending any travel or trade restrictions, and says they need more information on the virus before deciding whether to raise the global pandemic alert level, which is currently at level three of the six levels.

Photo of Swine Flu Protection by Sarihuella on Flickr.

Crisis indicators

The recession in the United States and Europe is affecting the garments industry of Bangladesh. Many factory workers were laid-off because of reduced production. Another industry which is suffering is the shrimp sector, the second biggest export item of Bangladesh. The economic problems of other Asian nations are also causing a problem for Bangladesh. As the shipping business weakens in Singapore, many of its Bangladesh migrant workers are sent home. Malaysia has also decided to hire unemployed local workers first before recruiting foreigners. This is bad news for Bangladesh migrant workers whose main country of destination is Malaysia.

In Kazakhstan Alim-atenbek writes about a crisis last winter in the industrial town of Stepnogorsk where heating, electricity and water supply were cut off for nearly a week.

It is a pity to read such things about the once prosperous town. Instead of investing in reconstruction of the obsolete infrastructure, we had been building glazing skyscrapers in [the new capital of Kazakhstan] Astana, which are now standing empty. Seemingly, after the financial crisis, the infrastructure crisis is looming - and, eventually, the political one.

Kazakhstan’s currency was devalued last February. The economic impact was immediately felt by its citizens. According to blogger Katelka

We became 25% poorer. Lately the salaries of budget-paid employees and pensions were increased by 25%, and now this raise is eaten up. I have friends who get paid in KZT, but their mortgage is in dollars… Many shops change their price-lists. In large food supermarkets people were running around with trolleys and sweeping away everything: cereals-butter-pasta, informs

The collapse of the dram is also a major sign of the global economic crisis in Armenia. It has created a lot of panic in the country.

In Hong Kong the financial crisis is blamed mostly on Financial Secretary John Tsang. There are 20 Facebook roups protesting against him. The biggest group (with more than 10,000 members) is asking John Tsang to receive a HKD4000 salary per month because of his subsidy plan encouraging companies to hire university graduate with a minimum wage of HKD4000.

In Cebu province of the Philippines, the DYAB Abante Bisaya's radio program, Pulso, asked its viewers about their thoughts on the financial crisis. Here are some of their answers:

Kaniadto, mag-awto gyod ko. Karon mag jeep na ko. Seven rides gud ko padulong sa trabahoan. Kay ang akong suweldo kuwang ra man. Mahal baya ang maintenance sa awto. Mag-awto na lang ko kon kusog kaayo ang uwan. Gikan ni Chona sa Lapulapu City;

Ang krisis dugay na gyod nako nabatyagan kay kani-adto moingon ko nga way kuarta, akong pitaka naa pa nay tinipigan nga bag-o ug way pilo gikan sa P20 ngadto sa P1,000, pero kon moingon nga way kuwarta, aw sus as in wala gyod,. Gikan ni Rollie sa Talisay City;

Krisis na gyod kay sa pag-abli namo sa tindahan nag-una ang utang kay sa cash. Gikan ni Oslec;

Nakabatyag na mi sa krisis kay daghan nang bakante sa boarding houses diri sa Opon. Gikan ni Mr. Baguio.

Struggling migrants

In a previous post, I mentioned about Brazilian migrants who are living in the streets of Japan. A video clip from a Fuji TV news report narrates the story of Sidival Furuzawa Pereira, a homeless man in Hamamatsu, Japan.

Below is a summary of the video:

Mr. Pereira spends his days checking trash heaps for aluminum cans and junk he can bring to recycling centers and exchange for money. At the beginning of the clip, he takes a full bicycle load of old appliances and exchanges them for 350 yen (about $3). Instead of using the money on himself, he saves it so he can send it to his wife and children in Brazil. As a result, Pereira eats food he finds in the garbage.

The clip ends with Pereira making a phone call to his family on January 1st. They ask him to come home, but he tells them he is determined to stay in Japan and earn money to help them.

Mako explains why he left Paraguay for Spain

En mi caso particular me vine a España porque estaba totalmente arruinado económicamente; de tener una bodega, un bar y una despensa, en pocos años terminamos en ruina, cada vez se vendia menos, la venta callejera que vendia mas barato sin pagar impuestos, el pago de alquiler, personal y las ventas cayeron a pique, y los servicios
públicos cada vez mas caros…

Claro que los extraño, extraño mi casa, mis parientes, mis perros, y extraño mucho el tomar tereré sin la menor prisa bajo el mango, como si el tiempo no existiera, extraño a mis parientes en las navidades, cumpleaños, bodas o el simple hecho de reunirnos a comer tallarin con pollo un domingo.

Unemployment

Job losses continue to worsen throughout the world. The rising unemployment rate is the most familiar sign of the global recession. Even profitable companies are shedding jobs. Barbados Underground sees this trend in Barbados

There is something very strange which has started to unfold in Barbados and around the Caribbean in recent weeks. Many of our leading and PROFITABLE companies have been sending home workers.

It borders on criminal that PROFITABLE companies would cut loyal employees who would have contributed to the success of these companies.

Why would profitable companies in Barbados and in the Caribbean rush in indecent haste to dismiss employees? Over the years when the times were good would it not have been caring for those PROFITABLE companies to set aside a reserve to provide for employees in less profitable times like now?

Bloggers around the world are also providing suggestions on how to overcome unemployment. Charoenchai Chaipiboolwong, an economist blogger from Thailand believes that nurturing creativity is important for individuals seeking jobs

The best solution is not the pricing war since it will harm everyone in the market but to find the “value added” in our products. If you are just employee, then find the “value added” in your skill instead.

The only way to “add the value” is via creativity. Creativity brings differentiation from competitors

In South Korea a letter written by a father to his son who is encountering difficulty finding a job today has inspired other netizens. This letter has been linked and cited by many bloggers in the country. An excerpt of the letter:

“…원망하고 질책을 하기엔 너무 늦어 버렸다…
성공한 사람일수록 진실 되어야 후환이 없는 법이다
부디 명심 하거라—평생을 살아온 경험에서 얻은 이야기니—
경제 어려운것 열심히 노력 하면 반드시 좋아질 날이 있다
하지만 그것은 여러 사람들의 노력이듯 자신들의 몫이기도 하니까…”

A labor activist in Taiwan criticizes commentaries which blame unemployed individuals while ignoring the shortcomings of the social system:

台灣的失業工人之所以會獨自走向貧窮、燒炭的命運，很大部分正是因為我們長期把失業當成個別勞工的錯誤與罪過，卻錯失集體面對、思考制度結構嚴重缺損的問題。如何透過這次因權貴階級把玩資本遊戲，而讓無辜勞工承擔痛苦的大失業潮，讓大眾至少能在「失業不只是我的錯」這個共識下，思考並推動妥善處理失業創傷的制度療法，才是一個正確的理絡，絕對不該再走回高唱勞工自我調適、增值的老路上。

Dissent

In China workers who lost their jobs in state-controlled factories are organizing protest actions. In Baoding, Hebei, about 6000 workers are on strike, as their factory was sold and they would be soon laid off. They marched to Beijing to present a mass petition. This action worried others because it might heighten political instability. Blogger 阿丁 (A-Ding) commented on this attitude

有人担心工人们冲动而打砸抢，就别鸡巴瞎操心了——罢工不过是工人们为了自身权益采取的诉求方式，工人们比你们理智。几乎每一次暴力事件，都是统治者高高在上，不肯疏浚民怨、强奸公正和暴力压制的结果

Conclusion

This completes our initial series on the global economic crisis. The first post deals with the crisis in general and the discontent it is creating around the world. The second post reviews some of the bailout and stimulus plans of select countries. The third post identifies some survival tips and business opportunities related to the recession. The fourth post highlights the impact of global job losses and the situation of returning migrant workers. Countries which claim to be unaffected by the financial crisis are the focus of the fifth post.

Readers may notice that the articles in this series rarely mention recession stories in the U.S. While recognizing the serious economic challenges faced by the U.S., this series invites the public to study how the recession is shaping and reshaping societies in the world. We want our readers to appreciate how the recession in the U.S. is creating old and new problems around the globe. Many bloggers are providing alternative and insightful views on the crisis. Part of solving the problem is to encourage a global conversation on the economic crisis. This series is a contribution to jumpstart this global conversation.

One fantastic new “hijablog” is Hijabs High, a collection of photographs of women around the world wearing hijab. Dubbed “the Muslim Sartorialist” by other bloggers, the blog's “about” section reads:

Hijabs High is inspired by the stylish and dynamic global community of Muslim women who fuse their identities and pronounce their place in the world everyday through beauty and fashion.

It is my hope that this blog inspires, motivates and encourages Muslims and non-Muslims alike to revisit their perceptions of the “look” of Muslim women who wear the veil and encourage us all to be a little bit more fabulous.

To the chic gang of Hijabs High photographers - you know who you are - thanks for doing it all with grace and panache. :)

Finally, Hijabs High owes a debt to The Sartorialist, who first helped focus our cameras on the everyday. Thank you.

Hijabi Style, another fashion-forward blog, has recently done a photo post on Egyptian designer Reham Farouq, who designs specifically for wearers of hijab. The Hijablog did a similar post recently on Farouq, which garnered a number of comments praising the outfits.

Last but not least on today's tour of “hijablogs” is a great post by Nuseiba, whose blog has the goal of amplifying and shedding light on “the myriad of voices and experiences of Muslim women.” In a post entitled “Why feminists need to start lovin’ the hijab,” the blogger writes:

So I was reading the news this morning and I chanced upon this. It seems the hijab has set off a national controversy in Norway. It all started when a Muslim woman petitioned to wear her hijab with her police uniform. And from there things pretty much went downhill when another Muslim woman set fire to a hijab on International Women’s Day. Oh, don’t you just love these gliberal feminists! They are quick to flutter their hankies on behalf of feminism, but rather see a Muslim woman’s brains splattered to the walls of her house than see her trapped in a hijab!

Unemployment diaries

There are several websites which provide regular news updates on job losses. For example: Layoff Tracker, Layoff Daily, The Layoff List, Singapore Retrenchment Blog. For its part, the International Labour Organization has uploaded a document on latest unemployment figures for every country in the world. These websites highlight the fact that job layoffs are perceived by most people as the primary and most recognizable indicator of the global economic recession.

There are many unemployed individuals who document their daily struggles by creating blogs. A few examples of these unemployment diaries are Furbier.com (Brazil), Retalhos Da Vida De Um Merdas (Portugal), Jobless and Less (United States), Unemploymentality (U.S.), Pink Slips are the New Black (U.S.)

‘Escape from Unemployment’, a book about the life of an unemployed person in Korea was published. Also noteworthy is the Unemployment Haiku Weekly blog of a recently laid-off worker.

Unemployment Haiku Weekly

Fabio C from Brazil echoes the sentiments of the unemployed:

Ficar desempregado é terrível. Você se sente inútil, nem descansar consegue, já que você pensa que precisa achar algo para fazer. Seu corpo e sua mente se acustumam ao trabalho, agora entendo porque aposentados ficam depressivos ou porque alguns profissionais vendem 10 ou 20 dias de férias.

Meus dias tem sido pesados, cansativos por serem iguais.

According to the ILO, the Middle East and North Africa region recorded the highest unemployment rate in 2008. Amira Al Hussaini of Global Voices has written a post about the job losses in the Arab world. One of the hardest hit by the recession was Dubai. Kinan Jarjous in Dubai wrote a poem and several goodbye emails after being laid-off:

There’s no need to be upset. I, for one, am ecstatic that this is over. Granted, I will miss the income, and feeling somehow “useful”, but it is now due.

I have drafted several goodbye emails, but picked the shortest and sweetest to send. There’s nothing left to do, nothing I would talk home about anyway. My energy now should be spent on pressing forward, and following my own wishes. I have to stop pretending to be someone else.

Even workers in the movie industry are in danger of losing their jobs. A producer for a major movie studio in Hollywood was recently laid-off:

They say that the movie business is one of those recession proof industries, but when you have the base of such an interconnected economy collapse and you also have lots of people suddenly waking up to the fact that they've been living way beyond their means, then it seems that even the mighty Hollywood ends up shedding jobs. And those people, just like everyone else, will have to think about finding work, staying in their homes, and making sure their families have good health insurance.

A blogger from South Korea identifies the possible reasons of companies for firing workers. Aspan, also from Korea, observes that “society is not comfortable with the unemployed.” Below is a translation of what Aspan wrote in his blog:

Most unemployed people feel humiliation when they receive unemployment compensation. They feel upset in workshop places where they can receive the compensation. We all know we lost jobs, but they painfully remind us in such a cruel way. We’re not begging, but it leads us to be upset. In order to receive the compensation that is provided every two weeks, we have to go to a public place on time and have to show evidence of how hard we have looked for jobs for two weeks. After passing, we can finally receive the unemployment compensation. In addition, the moment when I feel sad is how other people look at me. The way they look at me, why the person who is supposed to be the breadwinner of the family is stuck at home. “Can I take a rest for filling up new energy?” Even when I try to make a credit card, I was rejected from companies that had begged me to make cards before… Our society is not comfortable with the unemployed.

Unemployment has taught many people to appreciate the valuable things or persons in their lives. Pedro from Portugal is comforted by the fact that he is supported by family and friends:

Valem-me muitas coisas. O conforto da família, os amigos, os colegas. E, mais do que tudo, poder pegar na tua mão e sentir que ao pé de ti nada mais importa do que ver-te verdadeiramente feliz. É essa a razão principal que ainda me faz sentir uma ponta de optimismo e afasta de vez a palavra desistir do meu dicionário mental. Porque nada irá estragar um bem precioso que me caiu na vida de forma tão incrível. Como que a dizer que a vida tem sentido. E tem. Contigo tem. Bastante.

But sometimes unemployment also defeats the spirit. An Egyptian politician blames the high unemployment rate for the phenomenal rise of suicide cases in Egypt.

The video below features the unemployment crisis in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries.

Job hunting journals

Bloggers are also writing about their quest to find jobs. Most of them are encountering difficulties.

An expat in Israel lost his job during the Israel hi-tech bubble burst in 2003. But he was able to bounce back. Now he is on the job hunt again. His wife discusses the problem of age discrimination in the job market:

While age discrimination is illegal in Israel, anyone in the hi-tech industry knows that it’s “Logan’s Run”; i.e. if you are over 55, you simply do not exist.

What does one do when one has a life-time of experience and no one seriously considering you for employment because you’re over “a certain age”?

One of the toughest parts of having an unemployed spouse is seeing the daily toll on their ego and self-esteem between potential job openings and on-going interviews. In some cases, the selection process has run upwards of 3-5 months while companies narrow the field.

Mona, a Palestinian in Canada, is frustrated that IT companies are looking for individuals who know everything but willing to work for almost nothing:

You can tell that the job hunt of mine sucks, but I am sorry companies and recruiters, I do not have the knowledge of over 20 languages, with 5+ years experience. However, I do have the ability, like any other Computer Science grad with years of experience, to learn new things. Is learning such a bad thing now a days or a person has to know everything from the start and get paid almost minimum wage?

IT jobs nowadays are not based on post secondary education or continuous learning ability. It is based on finding a human robot that knows everything and willing to work for nothing.

In Hong Kong, Oiwan Lam of Global Voices has written a post about the controversial subsidy plan of the government for university graduates looking for work:

As the unemployment problem is getting worse, preserving job is considered the most crucial task. (Financial Secretary) John Tsang decides to put the university fresh graduate on sale with a subsidy plan. However, many people worry that the policy will distort the job market as it allows corporates to pay university graduates as low as HKD 4,000 (a bit more than US500), in which HKD 2,000 is government subsidy.

Several Facebook groups have been set up to protest against the policy. The most popular one is Hong Kong Financial Secretary deserves HKD4000/month only!

In Germany, many job hunters are forced to work for shorter working hours in exchange for government wage and social-insurance subsidies. Curiously, unemployed investment bankers from London are flocking to Singapore. Saudi women who lost jobs are faced with limited working opportunities - sexual harassment in the workplace is a major reason. A Cambodian blogger invites Khmer-Americans who are looking for stable jobs to return and work in Cambodia. Social media tools are being used too for job applications. For example, Twitter Job Search.

There are worries that Japan is already experiencing an “employment ice age” which would create another “lost generation” of young Japanese with no full-time employment. At least 87 companies had canceled 331 informal promises of employment to university students last year. More than 500 temp workers stayed in tent cities last January after losing their jobs.

The short video below shows temp workers in Japan who sought refuge in tent cities last January.

Returning migrants

Migrant workers are returning home in large numbers after losing their jobs in the U.S. and Europe. This reverse migration can be a source of conflict in poor nations which cannot provide adequate employment and social services for their citizens.

More than 8 million Filipinos are working abroad. The remittances they send to their families help sustain the Philippine economy. Today, many Overseas Filipino Workers, including professionals, are returning home. A Filipino couple who lost their house and jobs in California are moving back to the Philippines. Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong are being replaced by locals. In the previous post, I mentioned that a Philippine airline has increased its flights in the U.S. and Canada which can be interpreted as a sign that more and more retrenched Filipinos are forced to go back to the Philippines.

In the past Brazilians with Japanese descent are migrating to Japan. Today, “Brazil is the new Japan.” Paula Góes of Global Voices has written a post about Brazilian immigrants in Japan who are returning home because of the crisis. At least 40,000 Brazilian immigrants are planning to leave Japan.

Elaine has opted to stay in Japan; but she observes that the Japanese economy will continue to worsen. She is also worried that there are Brazilians who are living in the streets of Japan:

A crise não dá sinais de melhora e com isso existem mtos brasileiros que aqui residiam e que já regressaram ao Brasil,os que ficaram,como eu,estamos tentando sobreviver nessa crise brava que afetou o Japão,quase todos os dias eu vejo nas notícias do Japão alguns brasileiros que vivem nas ruas, que não tem nem o que comer e outros que vivem em abrigos públicos,contando com os donativos de pessoas solidárias.

Dubai’s population is expected to decrease by 8 percent as foreign workers continue to leave the city. A blogger contends that Dubai’s population will decrease by 25 percent. Schools in Dubai are receiving numerous applications for school transfer certificates as children of foreign workers return to their home countries. One school lost 10 percent of its student population.

The economies of most countries in South Asia depend on the remittances sent by their migrant workers. Rezwan of Global Voices has written a post about the continuing and disturbing trend of migrant workers who are suddenly returning home in South Asia.

Supriyo Chaudhuri at Sunday Posts writes about the reverse migration from the U.S. to India

Recession, uncertainties and difficulties in the immigration process and emerging opportunities in India combined, have created a flow of reverse migration from the United States to India. There is a trickle added to this from the UK, and the dam has burst in Dubai. So, suddenly, Indian cities are full of returnees, with a bit of cash, trying to start a new life all over again.

The number of workers leaving Nepal has decreased. As Malaysia prefers to give jobs to locals, Bangladesh migrant workers are forced to go back to their home country.

Thumbnail image used from the Flickr page of Per Bjorklund. The Portuguese text was translated by GV editor Paula Goes. The quote from Korea was an English translation provided by GV editor Hyejin Kim.