Migration with a Human Face

INTRODUCTION

Government officials and civil society members from 163 countries, gathered in the Philippines for a meeting on migration, agreed that it was time to look beyond economic benefits and give the phenomenon a ‘human face.’ As the four-day ‘Second Global Forum on Migration and Development’ drew to a close, the consensus was that there needed to be a ‘’rights-based approach’’ to migrant workers, taking into consideration the benefits they bring to both home and host countries.

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The focus of this conference was to put the “spotlight on the human face of migration and the human development aspect of (economic) development,” Esteban Conejos, Jr, Philippine foreign affairs undersecretary and forum chairman, said. The debate, Conejos said, had shifted “from the usual rational arguments of economic benefits and back to the migrants, their families and their communities.”

William Lacy Swing, director-general of the International Organization For Migration (IOM), in his opening statement, said that respect for the human rights of migrants was the “foundation for positive contributions of migration to the development of countries of origins and countries of destination.” Ministers who participated in the forum went beyond proposing to share and compile best practices on how to protect migrant workers’ rights. They also agreed on the need to formulate bilateral agreements and ratify relevant covenants such as the 1990 Migrant Workers Convention which has been ratified by just 37 countries.

Reflecting the rise in the numbers of female migrant workers, protection of women’s rights was sought to be placed high on the agenda by civil society representatives meeting ahead of the officials’ section of the forum. Their concerns and recommendations were submitted to Conejos and Peter Sutherland, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general on migration and development.

There are about 100 million migrant workers worldwide, most of whom crossed borders to provide a better life for their families. Migrants’ remittances amount to 250 billion US dollars annually and the World Bank estimates that a 10% increase in remittances as a proportion of a country’s GDP would result in a 1.6% reduction in the number of people living in poverty in that country.

Yet, despite their huge contributions, migrant workers suffer from various abuses – from unpaid salaries to sexual harassment. Women, who comprise half of the total migrant labor population, are especially vulnerable. Most of the migrant women are employed as domestic workers and entertainers. The informal labor sector is difficult to monitor and regulate, making women vulnerable to abuse.

While the need to protect women migrant workers was touched upon at the official meetings, governments seemed to prefer dealing with rights of migrant workers in general. “Women migrant rights were not properly discussed in the forum,” said Sharu Joshi Shrestha, regional program officer for migration of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

“Women’s concerns are different. They need different security mechanisms,” Shrestha said. While most women work as domestic workers, neither labor sending nor receiving countries have policies to protect them. “How can you lobby for the rights of domestic workers in other countries if your own country doesn’t have that kind of policy?,” she asked. www.ipsnews.net and www.ipsnewsasia.net (Prime Sarmiento)

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