Empowerment and Rights of Migrants

Supporting refugee farming initiatives in rural and regional Australia: This initiative evolved spontaneously from research led by University of Wollongong and University of Melbourne academics in partnership with a community-based food cooperative Food Next Door. The researchers were able to connect Burundi refugees and former refugees, who are ‘landless farmers’, with donated farmland and with Food Next Door and the Sunraysia Burundian Garden to grow culturally important crops.

Access to justice is one of the principal challenges faced by migrant workers. In many cases, abused or illegally dismissed workers find it difficult or even outright impossible to file and prosecute labor complaints against their foreign employers. Once employment is terminated, the migrant worker has very limited options. Oftentimes, they are deported or opt to return to the home country without receiving their unpaid salaries, benefits and other monetary claims.

Afghanistan is second only to Syria in the number of refugees originating from within its borders in recent years. Officially, about 2.5 million refugees have left Afghanistan in the almost four decades of this country being marked by hostilities and terror. The unofficial figure for the number of people who have fled exceeds six million. The majority of them are currently in the neighbouring countries of Pakistan and Iran as well as in Turkey. It is in this context that the first information centre for potential migrants was opened in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

The Flexi Permit is a renewable two year permit which allows the eligible person to work and live in the Kingdom of Bahrain without an employer (Sponsor) where they can work in any job with any number of employers on full or part-time basis.

Flexi Visa holders will be issued a renewable work permit with two years validity, health insurance coverage, and a return ticket at the end of the contract period or when the worker decides to return to his or her home country.  It also allows the migrant worker to legally work in Bahrain without an employer sponsor.

The Viet Nam Association of Manpower and Supply (VAMAS) has published an updated Code of Conduct  for the recruitment of workers for overseas jobs to improve ethical recruitment and better protect migrant workers. 

The Code and its monitoring tools were launched with support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Organization of Migration (IOM) in Hanoi on 24 April 2018. 

The objective of the MoU is to determine responsibilities and provide common guidelines for all related government agencies in an effort to integrate procedures on non-detention of migrant children under the age of 18.

In 2017, Indonesia enacted a new Law on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers  (Law No 18/2017).  Replacing an old Law, the new Law reinforces policies to provide end-to-end protection to overseas workers, which including the measures as follows:.

REFRAME will contribute to taking forward the ILO’s Fair Recruitment Initiative, which was launched in 2014 and is a global multi-stakeholder’s Fair Recruitment Initiative to prevent human trafficking and forced labour; protect the rights of workers, including migrant workers, from abusive and fraudulent recruitment and placement processes; and to reduce the cost of labour migration and enhance development outcomes for migrant workers and their families, as well as for countries of origin and destination.

In the area of combating illegal migration, the smuggling of migrants and human trafficking, the Egyptian Government ihas implemented laws to combat trafficking and Smuggling, including Law no 64 of 2010 on Combating Trafficking in Persons and law no 82 of 2016 on Combating Illegal Migration. Egypt has also implemented programs to raise awareness regarding these crimes while focusing on the vulnerable situations confronting women and children, and the protection of victims.

In 2016, Egypt launched a ten-year national strategy on combating illegal migration under the auspices of the National Committee for Combating and Preventing Illegal Migration.