Migrant labour

Subject :International relations

Context:

A regional alliance between South Asian and Gulf countries is the only way to stop the exploitation of low-skilled migrant worker

Details:

The Gulf alone accounts for close to 50 per cent of Indian migrants.
“Kafala” or sponsorship system in the Gulf that enables employers to wield significant power over the lives of migrant workers.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been accused of not providing healthcare services, employment and social protection for workers especially during Covid-19.
The Return Migration Survey conducted among 2,000 Vande Bharat returnees to Kerala revealed that among 47 per cent lost their jobs, 39 per cent reported non-payment of wages and reduction in wages.
As per the Guardian reports, 6,500 migrant workers from South Asia have died in Qatar in the last 10 years.
- The highest death count was of Indians — 2,711 workers — followed by migrants from Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Concept:

Kafala system

The ‘kafala’ system is a system that lays down obligations in the treatment and protection of foreign ‘guests’. Kafala means ‘to guarantee’ or ‘to take care of’ in Arabic.
Under the system, a migrant worker’s immigration status is legally bound to an individual employer or sponsor (‘kafeel’) during the contract period. The migrant worker cannot enter the country, transfer employment nor leave the country for any reason without first obtaining explicit written permission from the kafeel.

Abu Dhabi Dialogue

It is a regional forum for cooperation between Asian countries that are the origin of and destination for labour.
The Abu Dhabi Dialogue is composed of 18 countries. 11 countries of origin: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam; and seven countries of destination: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. Republic of Korea, Japan and Singapore act as Observer States.
The ADD serves as a platform for countries of origin and destination to discuss the management of temporary contractual labour mobility in Asia.
It is an action-oriented dialogue with four main areas for partnerships between Member States:
- Share information on labour market trends, skills profiles, temporary contractual workers and remittances policies and flows
- Harmonize labour supply and demand
- Prevent illegal recruitment and protect migrant workers
- Develop a framework that manages temporary contractual labour and advance the mutual interests of Member States

Consular Grievances Monitoring portal named MADAD (Help)– Because You Are Us.

MADAD is an e-portal that helps Indian citizens living abroad to file consular grievances online on the services offered by the Indian Missions and Posts abroad.
It was launched by the External Affairs Minister at the MEA headquarters in New Delhi.
Features of MADAD
- MADAD allows direct registration of the grievances by the members of the public and effective monitoring of the grievance handling process thereafter, until it is redressed.
- It incorporates several innovative features including flexible architecture to handle a variety of grievances, linking of similar grievances on the basis of passport number to avoid duplication and automatic escalation and enhancement of priority.
- The authorities will be assigned responsibility through a colour-coded dashboard. This dashboard will change its colour if the response is not given in a stipulated time.
- It also has a colour code system of red-amber-green pattern. It will keep a check on performances of authorities in redressing grievances. The green colour indicates cases are cleared, while the pending cases will be indicated in red colour.

First International Migration Review Forum (IMRF)

The goal of IMRF is to review the progress made at the local, national, regional and global levels in implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).
- Global Compact for Migration (GCM)-is the first-ever intergovernmental agreement on UN agreement on a common approach to managing international migration.
- The GCM defines 23 objectives covering all aspects of migration (“360-degree” approach) with an array of possible actions, drawn from best practice, that States may choose to utilise to implement their national migration policies.
In 2018, UN Member States agreed to review the progress made at the local, national, regional and global levels in implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in the framework of the United Nations through a State-led approach and with the participation of all relevant stakeholders.
The quadrennial IMRF will be hosted by the President of the UN General Assembly.
It consists of four interactive multi-stakeholder round tables, a policy dialogue, and a plenary.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is the Coordinator of the UN Network on Migration which ensures effective and coherent system-wide support for the implementation of the GCM and supports the organisation of the four-day IMRF.