Migrant News Letter for February 2010
Released by MSC – NWC Sri Lanka
Some Practices adopted by
Stakeholders in Sri Lanka to Protect Migrant Domestic Workers
Background
Sri Lanka ranks among the world’s 20 main exporters of labour. As a percentage of total exports of goods and services, it was as high as 20 percent in 2004. It was equally high as a percentage of import of goods. Migrants constitute 12% of the population, earn 23% of net foreign remittances, contribute to17% of National savings. Sri Lankans who migrate for Foreign Employment are handled by the private sector and monitored by a State Bureau. It is a land based employment program. Private sector operates amidst excessive competition to secure jobs, and in the process some charge exorbitant fees, lower standards of employment and sometimes expose migrant workers to unanticipated risks.
Majority of Sri Lankans who are exposed to this situation are women who leave the country as Domestic workers or Housemaids. They are not protected by any labour law while in employment and have no human rights while they are out of the country. The distinction between slavery and employment in this situation remains rather thin. It is encouraging to note that though the recently approved Labour Law of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under article (7) (2) exempts “Domestic helpers and the like” from the law, yet it provides that “the Ministry shall in coordination with the competent authorities draft regulations for domestic helpers and the like to govern their relations with their employers and specifies the rights and duties of each party and submit same to the Council of Ministers”. Labour sending countries have failed to make adequate campaigning to realise this provision.
Records indicate that the annual flow of migrant labour from Sri Lanka is approximately 200,000 persons. 70% of the labour force has been in the low skilled category of which 66% accounts for women domestic workers. In 1986-7 women workers accounted for 24% but this increased (from 55% in 1988) to 75% in 1997. It however decreased to 49% in 2008. In the case of male workers, departures increased to 51% (after a low of 25% in 1997). However, the increase was slow.
It is estimated that out of a population of approximately 20 million and a labour force of approximately 8 million, 1.7 million Sri Lankans are employed abroad. According to recorded sources of foreign exchange earnings, approximately LKR 318,118 million has been remitted by them in 2008. This sum accounts for 35.87% of the total foreign exchange earnings of Sri Lanka and has become the highest net earner of foreign exchange into the country. Middle Eastern countries still remain the major opportunity for Sri Lankan workers since 1970. Available statistics indicate that the foreign labour market is growing steadily.
The Largest number of domestic workers are employed in Kuwait (35,667); Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE took the 2nd and 3rd places for numbers of housemaids employed abroad.
Feminization of migration
The reality is that a woman who comes for employment to a house has to forego her passport, her identity and individuality. She loses her independence and her right to move. In spite of these restrictions, some women leave their employers and hide themselves. However the strong arm of law intervenes and they are detained or placed in jail for loitering. Even if they run to the Sri Lankq Embassy for protection, after inquiry the Embassy will normally send them back to their former employer or to the police.
Incidents of women who fall from buildings and die prematurely are often suspected by their relatives as incidents of murder or suicide caused by unbearable trauma. Feminization of migration has posed the greatest challenge for Sri Lankan Overseas Employment program. The “Commodity supply Approach” of “Select, Train, Pack, Insure and Export” may not succeed in this venture as human nature which is diverse does not always bend itself to Regulations. Should this continue? A different approach is called for.
Recent Policy Initiatives
In 2009, the State adopted a National Policy on Labour Migration which focused on:
1. Governance of the migration process
2. Protection and empowerment of migrant workers and their families
3. Linking migration and development processes
Receiving countries should be required to respect human rights and ensure that they reach Bilateral Agreements with authorities in Sri Lanka to provide protection and welfare to visiting Sri Lankan workers; adopt a reasonable grievances procedure and compensate victims of abuse and violence. The continued validity of servant protection under Arab “Khafallh” system is daily under threat. It should be further examined. It is reported that 20-30 percent of persons leaving for employment abroad do not register with the Foreign Employment Bureau. Hence, they are unprotected by any binding contract while at work. In fact domestic work is not recognized as “work” , an issue that has pressed on the ILO to propose a Domestic Worker Convention.
Today concerns are mainly reactive, to regulate the process of recruitment or levy fees and count on earnings from external remittances. Sufficient attempts to improve quality and introduce professionalism in migrant services, should be given priority. A search for alternative sources of employment for our women workers have to be crafted. We do not provide alternatives to migration, locally or encourage local employment after training in other skills for unskilled women workers who are now sent overseas for domestic service. The future overseas employment program should be proactive, value based and very much a part of an overall national employment strategy to be recognized as a development strategy.
Status of Migrant Workers of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has not ratified ILO Convention 97 on migration nor used the measures out lined in ILO recommendation 86 on reaching accords and Bilateral Agreements with labour receiving countries. Much of the legal provisions made in 1985 were modelled after ILO Convention 97. Two other ILO Conventions of relevance to migration ILO 143, which restricts recruitment in abusive conditions and curtailing Trafficking and a more recent Convention ILO 181 on Private Recruitment Agencies which provide for association of Social Partners in Execution of migration policy particularly in regard to labour inspection and levy of recruitment fees remain to be enforced by national legislation.
Sri Lanka has signed and ratified both ILO Conventions on forced labour vis-a-vis Forced Labor Convention 1930 (29) and Abolition of Forced Labour Convention 1957 (105). Though Sri Lanka has not signed ILO instruments on migration for employment, Sri Lanka has ratified UN Convention 1990 on the protection of Rights of all Migrant Workers and their families. Yet, the enforcement of Convention is awaited.
Under the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act No. 21 the SLBFE was established in 1985 to mange Sri Lanka’s oversee employment programme and the welfare of migrant workers and their families. In 2009, the Government of Sri Lanka extended its National Policy on Labour Migration in order to streamline the process of migration for employment and protect the rights of all migrant workers. It is time that Sri Lanka adopts a model law as a guideline. Besides state efforts, Trade Unions have commenced a process of negotiating inter union Bilateral Agreements to protect migrant workers and undertake their Welfare, through activities of partners unions abroad
No laws were enacted to regulate the employment of housemaids locally in Sri Lanka. It is time that Sri Lanka adopts a law on domestic labour.
While there is no evidence of forced labour in Sri Lanka, many in low skills such as those who seek employment abroad as domestic workers using irregular means of migration are vulnerable to exploitation and end up trafficked into forced labour.
Irregular migration is described by the IOM as the movement of persons that takes place outside the regulatory norms of the sending, transit and receiving countries. It is more common in domestic sector employment and occurs for many reasons, and is difficult to measure. This phenomenon involves people who enter or remain in a country of which they are not citizens in breach of national law. These may include migrants who enter or remain in a country without authorization and those who are smuggled or trafficked across international borders. Irregular migration leads to high levels of exploitation, forced labour and abuse of human rights.
Children and Domestic Workers
In 1999, a child activity survey conducted by the Sri Lanka Department of Census and Statistics, in cooperation with ILO-IPEC, estimated that 15 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 were working. According to the survey, the majority of working children appear in the agricultural sector. Children are also found working in the manufacturing and hotel industries, and working as craft workers, street peddlers, and domestic servants. Trafficking for exploitative work and prostitution are recognized forms of child labour in Sri Lanka.Children are primarily trafficked internally to work as domestic laborers or for the purposes of sexual exploitation, especially at tourist destinations.
Some Good Practices – Trade Unions
Example of a Good Practice by Trade Unions are some recent
Bilateral trade union agreements on migrant workers’ rights signed between Trade Unions in Sri Lanka and Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan
• Responsible Organizations: Jordan: the General federation of Jordanian Trade Unions (GFJTU) (Trade Union); Bahrain: The General federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) (Trade Union); Kuwait: the Kuwait Trade Union Federation (KTUF) (Trade Union); Sri Lanka: the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC); the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF); the National Workers' Congress (NWC) and; the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sewaka Sangamaya (Trade Union)
• ILO Region: Arab States; Asia
• Country(ies): Bahrain; Jordan; Kuwait; Sri Lanka
• Theme(s): International cooperation on labour migration; Prevention of abusive practices; Protection of migrant workers
• Start date: 07 May 2009
Objective
These Trade Union Agreements seek to extend trade union protection to migrant workers; ensure cooperation and coordination of activities between trade unions in Sri Lanka and Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan; encourage promotion of migrant workers’ human and labour rights through campaigns for the ratification of relevant Conventions. They also raise awareness in both countries on the benefits of labour migration, and implementation of specific measures to address migrants’ occupational health and safety and housing concerns.
Some activities, processes and steps involved with regional and international Trade Union Federations may be noted as follows:
In December 2008, the Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV) of the International Labour Organization held a workshop in Amman, Jordan on the “Rights of Migrant Workers”, involving trade unions from Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia, the International Trade Union Confederation, and representatives from Jordanian Ministries and NGOs. At the conclusion of the workshop, participants adopted the text of a model trade union agreement.
As a follow-up to this workshop, another was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in May 2009. Thirty-five individuals participated, representing national trade union centres in Sri Lanka (CWC, NWC, and NTUF), leaders from the GFBTU (Bahrain), the GFJTU (Jordan) and the KTUF (Kuwait). Senior officials of the Sri Lanka Bureau for Foreign Employment, the Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare, Representatives of public and private recruitment agencies also participated. The workshop culminated in the signing of three separate bilateral cooperation agreements on the protection of the rights of migrant workers by leaders of three national trade union centres in Sri Lanka and their counterparts in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, on 7 May 2009.
The agreements signed currently are based on the text of the model trade union cooperation agreement, which was adopted at the Amman workshop. These agreements provide state signatories’ agreement to the following key principles in addressing issues related to the rights of Sri Lanka workers;
• Labour is not a commodity.
• The ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration affirms that all ILO Conventions, unless stated otherwise, apply equally to migrant workers, regardless of their status; and provides basic principles and practical guidelines and good practices for a rights-based approach to labour migration.
• ILO Convention No.97 on Migration for Employment, 1949, and No.143 on Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions), 1975 represent a charter for the rights of migrant workers and provide for sound migration policies based on cooperation between countries, social dialogue and the development of legal migration avenues based on labour market needs, as well as other social and economic factors.
The agreement between the GFJTU (Jordan) and the CWC, NTUF, NWC, and the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sewaka Sangamaya includes reference to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
Beyond signing the agreements, a number of immediate follow-up activities were considered, including an invitation from the Arab states trade unions to Sri Lankan union leaders to visit their respective countries to discuss details of the implementation of the agreement and acquaint themselves with the situation of migrant workers there.
Target beneficiaries were:
Sri Lankan migrant workers in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and Kuwait
Partnerships were established
The practice involves partnerships between trade unions in selected destination countries and Sri Lanka. The ILO provided technical assistance in crafting the agreements.
Relevance of these agreements is seen as:
Migrant workers particularly domestic workers face serious problems in the Gulf States. They have limited access to justice in the national systems of these countries. Agreements provide supplementary action to lobby for rights. Signatories agree to more effectively incorporate the concerns of these workers and facilitate their participation in union activities.
Increasing Sri Lankan migrant workers’ rights and better addressing the challenges they confront in the destination country can have a positive impact on the development of the origin and destination country by reducing exploitative and abusive working situations, facilitating migration flows, and creating an environment in which migrants can achieve their objectives in migrating for employment. Furthermore, these agreements can have a positive impact on the rights of migrant workers from other origin countries, since some of the actions are more general in nature.
Impact:
The model trade union agreement developed in Amman has already demonstrated its potential for adaptability and extension.
Though these agreements are the first of their kind in the Arab region. They represent a new initiative aimed at strengthening the role trade unions play in regard to migrant workers and at promoting greater cooperation between trade unions in both origin and destination conditions.
The agreements commit signatories to cooperate and coordinate efforts to promote migrant workers’ rights. They also include provisions to promote social dialogue; migrant workers’ inclusion in trade union actions, and tripartite consultation.
The main barriers in organizing action against forced domestic labour and trafficking are:-
Insufficient funding, insufficient know how, insufficient co-operation with civil society organizations, insufficient public awareness and/or support, lack of data and information, lack of social dialogue
The main needs for organizing action against forced domestic labour and trafficking are:-
Capacity building of staff, communication and information exchange between trade unions, strengthening of data collection and capacity for statistical collection and analysis, sharing of experiences across countries and regions, and cross border cooperation mechanisms
Policies of the State
THE NATIONAL POLICY ON LABOUR MIGRATION (2009) – for the protection and empowerment of migrant workers and their families provides for protection and empowerment of migrant workers. Over the years, Sri Lanka has instituted a number of programmes and schemes that cover issues of governance in the process of labour migration, particularly on the protection and welfare of migrant workers and their families. Most notably, the Sri Lanka Bureau for Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has been instituted since 1985, providing services and a regulatory framework for interested migrants. In 2007, this was brought under the purview of the Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare (MFEPW). These initiatives have been within the framework of principles of decent work, dignity of labour and the protection of all human rights and freedoms of migrant workers and their families.
The national policy on migration aims to promote opportunities for all men and women to engage in migration for decent and productive employment in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. It is intended to do so through the institution of policies, laws, regulations, services and facilities for migrant workers and their families. Special emphasis is laid on the development of skills as a main and effective means of protection for migrant workers and their families.
The State, having the primary responsibility for the protection of migrant workers and their families, undertakes to protect and empower migrant workers and their families in all three stages of the migration process.
• At Pre-departure (from decision-making to training to preparation for migration),
• While in-service (for workers in employment and families left behind)
• On return and reintegration (with consideration for reintegration, acceptance and appreciation).
The State, in particular, will undertake to set minimum requirements for the profile of migrant workers to ensure their welfare and protection, develop an environment within which potential migrant workers can make informed and considered decisions to migrate for work, further minimize irregular and abusive recruitment processes, and offer significant measures to prepare and train migrant workers psychologically and professionally. This includes psychological and public health advice and support.
The Diplomatic Missions in receiving or host countries shall place as priority their duty to protect migrant workers and will ensure safe repatriation for all workers in need. Ensuring that return and reintegration takes place with full protection of rights and freedoms is paramount.
The State also recognizes its responsibility towards protection and welfare of children of migrant workers in the new Migration Policy Frame work.
In the pre-departure stage, the State will establish minimum requirements to qualify for labour migration pertaining to age, literacy and suitability for selected work categories. Recognizing that migration for employment is a voluntary decision and a right enjoyed by all citizens, the State will undertake measures to assist potential men and women migrants in their decision-making process to migrate for employment and will prevent dissemination of misleading information. Measures will be put in place to prevent exploitation and abuse in recruitment of migrant workers, upgrade training courses to improve competence and capacity, assist in preparation for travel and employment overseas, and conduct all necessary medical tests prior to departure. Migrant workers will be able to avail themselves of pre-departure counselling and psychological preparation for working and living overseas.
While in-service, the State will provide mechanisms to protect migrant workers from exploitation and abuse, and will ensure that Sri Lankan Diplomatic Missions in host countries have adequate systems and services to assist all migrant workers in each country and work towards their protection and welfare in a proactive manner. A plan for provision of benefits and services for migrant workers, including insurance, pension and welfare, will be developed by the State and made available for all migrant workers and families. Repatriation policy will be handled through the placement of contractual responsibility and liability on recruitment agencies.
Finally, the State will formulate a policy framework to protect the children of migrant workers through registration, monitoring and special benefits.
Upon return, the State will design and implement a mechanism to facilitate return and reintegration services for migrant workers. This will include due recognition of migrant workers and enable them to enjoy priority access to services, special services on arrival at the airport, guidance and skills for reintegration, tax concessions and special benefits to children of migrant workers. The State recognizes civil society organizations and trade unions to be another effective means by which migrant workers can avail themselves of an environment for successful reintegration.
Legal reform is a third type of intervention. Aside from the several policies proposed the State has sought to amend the SLBFE Act on two occasions.
By amendment act No 4 of 1994 to arrest irregulaties and streamline process of migration by proposed amendments of 2008 to impose heavy penalties on recruiters who break the law
Future Prospects
Several waves of hope are seen in the horizon, It’s expected that the process of domestic work will be recognized as work and subjected to regulation by international instruments and include domestic labour within countries.
Secondly skilled domestic sector skills will be available as a result of state intervention in the enterprise of migration.
Thirdly In the long term, it’s expected that per capita incomes in Sri Lanka will increase to a stage, where low paid exploitative employment will phase out of labour markets. In Sri Lanka domestic sector wages will rise and thereby discourage out migration.
The demand for domestic servants will decline over time and selection criteria as at present based on religion and ethnicity (rather than skills and professional competences) will be replaced by new requirements.
For example:-
Principal types of domestic workers in demand from Sri Lanka in 2007 were identified as follows: (source: SLBFE)
General Housemaids 47,385
Non Muslim Housemaids 19,960
Muslim Housemaids 5,037
Christian Housemaids 6,030
Housemaids English speaking 37
Housemaids Arabic speaking 07
Total number supplied in 2002 is 78,464. This is out of total demand of 38,6071 leaving a gap 307607 places. The largest being in the category of Muslim housemaids (119180 places) source : SLBFE
Though Housemaids form 80% of total migrants from Sri Lanka (and go to Gulf countries) the total number that was supplied (including care givers) was only 78,464. This was met out of total demand of 356,071 of domestic workers leaving a supply gap of 307,607. Though 9% of Sri Lankans by ethnicity are Muslim, demand for Muslim domestic workers was high, yet 19,980 places went unfilled during 2007.
There will be new comers to the supply scene to take advantage of offers for new destinations even at low wages.
It is the stand of political authorities in Sri Lanka & India that foreign employment should no longer be abusive or exploitive.
With a political representation in seats of power and domestic workers sitting from a women quota of candidates, a new political orientation is expected in supply countries like India and Sri Lanka.
News from Abroad (Source: CARAM Asia list)
(1) “Asian countries plan a common policy to address problems in overseas employment process as proposed by HE Mosharraff Hossein, Minister of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, Bangladesh. It provides for dialogue with destination counties as well.
(2) Arab News carried a report on unhappy situation in Sri Lanka
Al-Quraishi said local employers have found that maids from these countries make no effort to adapt to local conditions. “They don’t even show any inclination to cope with local traditions and culture,” he said. “We have decided to be extra-careful when dealing with such foreign labour, especially after some reports that housemaids were involved in child murders and incidents of violence,” he added.
Arab News tried to speak to Saudi Embassy officials in Colombo, but drew a blank. “We are not aware of any likely ban on Sri Lankan maids,” a source said. Similar was the reaction from the diplomatic missions of Nepal, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Sri Lankan officials said they were not happy with the increasing number of complaints of abuse from their female migrant workers. “Some of them have complained that they are subjected to physical abuse and harassed due to delayed or non-payment of salaries, and made to work till late hours,” said an official at the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE).
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait have been the main markets for over 800,000 Sri Lankan maids who have increasingly complained of rights abuses.
The SLBFE has received over 3,400 complaints from female workers in the first half of 2008, and many more during 2009. Most of the complaints stem from the Gulf region and are to do with harassment, breach of contract and unpaid or underpaid salaries.
The bureau said that in the first half of 2008 it received 577 complaints of breach of contract and 479 complaints relating to harassment, including cases of sexual abuse and physical violence.
“We want to discourage female migrant workers and promote males. We also now want to direct workers away from the Middle East to other markets like the European Union, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Japan,” he added.
Despite the increased complaints of abuse, around 100,000 Sri Lankan women still make their way to the Gulf region every year to work as domestic helps.
The Sri Lankan Government gets more than $1 billion in remittances from workers in the Middle East. Of some 850,000 migrant workers in the Middle East, 80% are women who work as domestic helpers.
Competition in the foreign migrant domestic worker market comes from the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, which cater to the top-end of the market, while Sri Lanka provides for the bottom end at salaries of around SR 400 per month per housemaid.
(Arab News)