[STATEMENT] Women Migrants and Refugees, Reaffirm Our Commitment to Defend Our Rights, Defend Our World Against Imperialism, Fascism and War

Statement of the International Migrants Alliance for International Working Women’s Day 2026

8 March 2026

On this International Working Women’s Day, the International Migrants Alliance reaffirms our commitment to fight side by side all women migrants and refugees against imperialist exploitation, war and conflict, and fascism. 

Everywhere, women migrants and refugees suffer heavier burdens and further erosion of their rights in all fronts caused by the multiple economic, political and environmental crises brought about and exacerbated by imperialism. 

Millions of women migrant workers - in the households, farms, factories, hospitals and various workplaces - endure worsening working conditions. They are overworked and underpaid, vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse, and are denied financial benefits and social protection. But their insecurity does not end only in their places of work. This extends outside the greater community where anti-migrant narratives and violent racist and discriminatory acts are inflicted upon them. As their rights to speak up, organise and gather to protest are continually denied, they are surveilled and their movement monitored even through online platforms. Their safety and security is imperiled and under attack. We have witnessed how women migrants and their families are rounded up in the US, migrant organising is deemed illegal in many Middle East countries and how social protection remains off-limits to women migrants in other destination countries. 

Women refugees are not spared. Wars and conflicts only intensify the displacement of people, the majority of whom are women and children. With their rights being denied, women and children refugees and asylum seekers become stateless, refused entry by many governments, especially those who instigated the wars, and are criminalised. They become vulnerable to all forms of exploitation including sex, labor and child trafficking. 

Their defenders, supporters and advocates also experience fascist attacks from governments. In the US, for example, Immigration and Customs Enforcements have been cracking down on protesters, conducting massive surveillance on them, and brutally dispersing mass actions. In the Philippines, migrants rights defenders in the country as well as those based overseas have been terror-tagged.

Home country governments are just as culpable in the situation of women migrants. They further systematise the labor export program and treat their nationals as their major export commodity. The bankruptcy of their economy due to their adherence to neoliberal policies compels them to peddle their people at a very cheap price while completely disregarding the vulnerable working and living conditions of migrant workers. Protection of their nationals is not in their agenda hence provision of health, aid and various forms of services for their people living and working overseas is weak, if not completely absent.

With imperialism intensifying attacks on women migrants and refugees, what do we do? We organise, resist and fight back.

The International Working Women’s Day is a day when women migrants and refugees across the globe reaffirm our commitment to fight for and defend our rights, help one another, and build solidarity with all oppressed women workers and peoples. History has proven that marginalised women, including women migrants and refugees, are not only resilient, not afraid to take risks, and collectively resist any and all forms of oppression, patriarchy and fascism. 

On this day, the International Migrants Alliance salutes all women migrants and refugees for their bravery, militancy and dedication to advance the cause for not only the upholding of their rights but for a society without forced migration, capitalist oppression and war. The IMA calls on all its members to continue arousing, organising and mobilising our fellow women migrants and refugees in our broadest ranks, unite and forge solidarity with other working women in both host and home countries, and launch and join campaigns for rights, lives and dignity.

If we want our exploitation to end, we must also fight in our home countries. Sooner or later, we will have to contend with our home country issues.

The struggle of women migrants and refugees is part of a global movement that fights imperialism and its wars, all forms of exploitation and oppression, racism, patriarchy and fascism.

Women migrants and refugees united, will never be defeated!