By Francis Fernandes
Mumbai, June 14, 2022: The Labour Commission of the archdiocese of Bombay has felicitated Christine Nathan, the newly elected president of Council of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC).
Nathan, a member of Bombay archdiocesan labor commission, is the first Asian and second woman to head the 71-year-old international organization.
The June 12 felicitation program on Zoom was chaired by Ruth D’Souza, secretary of the archdiocesan labor commission with some 40 participants.
Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, Nathan’s colleague introduced the new president and recalled that the global leader began her union activism from her college days. Nathan later became a champion of the labor rights of migrant unorganized women workers in the forestry and construction sectors, Gajiwala added.
Nathan was involved in policy making at national, regional and international levels during her 40 years of grassroots activism.
During 2006-2014, she served as a regional specialist for worker’s education at International Labour Organization. During this time, she was responsible for directing ILO activities across 21 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and her work focused on issues of international migration, governance and cooperation, Gajiwala pointed out.
The ICMC on June 1 elected her as its president.
Nathan, in her address, asserted that labor is not a commodity and that workers at all levels need to be understood, organized and respected. In particular, Covid 19 had made visible the precarious existence of migrant workers everywhere and their exposure to unsafe working and living conditions, she added.
The current global migration scenario is characterized by a feminization of migration, with women accounting for almost 50 percent of migrant labor force, whose rights need to be protected, Nathan asserted.
Acknowledging the task as “enormous,” Nathan promised to bring about a visible improvement in the lives of uprooted and displaced persons and migrants across the globe through her organization.
Father Jaison Vadassery, executive secretary of the Migrant Commission under the Conference of Catholic Bishops in India and ICMC representative too attended the online program. He expressed the hope that Nathan’s appointment would strengthen the work of the Church in India in the care of migrants.
Auxiliary Bishop Allwyn D’Silva of Bombay congratulated Nathan on her appointment and said he looked forward to the building of a strong network with all agencies working with migrants at the Asian and international levels.