By Dr Gyan Basnet and Mansoor H. AlbalooshiInternational labour migration is one of the key features of the globalized, interdependent and interconnected world. Millions of people around the world leave their home countries in search of employment and better opportunities. The Middle East is a region of long-standing human mobility. It is a major destination for many migrant workers from various countries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. The region especially attracts workers from Asia, most of whom are unskilled or semi-skilled although minorities are skilled in construction. Migrant workers tend to represent populations that are vulnerable to human rights violations. In many countries in the Gulf region, the legal application of human rights norms to migrant workers is inadequate, ignored and neglected. At the heart of the problem over recognition of migrants’ human rights is the fact that they can so easily be exploited, especially in marginal, low status, under-regulated or illegal sectors of the economy.
There is no doubt that migrant workers contribute significantly to the economies of their home countries and of those in which they work. There are many human rights conventions aimed at protecting the rights of migrant workers, but they are inadequately enforced. Migrants’ interests are not properly addressed and their welfare is insufficiently secure within society. Sincere questions must be asked: why do international and national efforts to defend human rights of migrants and combat xenophobia remain fragmented and relatively limited in their impact? Despite the efforts of the United Nations and of non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations to promote and protect the rights of migrant workers, why is there still little international coherency in promoting and protecting such rights? What is wrong with the world? Is it because there is no sincere political will to implement and enforce these rights at national level? Does respect for the basic human rights of all persons in any society not provide an essential, accountable and equitable basis for addressing and resolving differences, tensions, and potential conflicts that inevitably arise from the interaction of different persons and groups who have different interests?
The legal protection of migrant workers in the Gulf region is a complex matter and one that has been largely ignored. However, it is now becoming a matter of growing concern for all. Migrant workers face diverse forms of harassment in the workplace and in the host society, ranging from the non-payment of wages to a lack of adequate medical facilities and even deaths occurring while at work. Threats to lives, to personal physical integrity, and to human dignity at the hands of authorities, employers, and brokers are only some of the human rights contraventions faced by these people. Most important are the contraventions perpetrated on migrants as they attempt to cross borders in search of better opportunities. In the Gulf Region, domestic work especially is not recognized as a professional category per se. Labour law does not therefore protect domestic workers, who are formally excluded from guaranteed labour rights. This position reportedly makes the workers more vulnerable, and they must settle for sub-standard working conditions. In fact, they are employed in something that is not recognized as ‘work’, and consequently they work for private persons who do not recognize them as ‘employees’. They work, moreover, in the private sphere, which is not recognized as a ‘work place’. In disputes between the domestic workers and their employers, it is highly improbable that the law enforcement authorities would trust the workers. They would therefore most likely not be recognised as victims of crime but rather be treated as criminals before any actual investigation takes place.
The most common problems with migrant workers are with regard to wages and timely payment. Migrants’ wages are low and are often not paid at the rates stipulated in any contract. The rules may stipulate that they cannot be employed for more than eight hours in a day but are often made to work for ten to twelve without any overtime payment. This is especially true of domestic workers, most of whom are women, who are forced to work for more than 12 hours a day. Migrant workers are often made to work in an extremely poor working environment. Living conditions are probably poor and unhygienic: indeed, as often they cannot afford proper accommodation, they have to live in places that are unsuitable for decent human living. There is no insurance or rescue in the event of accidents or death, which may be due to the poor working and living conditions to which they have been subjected.
Migrant workers are often victims of exploitation by their employers, by the government and by recruiting agents. They routinely experience humiliation and xenophobic attitudes, and at times abuse can reach the level of a basic violation of their human rights. Women migrant workers usually face problems also of sexual harassment in the work place. Moreover, even when workers are not victims of sexual or physical violence, their normal treatment as domestic workers may involve a lack of freedom of movement that violates both basic labour and human rights. Such workers are exploited largely as a result of legal structures in the receiving Arab states that have been designed to ensure the temporary nature of domestic work contracts and a resulting lack of legal protection for these workers. There are many factors that need to be addressed in order to improve the lot of migrant workers by amendment to legal systems and to law enforcement processes in the country of destination, or even at an earlier stage to the recruitment process in their home country.
What should be done then to promote and protect the human rights of migrant workers? Firstly, host countries should be strongly encouraged to become (if they are not already so) party to the major international human rights instruments; moreover, the introduction of a more democratic system of governance might greatly improve the situation. Secondly, the states should be encouraged, if they have not yet done so, to ratify and effectively implement all relevant international human rights instruments regarding migrant workers, such as (a) the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, (b) ILO Convention 111 on Discrimination, and (c) ILO Conventions No. 97 and No. 143 Relating to Migrant Workers, plus the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees etc. Thirdly, aware that progress on human rights can only be achieved by broad cooperation across the different sectors and different regions, an alliance of major inter-governmental and international non-governmental organizations needs to come together.
There needs to be strong collaboration among state authorities, civil society, including the trade unions, and all concerned stakeholders to strengthen the promotion and protection of the human rights of migrant workers. Comprehensive national policies and practices are needed from governments in order to manage migration, combat discrimination and ensure the dignified treatment of both nationals and non-nationals. Finally, political attitudes towards migrant workers need to change: a sincere political will is essential to enforce the rights of migrant workers as provided by international human rights instruments. This is vital if the problem is to be tackled in a realistic manner.
The growing number of migrant workers around the world and the resulting human rights consequences is a major embarrassment of our times. Managing this growing problem will be a key challenge at national, regional, and international levels, especially as concern increases over the violation of the migrant workers’ human rights. Unless states (a) ratify all international legal instruments, especially those relating to migrant workers, (b) enact national laws and regulations in line with international human rights standards and apply them sincerely, and (c) intensify cooperation at all levels by fostering regular dialogue and exchange on best practices and policies on the issue, the problem is most unlikely to be resolved.
Dr. Basnet holds a Ph.D. and an LL.M degree in International Human Rights law at Lancaster University, U.K, is a Columnist, Lecturer & Researcher in International Human Rights Law and an Advocate in the Supreme Court Nepal. E-mail: gyanbasnet@aol.com Major Mansoor Hassan Albalooshi is a Dubai Police Officer and PhD Candidate at Lancaster University Law School in the UK.
