In honour of International Migrants Day today, an Indian politician and a former Minister of State for External Affairs has called on his country to better protect its citizens when they travel abroad for work, reports ndtv.com. 

Dr Shashi Tharoor stated that among the unsung factors in India's survival of the global economic recession were the remittances that kept coming in from mainly blue-collar workers in the Gulf.

India receives the highest level of remittances in the world at roughly USD 70 billion, almost three times the amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) that comes into the country. By far the largest share comes from the Gulf countries, which sent a combined USD 32.7 billion in 2014.

Dr Tharoor commented: “Most of those [remittances] represent the sweat and toil of labourers, masons, clerks, shop assistants, and other working class Indians… And yet, despite their invaluable contributions to our country, many Indian migrant workers continue to face exploitative working conditions, forced labour, non-payment of wages, and other forms of human rights abuse that sometimes plunge them into slavery-like conditions.”

“These workers, the majority of whom are low-paid and semi-skilled or unskilled, are employed as cooks, cleaners, domestic workers, plumbers and construction labourers. And India could do far more to help them in their distress.”

The primary challenges facing migrant workers include:

Deception by visa brokers and recruiting agents: These include excess charges for visas and other travel documents, processing fake travel documents without informing the workers of their illegitimate status, recruitment for non-existent jobs, misrepresenting the job and working conditions, providing falsely inflated loans that lead to situations of bonded labour.

“As an MP, I have heard countless stories of migrant workers landing in the wrong country and being stranded there, being jailed for having the wrong documents, finding their salary or work conditions are not what they were promised.”

A lack of awareness of pre-departure training: A lack of authentic and timely information relating to overseas employment, recruitment agencies, and emigration procedures makes workers dependent on intermediaries and vulnerable to exploitation.

A lack of access to remedies: The power differential between workers and recruiting agents makes it difficult for workers who face abuse to secure justice. Enforcement mechanisms are not strong enough and complaints registered rarely lead to convictions. 

Dr Tharoor continued: “The Emigration Act 1983, which has been used to regulate the recruitment and employment of migrant workers, has been criticised by government commissions and NGOs such as Amnesty International India.”

Quoting a government-commissioned report by the Ministry of Overseas Affairs in 2009, Dr Tharoor said: “The institutional failure in effectively addressing corruption and fraudulence in the overseas recruitment system cannot be rectified by cosmetic changes, but calls for a comprehensive institutional reform. The new institution should be liberal but capable of tackling the complex layers of corruption and multiplicity of players with greater coordination and efficiency to ensure free but orderly emigration of Indian workers to the overseas labour market. It should also be preventive and remedial in its focus when it seeks to streamline the overseas recruitment system."

“Amnesty International India's 2014 report, titled "Exploited dreams: Dispatches from Indian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia", highlighted how India has failed to meet its international obligations to protect the rights of migrant workers and prevent trafficking and forced labour,” he added.  

“The Philippines law on migrant workers in its statute places the dignity of its migrant workers above their contribution to the national economy through their foreign exchange remittances, and to that end seeks to provide adequate and timely social, economic and legal services to its migrant population.”

The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act (1995) states: "The existence of the overseas employment program rests solely on the assurance that the dignity and fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Filipino citizens shall not, at any time, be compromised or violated”. 

“Our Emigration act expresses no such sentiment,” Dr Tharoor added. “Their law also recognises NGOs as key partners in the protection of migrant workers and seeks to cooperate with them for the promotion of migrant welfare. Ours doesn't.”

Recognising the severe deficiencies of the existing law, the UPA government had started the process of trying to improve emigration legislation on the lines of the Philippines Migrant Workers Act, but this new legislation has not yet come about.

Dr Tharoor called upon the recently elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to address the shortcomings of the current Emigration Bill: “Organisations like Amnesty International India and MPs like myself have come forward to call for a new law that provides adequate protection services to migrant workers before they depart.”

“When it comes to migrant workers, it should be the State's number one priority to protect their lives and dignity in a foreign country. A new law that empowers workers with adequate information and support from their home country will help reduce the likelihood of exploitation abroad,” he concluded.