SIKLAB – B.C. (Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers)
Media Advisory

Mother’s Day to be a sad day for Filipino live-in caregivers

May 5 , 2009

 
VANCOUVER, B.C. – While mothers and their families across B.C. will be gathering in traditional Mother’s Day celebrations, this Mother’s Day will be a sad one for some Filipino live-in caregivers.  

“It’s been ten years in Canada that I’ve celebrated Mother’s Day alone, away from my children and it’s really heartbreaking for me,” says Gina Miranda, a member of SIKLAB-B.C. (Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipino workers). “I don’t know when I will celebrate Mother’s Day again with my children because of the huge back-log of immigration applications,” she said.

Women under Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Live-in Caregiver Program are not allowed to bring their families with them when they come to work in Canada. The negative impacts of family separation and delayed reunification have been vastly documented by community-based research of organizations such as SIKLAB and the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada. The negative impacts have also been widely documented by academics such as Geraldine Pratt of the University of British Columbia.

A press conference will be held to highlight these issues on:
Friday, May 8, 2009
10:00 a.m.
Grassroots Women office at 1115B East Hastings at Glen Drive
(Entrance on Glen Drive)

Speakers will include:
- Gina Miranda and Leticia Capinpin, members of SIKLAB
- Glecy Duran, Chairperson of SIKLAB
- Professor Geraldine Pratt, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia
 
For more information, please contact: Glecy at: ph: 604-215-1103 or e-mail: siklab@kalayaancentre.net

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