A tired Alex Eala loses in Toronto ending her history-making win streak

Alexandra Eala ran out of gas in her match against Belinda Bencic.

The bad news is that Alexandra Eala lost in Toronto Sunday evening. The good news is the plainly tired Filipino will hopefully grant herself some much needed rest after a grueling two-week stretch during which she made history by becoming the first Filipino to win a WTA title in the Washington DC Open.

Running on pure fumes after a historic seven-match winning streak, the 21-year-old tennis phenom hit a wall in the Round of 16 at the National Bank Open. 

Switzerland's hard-hitting Belinda Bencic proved too clinical, ending Eala's magical Canadian run with a straight-sets, 6-4, 6-0 victory.

Eala didn't go quietly. She battled back from two separate breaks to level the opening set at 4-4, sending the heavily pro-Filipino crowd into a frenzy. But Bencic found another gear, breaking late with a beautiful lob to take the opener.

However, by the second set, the physical toll of Eala's whirlwind fortnight caught up to her. Fighting through a right foot injury sustained in her previous marathon win against Caty McNally, the world No. 20 simply ran out of gas, not winning a single game and dropping the second set to the Swiss veteran.

Today, Bencic was clearly the better player.

A hero’s ovation

Even in defeat, the scene at Sobeys Stadium felt more like a celebration than a loss. Flag-waving Filipino fans packed the stands for a third straight night, rewarding their history-making star with a roaring standing ovation as she left the court.

After her loss in Toronto, Eala was asked what it means to be able to share parts of Filipino culture with the rest of the world.

"I am kind of just like a drop in the ocean, you know, when it comes to Filipinos and their pride for their culture and where they come from. 

"Me, I do a lot to kind of represent my country, and I'm very proud of it. But you see, I mean, the stadium was full of people who do the same thing, right? I guess that just shows you what kind of a community we are, and what kind of a people we are, and how supportive we are of each other."

The newly minted Top 20 star now heads to Mason, Ohio, for the Cincinnati Open on August 13. It is her final tune-up to shake off the fatigue and heal the ankle.

 Eala Mania is expected to show up in Ohio. Local Filipino American communities and regional tennis fans in Ohio are already rallying on platforms like Threads to coordinate attendance and back the rising star.

She'll use the tournament to gear up for a major main draw debut at the US Open that starts August 23. 

In New York, Eala Mania can expect a massive, energized Filipino crowd, high-profile hard-court matches, and a homecoming-like atmosphere just a short subway ride away from Queens' Little Manila at the 2026 US Open.

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Philippine diaspora cheer Alex Eala's latest win in Toronto

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Alex Eala acknowledges her Filipino fans in the Canadian Open in Canada.

Alexandra Eala just proved that no matter where she plays in the world, she’ll always have a home court advantage.

The 21-year-old Filipina tennis phenom made her highly anticipated main draw debut at Toronto's National Bank Open on Wednesday, and the local Filipino community turned Tornto's Sobeys Stadium into a roaring home arena. 

Sobeys Stadium's Centre Court was packed with a loud, proud Filipino contingency, proving once again how powerfully the Philippine diaspora shows up to lift their own. From the GTA to the heart of Toronto, Pinoys brought the distinct, infectious energy that follows Philippine athletes globally, turning a high-stakes WTA 1000 match into a celebration of cultural pride.

The Match: Sweet revenge on Centre Court

Fueled by the crowd, Eala avenged her Australian Open loss from earlier this year by defeating gritty American Alycia Parks in a thrilling three-set battle: 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

The Dominant Start: Eala rode the wave of crowd support early on, completely dominating the opening set 6-1.

After Parks pushed back to take the second set, Eala showed incredible poise under pressure.

Eala closed out the match by winning the final four games of the third set, extending her incredible North American hard-court winning streak to 6-0.

What's Next for Eala?

The Toronto campaign moves fast, and Eala has a busy schedule ahead in both singles and doubles:

In singles, Eala will take on American Caty McNally next for a spot in the round of 16. That match is scheduled for Friday, August 7 at 7 AM (Toronto time), 9 AM PDT. McNally is a dangerous match because she is riding a confidence high after she upset Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, 7-6(5), 6-1.

Before her Friday singles match, Eala is pulling double duty. She is teaming up with tennis royalty Venus Williams to face the tandem of Liudmila Samsonova and Miyu Kato on today, August 6, at 2:10 PM ET (5:20 PM PDT).

Philippine diaspora

In tennis stadiums around the world, Filipino fans have injected a new level of energy to the usually staid sport's audiences.

Eala Mania was first noticed in the Australian Open last year when Eala's participation broke attendance records because of the number of Filipino fans lining up to watch her. The fans had to quickly learn that tennis is not like other spectator sports like basketball or football. They had to learn to hold back their cheers until after the point is made.

Filipino Canadians made their presence known at the Canadian Open.

In Miami, the Middle East, Europe, including Wimbledon, then Washington DC, the diaspora showed up.

The 12 million to 15 million Filipinos estimated to be spread throughout the world are used to being in the background, working quietly in the hospitals, hotels, the banks in the care homes, the oil fields and the high seas. Often unseen, forgotten or overlooked, they don't even appear to be bothered for being mistaken for other Asian nationalities. Thus, when someone like Eala breaks through, they rally around not only tfor he athlete, but for the opportunity to be seen.

Now Canada, with approximately 1 million Filipino citizen and noncitizen residents (or about 2% of the population), takes notice of the Filipinos among them because of Eala Mania. The diaspora is watching, and Toronto's Filipino community is ready to keep bringing the noise and share the spotlight. 

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From the margin to center court: The rise of Alex Eala

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Alexandra Eala  exults relief and joy after upssetting No. 2-ranked  Elena Rybakina

Alexandra Eala will face No. 6 seed Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals of the Berlin Open on Friday, June 19. Following her grass-court campaign in Germany, Eala is officially heading straight to the Wimbledon Championships main draw, which begins on June 29.

No one is happier to leave the clay courts of Europe than the Filipino tennis player. After a so-so record on the slippery clay, the move to grass benefits Eala's game.

For years, Asian American and Pacific Islander athletes have had to fight from the margins of the sporting world, forcing mainstream gatekeepers to take notice. Today, Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala didn't just ask for a seat at the table—she shattered the glass ceiling of elite tennis by knocking out World No. 2 Elena Rybakina in straight sets at the Berlin Open.

The upset

The 7-5, 6-4 masterpiece at the Steffi Graf Stadion represents more than just an upset; it is a monumental cultural milestone for Philippine and Asian tennis, proving that a player from a country without a deep grass-court tradition can dismantle the heaviest hitters on the planet. 

Eala pulled off a monumental straight-sets upset against World No. 2 Elena Rybakina, winning 7-5, 6-4 in the Round of 16 at the 2026 Berlin Open. The stunning victory on the grass courts of the Steffi Graf Stadion marked a career-defining performance for the 21-year-old Filipina.

Rybakina took early control, breaking Eala in the fourth game to race into a commanding 4-1 lead. Eala responded by capitalizing on a pair of double faults from the Kazakh star to break back. Locked at 5-5, Eala secured another late break and served out the set 7-5.

Carrying her momentum, Eala broke early in the second set to go up 3-1. She held her nerve and exchanged service holds the rest of the way to close out the match 6-4 in 1 hour and 32 minutes.

"I am a little foggy right now," Eala said in her on-court interview. "I'm still shaking, and I was shaking on match point, too. But I'm really happy with today, of course. It could have gone either way. I think there were really tight moments in both sets, and she's an amazing player. She's the one to beat, so I'm happy to have been able to share the court with her again."

Eala’s fearless display showed a level of poise and baseline courage that has become the hallmark of her rapid ascent.

What's next on the horizon?

The historic run in Berlin is far from over, and the road ahead looks even brighter:

Eala is locked in for the Wimbledon Championships. Armed with an automatic entry into the singles main draw, she will take the iconic grass courts of the All England Club starting June 29.

But before Wimbledon, Eala moves on to a highly anticipated quarterfinal clash against  veteran and No. 6 seed Elina Svitolina, who ranked No. 6, on Friday, June 19.

Before making her way to London, Eala will tune up her grass game at the Bad Homburg Open (June 21–27), where she has accepted a wildcard entry.

Eala has historically performed significantly better on grass than on clay. Her flatter groundstrokes and aggressive return game find more success on quicker surfaces, while clay remains her most challenging surface due to its slower bounce and her preference for hard courts.

Her grass-court victory at the Lexus Birmingham Open has proved to be the ultimate launchpad. Her transition to grass has been nothing short of spectacular, and her momentum is building rapidly as she heads towards Wimbledon's grass.

With her recent winning streak, Filipina tennis star Alex Eala is currently ranked World No. 33 in the WTA singles rankings, a dramatic upturn from the mid-40s when she began the clay circuit.

Filipino fans show up

Eala's fans from the Philippine Diaspora made their presence known throughout her triumphant grass-court stretch in the United Kingdom and Germany.

Her massive, vocal following has become a major talking point on the WTA Tour, injecting soccer-style national pride directly into traditional tennis venues.

Filipino flag-waving tennis fans have notoriously turned global tennis stadiums into high-energy, "home game" atmospheres for her, and the recent grass swing was no exception. Her fandom began betting noticed in Australia when the cheering fans packed even the practice courts to watch Eala. In the US and Europe, the Philippine diaspora proved to be widespread with the Filipino fans packing normally staid tennis stadiums.

Proving how distinct and passionate her fanbase is, a fan went viral during her matches holding a highly relatable sign that read, "Alex, may sisig sa bahay" (Alex, there's sisig at home), blending deep cultural humor with court-side support.

During her championship trophy presentation at the Lexus Birmingham Open, the stands were so heavily packed with Filipino flags and supporters that she paused her English speech to speak directly to them in Tagalog. She emotionally told the crowd, "Home is a people and not a place. Kaya mga kababayan, salamat sa suporta. Ang dami ninyo ngayon. Maraming, maraming salamat."

In the quarter finals today (June 19), Eala must get past Svitolina.

"Elina is a very consistent player," Eala told reporters. "She obviously a huge fighter with her background and her experience. But she's also able to be aggressive when she needs to be. So I'm expecting a really good match, and I hope to bring out the best and showcase my tennis."

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Filipino seafarers stuck in the Persian Gulf; victims of an undeclared war

ILLUSTRATION CREATED BY GEMINI

Thousands of Filipino seafarers  have been trapped in the Persian Gulf.

While Donald Trump celebrates his 80th birthday with a mixed-martial arts match in the most unlikely of arenas on the hallowed grounds of the White House, 5,600 Filipino sailors are stuck in the Persian Gulf awaiting the outcome of peace negotiations between the US and Iran.

When Washington and Tehran beat the drums of war, the headlines usually focus on geopolitical chess pieces, military strategies, and soaring oil prices. But as is so often the case from an Asian American and global perspective, the real human cost is borne by a quiet, indispensable workforce.

Right now, more than 5,600 Filipino seafarers are trapped inside the Persian Gulf, caught behind military blockades and the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. They hope the pending agreement between the US and Iran which is supposed to begin Jan. 19. 

Filipinos make up over a quarter of the 20,000 international civilian sailors currently floating in limbo, watching drones and missiles streak across the sky while their commercial vessels run dangerously low on food, water, and fuel.

For these mariners, the risk isn’t theoretical. It’s a daily battle for survival.

Just weeks ago, an Iranian drone struck the Malta-flagged container ship CMA CGM San Antonio in the Strait of Hormuz, wounding seven Filipino crewmen. Three suffered severe blast and burn injuries, landing them in an Omani ICU. They survived, but others in nearby routes haven’t been as fortunate—including the two Filipinos killed in the Gulf of Aden last year and several others missing after a missile strike sank the MV Eternity C.

The Philippine Department of Migrant Workers has officially labeled the region a "Warlike Operations Area." This designation legally allows sailors to refuse deployment to these waters without retaliation from their employers.

The invisible backbone of global commerce

To understand why so many Filipinos are in harm's way, you have to look at the sheer scale of their presence in the maritime industry. The Philippines is the undisputed seafaring capital of the world.

The Reality by the Numbers: More than one out of every four commercial mariners globally hails from the Philippines.

From massive crude oil tankers to the luxury cruise ships that just managed to escape the Gulf under naval escort, international shipping simply does not move without Filipino hands. They are the invisible backbone of the global supply chain. 

The financial lifelines they send home are staggering, injecting over $6.5 billion annually in remittances back into the Philippine economy.

Floating prisons in the Gulf. heat

The sailors are strictly stuck on their vessels, unable to go ashore. Because they lack the necessary visas to disembark in neighboring Middle Eastern countries, their ships have essentially become floating prisons.

The day-to-day reality for these crew members highlights how they are coping with the crisis

Under strict wartime port security and international maritime law, the crews cannot leave their ships. They are confined to tiny living quarters and scorched, sun-baked decks in the brutal Gulf heat.

Since they cannot step foot on land, ships rely on local resupply boats. Regional authorities, like the Saudi Ports Authority, have deployed small water taxis and supply skiffs to deliver food, fresh water, and medicine to the marooned ships.

While wealthy shipping conglomerates can afford these expensive deliveries, smaller independent vessels are struggling. Many crews have resorted to rationing, sometimes eating just a single meal of rice or lentils a day as regional supply prices skyrocket. 

With their vessels anchored indefinitely in a static blockade, sailors grapple with extreme boredom paired with intense psychological anxiety.

The crews cannot simply sit idle; they must perform continuous, heavy maintenance. They work to keep the ship's generators running, manage the ballast tanks, and protect the cargo from spoiling or overheating. 

CONTRIBUTED

On their off-hours, Filipino crewmen play basketball to pass the time away.

Sailors use whatever precious minutes of internet connectivity they have to call family back in the Philippines. However, captain commands often restrict or shut down Wi-Fi networks to prevent data signals from revealing the ship's exact location to drone and missile radar systems. 

To distract themselves from the nearby sounds of airstrikes and bombings, crew members spend their off-hours sharing coping videos on maritime social media groups. They cook together, play cards, and as one stranded mariner told Reuters, spend hours "planning how to spend the night and praying to God that we do not get hit."

The battle for hazard pay

Filipino seafarers trapped in the Persian Gulf are entitled to extra pay, but getting the shipping companies to pay up is proving to be a whole other battle.

The Philippine Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) officially declared the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman as "Warlike Operations Areas."

This isn't just a label on a map. It means the waters have become a legal minefield for maritime employers, matching the risk classifications set by the International Bargaining Forum (IBF).

Under DMW Advisory No. 11 and No. 32, these sailors have clear legal protections:

• Double Basic Pay: They must receive a 100% premium on their daily basic wage for every single day their ship is stuck or operating in the zone.

• Double Insurance Payouts: If the worst happens, death and disability compensations are automatically doubled.

• The Right to Say No: Seafarers have the absolute right to refuse to sail into these high-risk waters. If they choose to leave, the company has to fly them home for free and hand over two months of basic wages as severance.

Many of the  hundreds of vessels stuck in the Persian Gulfare manned by Filipino seafarers .

But as any watcher of the global labor market knows, what's written in a government memo doesn't always show up in a bank account.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) reports a massive surge in emergency calls from stranded crews. The complaints? Massive wage delays, missing contracts, and shipping operators conveniently "forgetting" to calculate the mandatory war-risk bonuses.

Furthermore, while the Philippine government has successfully repatriated thousands of workers from the wider Middle East crisis, hundreds of sailors remain pinned down in the Gulf. Shipping operators frequently claim they can't find replacement crews willing to fly into a war zone, leaving the current workers effectively trapped on board.

One of the reasons many Filipino seamen work in the maritime industry is to support their families in the Philippines. The Filipino seafarers stranded in the Persian Gulf can send money to their families in the Philippines, provided they have access to digital banking or electronic remittance apps and their families have a local bank account or cash pick-up center.

Filipino seafarers are a massive economic powerhouse, generating over P1.06 trillion and contributing about 4% to the Philippines' Gross Domestic Product.

While remittances can still technically be made, the ability to do so depends heavily on a few critical factors: Many ships caught in the shipping disruptions and blockades near the Strait of Hormuz have limited or erratic internet; seafarers must have a stable enough internet connection on board to log into their banking apps or international money transfer platforms.

A major challenge for many stranded sailors is that shipowners may face financial distress, leading to delayed or frozen salaries.

View from the edge: Dangers to the diaspora

This is the recurring narrative the Philippine Diaspora: Whether it’s Filipino nurses making up a disproportionate number of frontline casualties during healthcare crises in the West, engineers or welders in the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico in Alaska, caregivers in Europe, the Middle East and  Asia or Filipino sailors risking their lives in Middle Eastern chokepoints, our communities continue to keep the modern world running at immense personal cost.

This isn't just an economic issue; it is a human rights issue for the global Filipino diaspora. These mariners leave their families for months on end to keep world commerce humming, yet when conflict breaks out, they are left holding the bag while mega-corporations count profits. 

In the specific case of the sailors stuck in the Persian Gulf, the DMW and international unions must aggressively police these rogue ship owners. Our communities shouldn't have to fight tooth and nail for the hazard pay they legally earned.

These seafarers aren't combatants. They are fathers, sons, and breadwinners who left their homes to see the world, support their families, and keep global trade afloat. As international tensions continue to flare, the global community cannot afford to treat them as mere collateral damage.

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Hard choice faces Philippine diaspora caught in the Middle East conflict

Filipino workers flee the Middle East after the US and Israel attacked Iran.

No Filipinos were killed in the US and Israeli airstrikes inside Iran, but the conflict has claimed a Filipino life in the crossfire: Mary Ann Velasquez de Vera was killed in Tel Aviv by an Iranian missile strike on February 28.

The  a 32-year-old caregiver was mortally struck by shrapnel while selflessly  transporting her elderly ward to a bomb shelter. Her employer survived. De Vera didn't.

Velasquez de Vera was found in critical condition after the ballistic missile struck next to an apartment building in the coastal city. Paramedics pronounced her dead while rushing her to the hospital. She was identified by her husband.

Mary Anne de Vera, the first Filipino fatality of the 
US-Israeli attacks against Iran.

A previous employer called Velasquez de Vera "an angel on earth" for the loving care she provided for their late mother.

Meanwhile,  the estimated 1,100 to 1,400 Filipinos living in Iran find themselves navigating a precarious landscape. Most of these individuals are long-term residents with deep roots through marriage, while about a hundred are documented workers. Their situation is a small but high-stakes piece of a much larger puzzle, as they represent just a fraction of the 2.2 million Filipinos currently living and working across the Middle East in construction, hospitality, healthcare and homecare.

With the threat of more Israeli and US military action looming, the Philippine government is shifting into a high-gear response to prevent a repeat of past regional tragedies. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has placed all diplomatic posts on high alert, and Iran remains under Alert Level 2, a status that effectively halts new labor deployments and urges those already there to limit non-essential movement.

Behind the scenes, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Migrant Workers are already mapping out "Plan B" scenarios, including land-based evacuation routes through Turkmenistan should Iranian airspace become a no-fly zone.

Hundreds of Filipino workers have already returned to the Philippines from various Middle East countries.

For the millions of Filipinos scattered from Tehran to Tel Aviv working in construction, healthcare, nannies and service. the government’s message is one of cautious readiness, emphasizing that while the goal is to stay safe in place, the exit doors are being prepped just in case the "big one" finally hits the region’s stability.

In retaliation to the US and Israeli attacks, Iran has responded with drones targeting US bases in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait — all countries that host large Filipino communities. The Department of Foreign Affairs estimates that the four countries are home to nearly 1.5 million Filipinos combined: 973,000 in the UAE, 250,000 in Qatar, 211,000 in Kuwait, and 56,000 in Bahrain.

The economic refugee

To understand why Mary Ann V. de Vera was in that building in Tel Aviv, you have to look past the "Bagong Bayani" (Modern Hero) rhetoric the government has hung on the Overseas Fililpino Worker (OFW). 

Government and media call them "heroes" to mask the fact that they are economic refugees. 

When the Department of Foreign Affairs raises "Alert Level 4" (Mandatory Evacuation), it is fighting a losing battle against the Philippine economy. In 2014, when Libyan militias were beheading construction workers, the Philippine government sent ships to evacuate 13,000 Filipinos. Only 2,000 boarded. The rest hid in the desert, terrified that the government would "rescue" them into joblessness.

View from the Edge

Mary Ann didn't die because she loved danger. She died because she was doing the job she was paid to do — protecting her patient — in a country that offered her a future her own homeland could not. The ₱130,000 ($2,220) monthly pension for life  is a life-changing sum for her family in Pangasinan, but it is a grim receipt for the export of our people.

For the OFWs, "Alert Level 2" in Iran feels like a recurring nightmare. The Middle East hosts over 2 million Filipinos, meaning every regional flare-up triggers a dilemma.

It is a grim calculus known as kapit sa patalim (clutching the knife). For the vast majority of OFWs, the fear of the low pay in the Philippines is statistically and psychologically greater than the fear of missiles in the Middle East.

Consider the wage gap. A caregiver in Israel earns $1,500–$2,000 USD (₱85k–₱110k). In the Philippines, the same job pays less than $150.

The choice for OFWs is tough. To repatriate is to plunge 5-10 dependent family members back into poverty.

Because Mary Ann was killed by a "hostile action" while legally employed, Israel's National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) has classified her family as victims of terror. This triggers a (for Filipinos) lifetime pension indexed to the Israeli wage — roughly ₱130,000 ($2,220) per month — granted to her family in Pangasinan is generous compared the average caregiver monthly salary in the Philippines is roughly ₱22,000 ($377). A highly-trained nurse in the Philippines earns about ₱18,000 ($308) to ₱28,000 ($480).

The irony is sharp: It took an Iranian missile in Tel Aviv to give a Filipino family the financial security that a lifetime of labor in the Philippines never could.

For the majority of OFWs in the Middle East, the choice is clear. They stay. They hide. They pray the rockets miss.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

FYI: To stay connected as the situation in the region develops, Filipinos inIran and their families should keep these official contact details close at hand. The primary lifeline for those in Tehran is the Philippine Embassy's 24/7 Assistance to Nationals (ATN) hotline at +98 912 213 6801, which is also available via WhatsApp for those who might have limited mobile signal.

For matters regarding passports or visas, the Consular hotline at +98 912 105 5637 is the number to call, or you can reach out via email at tehran.pe@dfa.gov.ph

For broader support, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) operates a dedicated One Repatriation Command Center accessible through the 1348 hotline in the Philippines or (+632) 1348 for those calling internationally. Staying vigilant and keeping these numbers saved could make all the difference if the regional situation necessitates a quick move to safety.

Study: Filipino caregivers in the U.S. vulnerable to exploitation during pandemic

Valerie Francisco Menchavez

Filipino health professionals lured to the United States to fill a labor shortage in the healthcare field and the opportunity to help their families financially, sometimes find themselves victims of exploitation and abuse because of their uncertain status as immigrants.

For San Francisco State University Associate Professor of Sociology Valerie Francisco-Menchavez a research paper she authored is personal. “I attribute my grandmother’s early death to the stress she had as a caregiver,” she said.

This connection was one of the reasons Francisco-Menchavez decided to conduct research on caregivers for the elderly and their challenges, particularly during the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, she wanted to look at the experiences of Filipino caregivers — like her grandmother — who largely make up the number of practitioners in the field. And there’s a reason why they do: The Philippines has a sophisticated system of exporting labor to other countries, Francisco-Menchavez explains.

Historically, many Filipinos who leave the Philippines do so for jobs that address labor shortages in other countries, acting as migrant workers. They often do this to earn higher wages abroad, allowing them to send money to their families in the Philippines. With the pressure to financially support their family members, many of these workers will take jobs without understanding the dangers they may present, Francisco-Menchavez says. Her research shows that this is a common story for Filipino caregivers in the U.S. during the pandemic.

“If they don’t work, they don’t have something to send home to the Philippines,” she said. “So they will walk willingly into a caregiving job with minimal personal protective equipment and without knowing the full extent of the pandemic or the virus because they have people who rely on them in the Philippines.”

Francisco-Menchavez and research collaborator Katherine Nasol, Ph.D. student at the University of California, Davis, interviewed and surveyed Filipino caregivers in the U.S. to get a deeper view of their experiences before and during the pandemic. The collaborators published their findings in the journal American Behavioral Scientist last month.

Even before the pandemic, home care workers and their health were often at risk because of how physically strenuous it can be assisting patients with common daily activities, such as getting up out of bed, laying down or getting on and off the toilet. For example, 64% of respondents said they felt persistent pain in their bodies.

And when the pandemic first struck, residential care facilities for the elderly were common sites for COVID-19 outbreaks, putting caregivers’ health at more risk. A shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the time also exacerbated the issue.

“Well, they provided us with PPE, but only very minimal,” one survey participant said. “Like four pieces only, and then ... they just told us to spray them with disinfectant and reuse it again.”

Findings also show that some participants did not seek government assistance during the pandemic because it could’ve jeopardized getting a green card.

“I cannot apply for a housing assistance because right now, if you are going to apply for any government aid or government assistance, you will not be granted a green card because of that,” another participant said. What she is describing is a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services rule enacted in 2019 that made it more difficult for immigrants to obtain a green card if they use public benefits.

SF State junior Alyssa Barquin helped conduct interviews for the study. A Filipina American, she said she was glad to take part in a project that amplifies the voices of the Filipino migrant worker community.

“They’re very much invisible frontline workers, and through the interviews we see that they experienced a lot of physical abuse and mental abuse,” Barquin said. “But they are not passive recipients of oppression. They very much want to use their voices, even if it looks like they can’t.”

Barquin, a Sociology and Asian American Studies double major, also said the research was a great learning experience for both disciplines. “This research is like the perfect marriage between Sociology and Asian American Studies because we’re taking a sociological analysis for an Asian American group,” she said. “I’m really glad that I found this project.”

Dec.18, is World Migration Day: People seeking a better life

US farms can't find enough workers.

Today, December 18, is International Migrants Day. More people are moving across the globe, fleeing violence or natural disasters or seeking opportunities and safety in other countries.

In 2019, the number of migrants worldwide continued to increase. Over the past 12 months, 272 million people, representing 3.5% of the world's population, have been driven to seek a better future elsewhere. Some are seeking new economic and employment opportunities, while others, such as refugees and asylum seekers, have been overwhelmed by their situation, and are fleeing war, persecution, hunger or disease.

Many of these problems are caused by climate change: Farmlands become infertile, wells run dry, ocean levels rise, stronger weather events.
In the United States, we see the thousands of people at the Mexico-US border, migrants and refugees from Latin America -- and surprisingly, from Africa and Asia. South Asians and Chinese pay years of earnings to human smuggling operations to enter the US illegally.

On Tuesday (Dec. 17) Myanmar authorities seized a boat filled with hundreds of Muslim refugees from northern Rakhine State who tried to get from Bangladesh to Malaysia. 

Over 1 million Rohingya have fled Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh and Thailand.

The migration of war-weary Syrians  and Kurds into neighboring countries, the movement of Africans across the Mediterranean Sea into Europe have created a backlash fueled by racism, much like the Trump-inspired white supremacist movement in the US.

I

Less known is the massive ongoing migration from the poorer countries in Asia to wealthier countries like Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The number of documented migrant workers in Southeast Asia and the Pacific is an estimated 11.6 million - 5.2 million of whom are women.

The so-called Philippine Diaspora is real, a result of Filipinos seeking economic opportunities abroad. Ten million Filipinos live abroad and more than 1 million Filipino leave the country each year to work abroad. Remittances to the Philippines from around the world continue to grow, according to the International Labor Organization - Philippines.

Throughout human history, migration has been a courageous expression of the individual’s will to overcome adversity and to live a better life. Today, globalization, together with advances in communications and transportation, has greatly increased the number of people who have the desire and the capacity to move to other places.

This new era has created challenges and opportunities for societies throughout the world. It also has served to underscore the clear linkage between migration and development, as well as the opportunities it provides for co-development, that is, the concerted improvement of economic and social conditions at both the countries of origin and destination.
The US government recently endured a month-long partial shutdown due to a partisan dispute over funding to build a wall on the country’s southern border with Mexico. While those on both sides of the issue were digging in their heels, I got to thinking about migration trends in Asia.

According to the most recent edition of ADB's Asian Economic Integration Report, Asia remains the world’s largest continental source of international migrants. Indeed, one in three migrants worldwide comes from the region.

The number of Asian migrants has grown steadily to about 87 million, and the report notes that leading source countries of migrants to Asia are the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with 5.2 million, the Russian Federation (3.8 million), and Bangladesh (3.7 million), reports the World Economic Forum.

Primary drivers for the movement of such large numbers of people include conflict and the desire for better educational and economic opportunities. Another emerging driver of migration that has received more attention of late is climate change, the subject of a landmark ADB study.

The majority of Asian migrants are semi- and low-skilled workers such as maids, caregivers and manual laborers, including those working on construction sites. Skilled Asian migrants tend to move to advanced industrial economies outside the region.

Economist Mita Adhisti calculated that ASEAN’s overall economic growth could increase 7.1% by 2025 if member countries took steps to support migration, such as improving labor market information, providing language and skill training, simplifying administrative requirements, and expanding MRAs to semi-skilled workers.

Demographically-driven labor shortages in high-income economies are creating new opportunities for migrants from developing countries in the region.

Australia’s Pacific Labour Scheme kicked off in July 2018 to allow citizens of Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu to take up low and semi-skilled work opportunities in rural and regional Australia for up to three years.

Beginning in 2019, Japan plans to begin issuing more than a quarter-million five-year visas for workers in 14 sectors that are experiencing serious labor shortages, including caregiving, construction, agriculture and shipbuilding. A separate new visa category for high-skilled workers will grant permission for long-term stays, and the right to bring families into the country.

Australia and Japan are not the only countries in the region that will require more workers.

The Economist has reported that countries in East Asia will have to import 275 million people between the ages of 15 and 64 by 2030 to keep the share of the population at working age steady. Malaysia, Viet Nam, Singapore, Thailand, and the PRC will need workers. Countries with a surplus of workers include Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

In the US, a bill in Congress has been introduced to allow agricultural workers to have temporary visas to work on American farms facing labor shortages.

As these global movements of people occur, we can expect more racist backlashes against the migrants even though their labor is vital for the economies of the destination countries.

“At a crucial moment when migration policies are being reviewed in many regions and countries, it is vital that security concerns do not override the human rights of migrants,” say experts in global migration trends.

“On this International Migrants Day, I call on the international community to act on the global compact on safe, regular and orderly migration as an important contribution to building a world of peace, prosperity, dignity and opportunity for all,” said UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

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