Shows
Voicesea PodcastWomen's History Month: Mary Jane Veloso - Victim of Trafficking on Death RowMarch celebrates International Women's Day (IWD) and Women’s History Month globally for more than 100 years, there are still so many situations that put women in a very vulnerable position to face human rights violation, such as trafficking in person, which affects women (49 percent) and girls (23 percent) as the majority of all reported trafficking in person cases.
In this episode, VOICESEA Podcast had a conversation with Joanna Concepcion, the Chairperson of Migrante International, an organization which are widely known for their advocacy on the rights of migrants around the world, which has led advocacy an...
2023-03-2849 min
Voicesea PodcastQuestioning “Unfortunate” Situations of Workers in Sea-based Workplaces: a Conversation with Benni Yusriza, Researcher on Sea-based Labour IssuesThe Asia Pacific maritime sector is one of the most influential sectors in the world economy. Southeast Asia, geographically, lies in a strategic position where its seas play a dominant role: more than 80% of the surface area is covered by oceans, being home to more than 31,000 island economies.
The ocean based economy provides significant numbers of jobs in East and Southeast Asia. But, the fact is, workers in the sea-based work place are vulnerable to human rights violations. Even, all of indicators made by ILO about forced labor are experienced by them in their...
2023-01-3057 min
Voicesea PodcastIndonesia Chairship of ASEAN 2023: What are the Human Rights Agenda? A Conversation with Indonesian Representatives to the AICHR, H.E. Yuyun WahyuningrumThe year of 2023 will be an important year for Indonesia. The handing over of a hammer from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the closing ceremony of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits on 13 November 2022 symbolized Indonesia is honored to be the Chair of ASEAN this year.
In parallel with that, civil society organizations or CSOs from Cambodia also handed over the holding of ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People Forum (ACSC/APF) 2023 to the representatives of Indonesian CSOs. The ACSC/APF is a forum where civil s...
2023-01-1042 min
Voicesea PodcastMerry Utami, Woman Migrant Workers on Death Row: Story through eyes of her daughterIn November this year, Indonesia underwent its 4th cycle of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council last November. In this process, where the situation of human rights in Indonesia was reviewed – the Government received recommendations from at least 22 UN member states to either moratorium or abolish death penalty in the country.
Long before this, the international community had already highlighted the issue of the death penalty in Indonesia. One of the high-profile cases is that of Merry Utami, an Indonesian migrant worker who was framed for carrying narcotics and sentenced to...
2022-12-1233 min
Voicesea PodcastMorotomo: Capturing Experiences of Migrant Workers through Fiction"Fiction is the best way to convey the truth," that what Anastasya Wulandari Hasyim believes for so long that she finally initiated the making of Morotomo.
Morotomo is an anthology of stories of migrant workers, written by migrant workers themselves to raise the collective awareness.
Not just that, the idea of raising collective awareness is also the main reason why Anastasya and her colleagues established RUMI Jepang, an initiative consists of Indonesian researchers working on migrant workers issues.
So, what is RUMI Jepang? Why...
2022-10-1849 min
Voicesea PodcastTowards Etichal Recruitment of Migrant Workers: Understanding the Pattern, Costs and ChallengesFor more than 2 years, the world has been facing Covid-19 and its socio-economic impact. This pandemic has made each nation-state tighten migration flows through official channels. More restrictive regulations on migration lead to a situation where transnational mobility is less easily accessible with obstacles such as more expensive costs for people who wish to migrate to another county including, and not limited to, migrant workers.
Reducing the costs relating to migration, particularly fees charged to migrants and their families, is one of the key steps towards ethical recruitment of migrant workers and protection their...
2022-07-1545 min
Voicesea Podcast“Freedom Fighter with Writing” from Chin State: People’s Resistance against Tatmadaw“If I am not committed now, there is no hope for my generation” – Tual Sawn Khai is a researcher and writer on migration, refugees, climate change, health and welfare policies. He is from Chin State, which is described as Myanmar’s “forgotten state” - Chin people have long struggled with systemic oppression.
It has been more than a year since the military coup was attempted in February 2021, the military or Tatmadaw has seized control of the country under non-democratic and anti-human rights regime. People of Myanmar in and out of the country continue to reject the military junta. Brutal...
2022-04-1255 min
Voicesea PodcastTwo Years into Pandemic: Time to Work on Universal Health Coverage for Migrant WorkersAs we commemorate 2 years into Covid-19 pandemic, this public health crisis really emphasizes the need of Universal Health Coverage. Access to comprehensive, high quality and appropriate health services is a very fundamental right for every human being, and they should be provided to everyone regardless of who you are, where you are. All people should have access to healthcare whenever they need it, without any financial hardship.
Unfortunately, migrant workers have a lot of barriers to overcome when accessing healthcare. In a lot of cases, migrant workers are excluded from the health system in...
2022-03-0856 min
Voicesea PodcastMyanmar A Year After Coup: People's Power, ASEAN and Call for International Solidarity - Conversation with H.E. Mr. Bo Hla-Tint, National Unity Government of Myanmar's Ambassador to ASEANOn the 1st of February last year, Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar, made a coup d'etat and detained its political enemies including President Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, Tatmadaw has seized control of the country under the non-democratic and anti-human rights regime.
While more than 1,400 civilians have been killed and more than 11,000 people have been arbitrily arrested during the military crackdowns, Tatmadaw has been strongly rejected by Myanmar people and reveived worldwide condemnations.
VOICESEA Podcast had the honour to speak with H.E. Mr. Bo Hla-Tint, the Ambassador o...
2022-01-3150 min
Voicesea PodcastHappy New VOICESEA - Intersectionality of Human Rights, Democracy and MigrationIn every New Year, people often ask “what are your New Year’s resolution?" or “What's new for you in this year?" As obviously you can see, what’s new for BEBESEA 2022 is the launch of our rebranded podcast ‘VOICESEA Podcast’! Yeay! But why did we decide change our name and what’s new?
VOICESEA comes with widening our focus and perspectives of our conversations from previously focusing solely on migration to the wider issues related to human rights in East and Southeast Asia in order to equip ourselves for better advocacy work for the rights of migrants and c...
2022-01-1519 min
Voicesea PodcastEmpowerment Through Art with Yllang MontenegroYllang is a feminist and independent artist from the Philippines and was a migrant worker in Japan for many years. As a self-taught artist, she founded Empowerment Through Art in 2017, a collective that raises funds for grassroots organizations and aspiring artists from low-income families.
Exclusion, discrimination and inequalities hugely impacted her life experiences and struggles as a daughter of a migrant worker, a minor migrant entertainer and a mother of a Filipino-Japanese child. However, Yllang never gave up her passion for art and made herself a thriving artist, who uses her art as a t...
2021-10-151h 11
Voicesea PodcastUS Downgrades Malaysia to Tier 3 on Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report 2021On 30 July, we commemorate World Day against Trafficking in Persons. What really is TIP? How is it different from people smuggling? What makes some people, including migrants, refugees and stateless people, more vulnerable to trafficking?
The annual report on TIP from the Department of State (USA) this year downgraded Malaysia into Tier 3 or the worst ranking. How do we understand this Tier System and the classification of countries? Is it valid?
To mark this day, I'Migrant Podcast had a conversation with Andika Wahab, Research Fellow at the National University o...
2021-07-2956 min
HAMburger PodcastMigrant Workers in the time of Covid-19 (I'Migrant X HAMburger)COVID-19 has been a huge challenge but given an opportunity for the wider society to be aware of the plight of migrant workers.
This episode is a part of the series focusing on COVID-19’s impact on migrant workers in their major destinations in East and Southeast Asia, following up a cross-regional joint research conducted by HRWG as part of BEBESEA initiative in 2020.
Joined by Mariko Hayashi, the research coordinator of "Repression and Resilience: COVID-19 Migrant Workers’ Rights in East and Southeast Asia", the research by HRWG. and Andi Pratiwi, the host of I'Migrant podcast series...
2021-06-0458 min
Voicesea PodcastSouth Korea: COVID-19 & Migrant Workers SeriesRonel has made South Korea home for the last 20 years, and supporting fellow members of the migrant community in Gimpo City, Gyeonggi Province.
He tells us about migrant workers' situations in South Korea, not only during the pandemic, but also how the environment surrounding migrants has changed over the time since he arrived in the country, and roles played by community leaders, civil society and National Human Rights Commission of Korea. Ronel C Nani is a human rights activist based in Gimpo, South Korea.
This episode is a part of the series focusing on COVID-19’s i...
2021-04-1947 min
Voicesea PodcastTaiwan: COVID-19 & Migrant Workers SeriesMigrants’ rights, workers’ rights, women’s rights are human rights - we have human rights simply because we are all human beings equally.
Lennon Ying-Dah Wong, International Coordinator of Serve the People Association (SPA), Taoyuan, tells us about migrant workers' situations in Taiwan and shares his thoughts on the importance of democratic space to fight against unjust social systems that violate human rights.
This episode is a part of the series focusing on COVID-19’s impact on migrant workers in their major destinations in East and Southeast Asia, following up the c...
2021-04-091h 03
Voicesea PodcastThailand: COVID-19 & Migrant Workers SeriesChiang Rai, the north most province of Thailand, shares borders with Myanmar and Laos which are the major countries of origin for migrant workers. Tok tells us the unique situations of the border region and experience of migrant workers there.
This episode is a part of the series focusing on COVID-19’s impact on migrant workers in their major destinations in East and Southeast Asia, following up the cross-regional joint research conducted as part of BEBESEA initiative in 2020.
Joined by Suebsakun Kidnukorn (aka Tok), from Mae Fa Luang University, wh...
2021-04-0250 min
Voicesea PodcastSingapore: COVID-19 & Migrant Workers SeriesCOVID-19 has been a huge challenge but given an opportunity for the wider society to be aware of the plight of migrant workers. How can we go beyond charitable work and build solidarity for structural changes?
This episode is a part of the series focusing on COVID-19’s impact on migrant workers in their major destinations in East and Southeast Asia, following up the cross-regional joint research conducted as part of BEBESEA initiative in 2020.
Joined by Jolovan Wham, a prominent Migrant Rights Activist in Singapore, we hear about migrant wor...
2021-03-2636 min
Voicesea PodcastJapan: COVID-19 & Migrant Workers SeriesCOVID-19 has illustrated resilience of migrant worker communities - how the government, the international community or donor organizations can support them and work with them?
This episode is a part of the series focusing on COVID-19’s impact on migrant workers in their major destinations in East and Southeast Asia, following up the cross-regional joint research conducted as part of BEBESEA initiative in summer 2020.
Joined by Jotaro Kato, Research Associate of the Institute of Asian Migrations, Waseda University, we hear about migrant workers' situations in Japan during the pandemic an...
2021-03-1946 min
Voicesea PodcastMalaysia: COVID-19 & Migrant Workers Series"What will happen to the society and economy of Malaysia if migrant workers no longer benefit from labour migration?" - a question arose amid the pandemic.
This episode is a part of the series focusing on COVID-19’s impact on migrant workers in their major destinations in East and Southeast Asia, following up the cross-regional joint research conducted as part of BEBESEA initiative in 2020.
Joined by Andika Ab. Wahab, a Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian & International Studies (IKMAS), National University of Malaysia (UKM), we hear about migrant workers' situ...
2021-03-1242 min
Voicesea PodcastHong Kong: COVID-19 & Migrant Workers Series“At home, we are afraid of employers, not the virus; On holiday, we are afraid of the police, not the virus,” a migrant domestic worker told Fifi.
This episode is a part of the series focusing on COVID-19’s impact on migrant workers in their major destinations in East and Southeast Asia, following up the cross-regional joint research conducted as part of BEBESEA initiative in summer 2020.
Joined by Fifi Ng, a member of migrant solidarity committee, autonomous 8a, we hear about migrant workers' situations in Hong Kong during the pandemic and their development until today.
2021-03-0543 min
Voicesea PodcastRoad to Empowerment with Eni Lestari“We can choose to change by changing our own life.” Our first guest of I’migrant podcast is Eni Lestari, a prominent migrant workers’ rights advocate based in Hong Kong. She tells her story about her own experience as a migrant worker from Indonesia, organising and empowering fellow domestic workers, breaking fears and building international solidarity.
Driven by the need to support her family following the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, Eni left Indonesia to become a domestic worker 21 years ago. A victim of labour abuses by her employers and agencies, she became an activist advocating for better protecti...
2020-09-2547 min