The
number of migrants is estimated at over 240 million worldwide. And an
increasingly large number of countries, including Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are home
to most migrant workers from Asia. migrant workers continued to face
exploitation in these and other countries, including Bahrain, Jordan,
Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman and Saudi Arabia, in large part due to kafala
(sponsorship) systems, which limited their ability to escape abusive
working conditions.
The current sponsorship regimes in the Middle
East have been criticized for creating an asymmetrical power
relationship between employers and migrant workers – which can make
workers vulnerable to forced labour. Essential to the vulnerability
of migrant workers in the Middle East is that their sponsor controls
a number of aspects related to their internal labour market mobility
– including their entry, renewal of stay, termination of
employment, transfer of employment, and, in some cases, exit from the
country, the report noted.
The
United Nations has estimated a hefty $466 billion as remittances from
migrant workers worldwide in 2017—and perhaps even higher last
year.
These
remittances, primarily from the US, Western Europe and Gulf nations,
go largely to low and middle-income countries, “helping to lift
millions of families out of poverty,” says UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres.
But
most of these migrant workers are known to pay a heavy price, toiling
mostly under conditions of slave labour: earning low wages, with no
pensions or social security, and minimum health care.
The
plight of migrant workers is one of the issues being pursued by the
Geneva-based International Labour Organization (ILO), a UN agency
which celebrates its centenary this year promoting social justice
worldwide.
Ambassador
Prasad Kariyawasam, a member of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers,
told IPS rising populist nationalism world over is giving rise to
rhetoric with unfounded allegations and irrational assessments of the
worth of migrant workers to economies of many migrant receiving
countries in the world.
Since
migrant workers remain voiceless without voting or political rights
in many such receiving countries, they are unable to mobilize
political opinion to counter assertions against them, he said.
“And
migrant workers are now being treated in some countries as
commodities for import and export at will, not as humans with rights
and responsibilities,” said Ambassador Kariyawasam, a former
Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations. He
warned, not only human worth as a whole will diminish, but it can
also lead to unexpected social upheavals affecting economic and
social well-being of some communities in both sending and receiving
countries of migrant workers.
ILO
Director-General Guy Ryder called for a future where labour is not a
commodity, where decent work and the contribution of each person are
valued, where all benefit from fair, safe and respectful workplaces
free from violence and harassment, and in which wealth and prosperity
benefit all.
300
million working poor – outside of migrant labour — who live on
$1.90 a day.
Millions
of men, women and children are victims of modern slavery. Too many
still work excessively long hours and millions still die of
work-related accidents every year.
“Wage
growth has not kept pace with productivity growth and the share of
national income going to workers has declined. Inequalities remain
persistent around the world. Women continue to earn around 20 per
cent less than men.”
“Even
as growth has lessened inequality between countries, many of our
societies are becoming more unequal. Millions of workers remain
disenfranchised, deprived of fundamental rights and unable to make
their voices heard”, according to the background briefing.
No comments:
Post a Comment