“Ratify the Sea Fishermen’s Rights Treaty” – migrant workers and groups

MANILA, Philippines – A number of migrant fishermen and Filipino worker groups on Thursday (Nov. 21) called on the Philippine government to ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) Work in Fishing Convention (No. 188).

The agreement aims to protect fishermen on board fishing vessels and promote decent working conditions.

Filipino migrant fishermen, especially those working on Chinese and Taiwanese fishing vessels, face a number of challenges, from the recruitment process to working at sea.

Isolated at sea, many of these migrant fishermen are forced to work long hours, suffer injuries and illnesses without receiving proper medical care, and live in substandard conditions.

A number of Filipino migrant fishermen who worked on Chinese tuna boats in the southwest Indian Ocean have testified to human rights violations and illegal fishing practices.

In a 2024 report, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a London-based nonprofit, surveyed fishermen from Indonesia, the Philippines and Mozambique. Abuses take the form of physical violence, intimidation, withholding of identity documents and excessive overtime.

"Kami is here for umpay na nagtatrabaho, araw man o gabi," » Charlie*, a migrant fisherman, said on Thursday. “Masaya na kami kung nakaka-tulog kami ng apat na oras.”

(We work non-stop, from morning to night. We are happy if we sleep four hours.)

He was speaking at a forum organized by the Associated Filipino Seafarers Union, Associated Labor Unions, Stella Maris Manila and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).

But labor law violations do not only harass them at sea. A number of their families back home say they are not receiving what is due to migrant fishermen.

“‘Pag-uwi namin, mas matining pagsubok pa (ang) aming haharapin dahil anging pinaghirapan est hindi kami nababayaran,” » Charlie said.

(When we return home, a bigger problem awaits us because we don’t get paid for everything we worked for.)

Charlie’s experience is not isolated, based on a four-year investigation by journalists from the Outlaw Ocean Project that looked into human and labor rights abuses on Chinese fishing vessels. One of the anecdotes from the investigation concerned Filipino migrant fishermen who filmed themselves calling for help.

“We are already sick here. The captain will not send us to the hospital,” one of the crew members was quoted as saying in the report.

What is Convention No. 188?

The ILO created the Work in Fishing Convention (No. 188) in 2007. It then entered into force in November 2017 after being adopted by 10 ILO member countries.

Convention 188 sets standards for decent working conditions on board commercial fishing vessels and aims to protect migrant fishermen from labor violations and abuses.

It establishes safeguards against the growing demand for food and labor and how these affect the fishing sector.

Currently, the convention is in force in 21 countries. Thailand, exposed to forced labor in its fishing fleets, is the only Southeast Asian country on the list so far.

Certain conditions of the treaty specify that fishermen must:

• Benefit from regular and sufficient rest periods (for example, fishermen at sea for more than three days should have a minimum of 10 hours of rest)
• Have the opportunity to review and seek advice on the employment agreement
• Be repatriated when the agreement expires or when they can no longer perform their work
• Be paid regularly and have the means to transmit their salary to families free of charge
• Benefit from “adequate” accommodation, nutritious meals and drinking water on board
• Have the right to be brought ashore “in a timely manner” to receive medical treatment

Efforts and hopes

Ratification of the convention is only the first step. If the Philippine government ratifies this convention, it will be required to implement and enforce laws that uphold the commitments made under the convention.

“If he (President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) wants to be a modern and modernizing president, he must ask (the Senate) for the ratification of ILO Convention 188,” said Luis Corral of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines. It is the Senate which ratifies international conventions.

In the same forum, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac said they “have always supported the Philippine government’s continued efforts to ratify and implement the ILO Fishing Labor Convention of 2007 or C188 of the ILO, which will further protect the rights of fishermen.

According to Cacdac, 8,000 Filipino migrant fishermen were deployed in 2023 – and 5,500 more in the last quarter. They mainly come from Calabarzon, Western and Central Visayas.

This year, Cacdac said, they closed 14 illegal recruitment establishments and allocated P2.8 billion to provide legal and financial assistance to fishermen in distress.

He acknowledged the problems of “inadequate wages, poor working conditions, contract substitution and even abandonment” and said they were working on a platform where fishermen can report violations.

As more workers leave their homes to fish in distant seas, governments that provide labor struggle to put in place protections for their citizens.

Charlie said he hoped that one day there would be changes in his work: that migrant fishermen like him would have enough food and clean water; they will receive medicines that have not expired; they are not mistreated; and they finally receive their full salary.

“Nais ko sana darating ang araw, mababayaran kami nang sapat and tama kung ano ‘yung nararapat para aming pinagpapaguran na dugo et Pawis ang aming pinuhunan,” Charlie said.

(I hope that day comes when we get paid for what we have worked so hard and hard for.) – Rappler.com

*That’s not his real name