Migration trail

One of the first web comments from a migrant worker after Sri Lanka’s new Cabinet was sworn in on Thursday was: “The Sri Lanka Government that has been appointed has to do more to protect and uphold holiday and vacation rights of its migrant workers toiling in West Asia.” This comment was further endorsed on Thursday by Kussi Amma Sera, telling her friends – Serapina and Mabel Rasthiyadu during their Margosa tree conversation – that “ape meda peradiga inna lamai-te kisi udaw-wak nehe, aanduwen (there is no state support for our workers in West Asia).”

“Ehemai … ehemai (yes, yes),” nodded Serapina in response. While Kussi Amma Sera’s view might not be all that accurate given that the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau is tasked with looking after the welfare of migrant workers, her perception of the state not doing enough is shared by many including migrant worker sector activists.

Many Sri Lankan migrant workers come from the home towns of Kussi Amma Sera, Serapina and Mabel Rasthiyadu and thus they are aware of the difficulties some women face in their workplace and/or the country of employment.

These comments came as Harin Fernando was appointed the Minister-in-charge of foreign employment, returning to a position he held prior to the October 26 sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Cabinet, in an unprecedented move by President Maithripala Sirisena.

Even as Arthika, my nonsensical economist friend, and I exchanged some thoughts on the phone on the migration trail, with December 18 marking International Migrant Workers’ Day, this sector still has a long way to go before government agencies get their act together in fully ensuring the protection and rights of Sri Lankans working overseas.

Among the steps that the government can take are the creation of better awareness and promotion of safe migration and abolition of discriminatory policies. While several organisations separately issued a symbolic December 18 call for the government to be more responsible towards the rights and protection of migrant workers, one organisation – Community Development Services (CDS) – urged the government to implement the proposed pension scheme; re-introduce the tri-partite contract signing and continue to be a signatory to the contract of employment; establish a standard contract of employment for domestic workers; recognise and assist undocumented and irregular migrants; and provide better health rights for migrant workers.

These are all issues that have confronted migrant workers for decades and not seen much progress in a positive sense.

A new challenge to local authorities is the proliferation of foreign workers, particularly Chinese, making Sri Lanka also a labour-receiving country, in addition to outbound migration. In this context, the government’s policy on inbound migration is still unclear, an issue that needs to be addressed before foreign workers – particularly on construction sites - start complaining of irregular contracts, non-payment of due wages and decent work issues. Due to a shortage of workers locally, the construction industry in Sri Lanka has been knocking on the doors for permission to recruit foreign workers during the current construction boom. As of now, such a process is governed under Board of Investment (BOI) guidelines but a labour policy pertaining to foreign workers needs to be developed.

Insofar as Sri Lankan migrant workers are concerned, the biggest challenge today is the restrictive Family Background Report (FBR) which has seen many female workers circumvent the process by going abroad on visit visas and then finding employment with the connivance of job agents. Often these women fall prey to dubious job contracts and other problems.

At a December 18 International Migrant Workers’ Day discussion on the migration trail organised by the UNDP-ILO in Colombo to mark the occasion, it was revealed that the FBR has caused more harm than good.

“Women circumvent this process due to value judgement by local level officers and a tedious process to get the FBR,” it was stated, raising fears of trafficking and unsafe working and living conditions abroad.

Such workers are not registered (by Sri Lankan authorities), don’t undergo pre-departure training and have no proper contracts. Some are told they are, for example, going to Qatar but end up in Kuwait and are often pushed into forced labour without a proper contract.

In recent times, there has been an explosion of interest among various actors in the migration trail – including notfor-profit organisations including a Migrants Interest Group (MIG) – to assess the situation pertaining to migrant workers and guide policy and safe migration issues with state agencies.

One of the areas of interest is the UN’s Global Compact on safe, orderly and regular migration (GCM) which earlier this month was endorsed by 164 countries in the United Nations. The GCM, however, is a non-binding agreement, purely voluntary and thus doesn’t put pressure on countries like Sri Lanka to follow these guidelines.

The GCM comprises 23 objectives for better managing migration at local, national, regional and global levels which among others include reducing the risks and vulnerabilities migrants face; addressing legitimate concerns of states and communities; and striving to create conducive conditions that enable all migrants to enrich societies through their human, economic and social capacities and contributions.

In Sri Lanka, over the years the number of women seeking employment overseas has dropped from over 50 per cent, at one point, to 34 per cent today for various reasons including cumbersome processes and workplace issues. According to official data, of this, 77 per cent women go abroad on domestic work.

The December 18 discussion was also told that women’s migration is driven by gender-based violence; confidence and independence: renegotiation of gender roles; increased income and quality of life; and increased role in decision-making. The right to decent work and a decent wage was also emphasised.

Next year, it was revealed, a UN project will get underway to provide guidance on employment contracts with improper contracts being one of the biggest issues for migrant workers.

Another challenge to the foreign labour market is the rapid progress of the “Emiratisation” policy in the UAE which provides for the inclusion of UAE nationals or Emiratis in the job sector, particularly in the private sector. Emiratisation, it is stated, aims to increase the number of Emiratis in the job market and their contribution to the economy, thereby reducing the number of jobs available to foreigners including Sri Lanka. When this takes root, the annual flow of over 200,000 Sri Lankans to West Asia will reduce, thereby putting pressure on the authorities to find jobs for them at home or in new markets overseas.

Apart from devising proper safeguards for Sri Lankan workers, particularly women, through negotiations and bilateral agreements with labour-receiving countries, the authorities also need to create jobs locally for would-be migrants when the job migration trail in West Asia dries up.

Finally, a labour policy (as suggested earlier) governing the rights of foreign workers in Sri Lanka, is a priority. For, it would be inappropriate for a country to demand better protection for its workers overseas if it chooses to ignore the rights of foreign workers at home (Sri Lanka).