Objective 14: Enhance consular protection, assistance and cooperation throughout the migration cycle

The US offers contingency planning for its citizens overseas.

The concept of consular assistance has been extended beyond the core disasters and provides assistance in case of hospitalization, death of a family member, victimization of a crime. In every country, the US has contingencies for possible crisis (hurricanes, nuclear disaster, flooding, rioting, civil unrest) and undertake exercises every year or two to update them, involving the US military and the US country.

In the end of 2016, the Government of Indonesia has enacted the Presidential Decree No. 125 to be an operational guideline in the handling of refugees, especially during emergencies. 

It provides greater clarity regarding the status of an estimated 14,000 asylum seekers and refugees currently residing in Indonesia as they hope to be resettled elsewhere.

The 'Indian Community Welfare Fund' is an institutional model to look after the protection and welfare of Indian migrants. The Ministry has established the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) in the 43 Indian Missions across the world in countries that have a significant overseas Indian population.

The Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) is aimed at providing ‘on site' welfare services on a means tested basis in the most deserving cases including:

Consitution Article 27(ii)

The government provides equal access to legal protection and social services to all migrants. This is guaranteed in both the constitution and statutes. Article 27(ii) of the Constitution states that every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law. This equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and fundamentals freedoms for both women and men. It guarantees the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.

Although domestic workers are explicitly excluded from protections under the Labour Law in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, in June 2015 a separate law regulating the domestic work sector was adopted by Kuwait’s national assembly, providing some labour rights to this vulnerable group of workers – including a minimum wage. The lack of a credible mechanism to enforce this law remains a shortcoming however.

In order to assist DOL in the protection of migrant workers employed in the United States and to help communicate with workers whom it might not otherwise be able to reach, DOL has established formal partnerships with the embassies of Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and the Philippines. DOL’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs which coordinates the program is working to expand these partnerships to embassies and consulates of other countries.

Elaborated in partnership with the office in Mexico of UNICEF, the Protocol is a tool that includes a questionnaire, guidelines for consular interviews and a safe personal data capture system that strengthens capacities of consular staff.

The Protocol helps to provide comprehensive attention, bearing in mind the situation of each minor individual, in order to assess his/her interest, identify situations of risk and activate the inter-institutional protection chain that guarantees the safeguard of his/her rights.

Based on the Presidential Instruction No. 6/2006 on Reforming the System of Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued Regulation No. 4/2008 on the establishment of a “Citizen Service” at Indonesian diplomatic representative offices abroad.

The “Citizen Service” for Indonesian citizens is part of an integrated service system that aims to improve the protection of all Indonesians, including Indonesian labour migrants. The services provided for Indonesian citizens abroad have 2 main objectives:

Guatemala through its Consular Network, provides psychological assistance to children and adolescents in countries of transit and destination. Currently, this assistance is provided at the Guatemalan Consulates in Mcallen, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona, and Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico.