Tuesday, March 6, 2018

ILO shifts focus to immigrant workers

Migrant workers offload bricks from a ship in Shanghai.
Migrant workers offload bricks from a ship in Shanghai. Many migrant workers end up trapped in jobs with low pay and unsafe working conditions. FILE PHOTO | REUTERS 
By DOROTHY NDALU
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The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says it is focusing on the world’s approximately 150
million migrant workers “many of whom facing exploitation, discrimination, violence and lack even the most basic protections.”
In a statement issued on World Day of Social Justice, ILO’s director-general Guy Ryder said 44 per cent of migrant workers are women who have to pay recruitment fees of a year wages, to get a jobs.
“Most migration today is linked, directly or indirectly, to the search for decent work opportunities. But many migrant workers end up trapped in jobs with low pay and unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, often in the informal economy, without respect for their labour and other human rights,” said Mr Ryder.
Fair treatment
“Migrant workers are like all workers and are entitled to get fair treatment. Fair treatment for migrant workers is also key to preserving the social fabric of our societies and to sustainable development,” added Mr Ryder.
Most migration today is linked, directly or indirectly, to the search for decent work opportunities. But many migrant workers end up trapped in jobs with low pay, unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, often in the informal economy, and mostly without respect for their labour and other human rights.
According to Mr Ryder, “majority of refugees workers often have to pay high recruitment fees to get a job.”
“Fair treatment for the world’s 150 million migrant workers is in everyone’s interest, and requires labour migration to be well governed and effective,” he added.
He called for adoption of fair labour migration governance frameworks globally regional and national at all level.

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