G20: A Threat to Peoples’ Economic and Political Rights!

8 November 2010

COLLECTIVE STATEMENT OF THE PEOPLES’ACTION ON THE G20-PHILIPPINES

G20: A Threat to Peoples’ Economic and Political Rights!

The G20 and its global economic agenda are an affront and a threat to people’s rights and welfare.

The detention and deportation of Filipino activists from Seoul and the harassment and intimidation of a number of other activists at the hands of Korean immigration authorities are manifestations of the undemocratic and anti-people nature of the G20 and further exposed the illegitimacy of this group of self-proclaimed caretakers of the global economy.

The protests and mobilizations in Korea of tens of thousands of people in clear defiance of the Korean governments security measures, is an indication of a clear disconnect between the agenda of the governments of the G20 countries and the interests and aspirations of their people.

The G20 Summit in Korea was supposed to address the issue of the growing gap between the rich and the poor in the wake of the global economic crisis. The G20’s prescriptions for economic recovery and development, however, anchored on the perpetuation of a flawed corporate driven, export-oriented development model would further exacerbate poverty and inequality and undermine social cohesion across the world.

The whole point of the Peoples Conference in Korea, and the reason why the deported Filipino activists came to Korea, is to articulate the peoples’ opposition and resistance to the G20 and to collectively discuss and put forward alternatives to the failed model of development that the G20 is so desperately trying to preserve.

We say NO to the G20 and the policies that continue to threaten jobs and peoples livelihoods, and erode workers’ rights and welfare;

We say NO to the G20 and policies that cause the expulsion and repatriation of migrants in the name of restrictive and Draconian migration policies and rules;

We say NO to the G20 and the policies that use women as safety nets in crisis, and is blind to the differential decision-making powers in the household and economy in general;

We speak out against the free trade agenda and the push of the G20 governments for more ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreements disguised as economic partnerships but are really instruments of economic domination and control by the rich over the poor within and across countries and regions;

We speak out against the development agenda of the G20 which threatens peoples’ right to food, destroys the environment, and perpetuates unequal access and control over natural resources in support of the profit-driven motives of corporations;

We say NO to the G20. It does not represent the interests of the peoples of the world and it cannot speak on our behalf.

We call on the peoples of the world to come together against the G20 and to intensify the struggle for a better and more just and peaceful world.

Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)
Aniban mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Peoples Partner for Development and Democracy (PPDD)
Focus on the Global South
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)
Jubilee South – APMDD
Kilusang Mangingisda
Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-Friends of the Earth-Phils.)
Migrants Forum for Asia (MFA)
Task Force Food Sovereignty (TFFS)
World March of Women - Pilipinas
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ)
Action for Economic Reforms (AER)
Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)
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Posted by:
Anna Malindog
Founder/Executive Director
Peoples Partner for Development and Democracy (PPDD)
Mobile No.: +66 (0) 84 330 8550 (Thailand)
Mobile No.: +63 920 2255 161 (Philippines)