[van-announce] Filipino community in Canada struggles for housing

[SIKLAB]

Cop out on ‘Affordable Housing Week’ leaves Filipino community out in the
cold again
For immediate release

October 17, 2002

Typically, the B.C. government takes this week (October 14th -20th) to
herald its achievements in providing affordable housing to B.C.  But this
year, the provincial “Affordable Housing Week” has gone without much fanfare
or publicity -- raising eyebrows about its ability to answer outstanding
demands for affordable and adequate housing in B.C.

With the mounting pressure of the squatters who have taken over the old
Woodwards Building in Vancouver in an appeal for more affordable housing,
many cannot help overlook the coincidence that the provincial government has
displayed less enthusiasm about its “Affordable Housing Week” this year.

Challenging the B.C. government’s approach, SIKLAB, an organization of
overseas Filipino workers, maintains that bad publicity should not hinder
the B.C. government from dealing with the urgent issue of affordable
housing.

The organization educates and advocates for affordable housing for the
growing and marginalized Filipino community in B.C.  It maintains that the
housing crisis of the Filipino community can no longer be ignored given the
growing severity of the problem as the community’s ghettoization deepens.

A large portion of the Filipino community is made up of domestic workers who
have entered Canada under the anti-woman and racist Live-in Caregiver
Program (LCP) of Canada Immigration.  Under the LCP, the women are forced to
live and work for in the homes of middle- and upper-class Canadian families
as domestic workers for a minimum of 24 months within a strict 3-year
period.  Many women earn only $2.00/hour for their labour.  While under the
LCP, they are restricted from taking any academic courses nor are they
allowed to work for more than one employer.  Living in modern-day slavery,
the majority of Filipino women barely survive.  Because of the de-skilling
and devastation brought on by the LCP, the women continue to be trapped in
low-paying service sector jobs similar to domestic work even after they
complete the requirements of the program.

Now, the Filipino community must deal with the aftermath of the LCP, the
poverty forced on the families, and the inaffordability of housing.  Many
Filipino families live in overcrowded and unsafe conditions mainly in
low-income Vancouver communities.  They also find themselves victims of
unscrupulous landlords.

 “The federal and provincial governments are washing their hands of our
community’s lack of affordable housing,“ maintains May Farrales of SIKLAB,
“They created our poverty with the LCP, now, they should take responsibility
for the fact that we cannot afford decent housing,” she asserts.

Understanding that affordable and decent housing is a human right, SIKLAB
guarantees that they will continue to educate, organize, and mobilize the
Filipino community for affordable housing.



______________________________________________


"Advancing the rights and welfare
of overseas Filipinos in Canada!"

  S  I  K  L  A  B
Overseas Filipino Workers Organization


Phone/Fax: 604.215.1103
siklab.tripod.ca
www.kalayaancentre.org









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