PRESS RELEASE / MEDIA COVERAGE REQUESTED
Contact: Phoebe Dimacali, 07400222600,
26 April 2015
London, United Kingdom
The Filipino Domestic Workers Association UK (FDWA UK) will hold a candlelight vigil on Sunday 26 April 2015 at 6.00pm at the Indonesian Embassy in London in support of the campaign to save Mary Jane Veloso, a migrant domestic worker facing execution by the Indonesian government for alleged drug trafficking offences.
Veloso was a domestic worker in Dubai who fled her employer due to attempted rape. On 22 April 2010, she was illegally recruited as a domestic worker in Malaysia. Upon arrival in the country, she was told that the job was no longer available. Her recruiter then sent her to Indonesia allegedly for a short holiday, after which she would go back to Malaysia for employment. It was there that she was tricked into carrying luggage containing 2.6 kilograms of heroin.
On 11 October 2010, an Indonesian court sentenced Veloso to death penalty. Her appeal for judicial review was rejected by the Supreme Court last 25 March 2014. She is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on Tuesday 28 April 2015.
“Veloso is clearly a victim of human trafficking, driven to labour migration, like many Filipinas due to extreme poverty in our country,” said Phoebe Dimacali, chair of FDWA UK. “Big crime syndicates, illegal recruiters and traffickers remain scot-free at the expense of the lives of helpless women who fall under their prey, desperate for a job to feed their hungry families,” she added.
An international legal appeal and campaign have been launched to stop her execution with the help of private lawyer associations, civic society and migrant organisations worldwide.
“We stand in solidarity with Mary Jane Veloso and all migrant domestic workers facing inhumane treatment and injustices both by the sending and receiving countries,” lamented Dimacali. “We call for the end to criminalization and neglect of domestic workers worldwide,” she added.
FDWA UK is an organization of Filipino domestic workers in London campaigning for the rights and welfare of migrant domestic worker in the country. For more info visit fdwa.co.uk.
For more info on #SaveMaryJaneVeloso visit:
http://migranteinternational.org
http://time.com/3834113/mary-jane-veloso-indonesia-philippines-death-row-jokowi/?xid=tcoshare
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