Rights Of Migrant Workers Research Articles

Qatar: The strange case of Malcolm Bidali

12 | International Union Rights | 28/2 OPINION | DEFENDING THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR ACTIVISTS Qatar: The strange case of Malcolm Bidali Last summer, the international trade union movement was celebrating the news from Qatar. The country which is slated to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup had come under enormous pressure to respect the rights of workers, especially migrant workers, who were getting the country ready for such a high profile event. The headline on the website of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) could not have been more gushing: ‘A new dawn for migrant workers in Qatar’. The article went on to say that ‘new laws adopted today by the State of Qatar are a game changer in the protection of workers’ rights’. And just to be clear: the focus was on the rights of migrant workers. The ITUC’s general secretary was quoted as saying that ‘these changes are a break with the past and offer a future for migrant workers in Qatar underpinned by laws which respect workers, along with grievance and remedy systems’. But events in recent weeks in the gulf state have raised questions about how much has really changed. On 4 May, Qatari security services arrested a 28year -old Kenyan man employed as a security guard by GSS. His name is Malcolm Bidali and at first no one would confirm that he was being held and under what charge. Bidali has become known in recent months as an outspoken proponent of migrant workers’ rights in Qatar, writing regularly — under a pseudonym — for various blogs, but also speaking publicly at events. A few days after his disappearance, a number of global civil society organisations stepped forward demanding to know his whereabouts. These included Migrant-Rights.org, FairSquare, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. No unions were in the group sending that message. The Qatari government was forced to confirm that Bidali was being held on the charge of violating Qatar’s security laws and regulations. Several days later, on 21 May, one of the global union federations — UNI Global Union — which represents security guards, announced that it had sent a letter to the Qatari government. UNI demanded Bidali’s immediate and unconditional release. ‘We believe that Mr. Bidali is imprisoned for his documentation of inhumane housing and working conditions, such as crowding ten people into a room, gruelling schedules, and cuts to income’, wrote Christy Hoffman, UNI’s General Secretary. Finally, a few days ago, word got out that Bidali had been released. But the threat of imprisonment still hangs over him. According to the Qatari government, Bidali was ‘formally charged with offences related to payments received by a foreign agent for the creation and distribution of disinformation within the State of Qatar’. As in similar cases in other countries, the message being sent by the Qatari government could not be clearer: the arrest of Malcolm Bidali, who spent nearly a month in solitary confinement, was designed to strike fear into the hearts of any other migrant workers in Qatar. It’s great that organisations like Amnesty International put pressure on the Qatari regime to release Bidali. But — with the notable exception of UNI — where were the unions? The last reference to Qatar on the website of the ITUC is from August last year, hailing the ‘new dawn for migrant workers’ in the country. Migrant workers are workers, and they have the same rights as all workers — including the right to speak out about their working conditions and their lack of rights. Even if they are not formally members of a registered trade union, they deserve the support of trade unionists everywhere. The ITUC, as well as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have been involved in a yearslong dialogue with the Qatari regime. Having invested so much in that dialogue, perhaps they hesitated to speak out publicly on behalf of Malcolm Bidali. Whatever their reason, at a time when groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty came to the defence of this brave young workers’ rights defender, the main institutions of the global labour movement were nowhere to be seen. It’s great that organisations like Amnesty International put...

СОЦИАЛЬНОЕ ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЕ РАБОТНИКОВ-МИГРАНТОВ В ЕС: КОМПАРАТИВИСТСКИЕ МОДЕЛИ В КОНТЕКСТЕ СИСТЕМЫ ПРАВОВОЙ ИНТЕГРАЦИИ ГОСУДАРСТВ ЕАЭС

The article assesses the EU legal system as a unique institutional unit and highlights its features. It deals with the comparative legal aspects of the regulation of the social welfare of migrant workers in the EU and the EAEU. Attention is paid to the study of legislation on social welfare for migrant workers in the EU, as well as the possibility of realizing the experi-ence accumulated within the EAEU. It is emphasized that the use of comparative models con-cerning the social welfare of migrant workers in the EU and the EAEU can be productive, taking into account the analysis of the state and dynamics of the EU's legal policy in its historical development. The authors have analyzed the historical stages reflecting the difference within the EU approaches to the regulation of social welfare relations for migrant workers. The emphasis is on the role of EU administrative institutions, which provide a balancing approach to the key principles and social policy settings, due to the desire to eliminate distortions and possible conflicts between the norms of states. At the same time, EU members have the competence within the existing common standards of financial security obligations to expand the estab-lished standards and this makes the EU's social policy geographically differentiated. It is noted that the allied states, formed on trade and economic grounds, such as the EU and the EAEU, are characterized by an objective desire for a single legal space, with the uni-fication of approaches on the social welfare of migrant workers throughout the Union. Never-theless, in complex interstate unions, it is impossible to abandon the principle of multi-level regulation of social and security relations, and in this sense, the situation in the EU and the EAEU is quite similar. The current state of EU law in terms of regulating the relations under consideration largely preserves national legal regimes, and each of them, through its special legal means, determines a different amount of social rights of migrant workers. In the context of the EAEU, a similar approach should not be considered productive, since it does not contribute to the goals of this interstate association, defined by Article 4 of the Treaty on its creation. Therefore, within the framework of the EAEU, it is advisable to fix as early as possible the uniform standards in the area of social welfare of migrant workers, estab-lishing a relatively narrow range of powers of the member states of the Union.

Qatar: The strange case of Malcolm Bidali

12 | International Union Rights | 28/2 OPINION | DEFENDING THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR ACTIVISTS Qatar: The strange case of Malcolm Bidali Last summer, the international trade union movement was celebrating the news from Qatar. The country which is slated to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup had come under enormous pressure to respect the rights of workers, especially migrant workers, who were getting the country ready for such a high profile event. The headline on the website of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) could not have been more gushing: ‘A new dawn for migrant workers in Qatar’. The article went on to say that ‘new laws adopted today by the State of Qatar are a game changer in the protection of workers’ rights’. And just to be clear: the focus was on the rights of migrant workers. The ITUC’s general secretary was quoted as saying that ‘these changes are a break with the past and offer a future for migrant workers in Qatar underpinned by laws which respect workers, along with grievance and remedy systems’. But events in recent weeks in the gulf state have raised questions about how much has really changed. On 4 May, Qatari security services arrested a 28year -old Kenyan man employed as a security guard by GSS. His name is Malcolm Bidali and at first no one would confirm that he was being held and under what charge. Bidali has become known in recent months as an outspoken proponent of migrant workers’ rights in Qatar, writing regularly — under a pseudonym — for various blogs, but also speaking publicly at events. A few days after his disappearance, a number of global civil society organisations stepped forward demanding to know his whereabouts. These included Migrant-Rights.org, FairSquare, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. No unions were in the group sending that message. The Qatari government was forced to confirm that Bidali was being held on the charge of violating Qatar’s security laws and regulations. Several days later, on 21 May, one of the global union federations — UNI Global Union — which represents security guards, announced that it had sent a letter to the Qatari government. UNI demanded Bidali’s immediate and unconditional release. ‘We believe that Mr. Bidali is imprisoned for his documentation of inhumane housing and working conditions, such as crowding ten people into a room, gruelling schedules, and cuts to income’, wrote Christy Hoffman, UNI’s General Secretary. Finally, a few days ago, word got out that Bidali had been released. But the threat of imprisonment still hangs over him. According to the Qatari government, Bidali was ‘formally charged with offences related to payments received by a foreign agent for the creation and distribution of disinformation within the State of Qatar’. As in similar cases in other countries, the message being sent by the Qatari government could not be clearer: the arrest of Malcolm Bidali, who spent nearly a month in solitary confinement, was designed to strike fear into the hearts of any other migrant workers in Qatar. It’s great that organisations like Amnesty International put pressure on the Qatari regime to release Bidali. But — with the notable exception of UNI — where were the unions? The last reference to Qatar on the website of the ITUC is from August last year, hailing the ‘new dawn for migrant workers’ in the country. Migrant workers are workers, and they have the same rights as all workers — including the right to speak out about their working conditions and their lack of rights. Even if they are not formally members of a registered trade union, they deserve the support of trade unionists everywhere. The ITUC, as well as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have been involved in a yearslong dialogue with the Qatari regime. Having invested so much in that dialogue, perhaps they hesitated to speak out publicly on behalf of Malcolm Bidali. Whatever their reason, at a time when groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty came to the defence of this brave young workers’ rights defender, the main institutions of the global labour movement were nowhere to be seen. It’s great that organisations like Amnesty International put...

Perlindungan Penata Laksana Rumah Tangga (PLRT) Indonesia

Protection of migrant workers, especially those working in informal areas, has become a serious problem in several countries, including Indonesia. Informal migrant workers such as domestic helpers, including one of the areas that get the most attention because of the lack of protection afforded to them. The rights of migrant workers are often violated only for the sake of economic benefits to both sending and receiving countries. This condition makes the government of each country should seriously think about the social protection of migrant workers. informal migrant workers were limited into consideration in discussions related to the social protection of labor, even though they work in the working area that very vulnerable to exploitation. This paper will examine qualitatively the comparative law approach to the problem of informal social protection of migrant workers between Indonesia and Malaysia. The results showed that the legal status of migrant workers are often not regulated informally legislation in the host country (Malaysia) that their protection does not exist in law or in practice, in addition to the problems of bureaucracy and politics also became an obstacle for domestic workers in getting access to social protection.

SYNERGISING INTERNATIONAL LABOUR LAWS AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR PROTECTION OF INDONESIAN MIGRANT WORKERS

Efforts in promoting international legal protection of Indonesian migrant workers can be explained that it has complete regulations. This situation cannot be separated from the facts that show the importance of granting Specific labour rights for migrant workers in the international community’s perspective. The purposes of this article are to encourage all people to consider seriously the applying of international human rights law in order to promote of human rights, especially, for Indonesia migrant workers (TKI) and create better migration management. In legal-formal matter, the applying of legal mechanisms has been recognized as human rights by Indonesia law. One of the best ways is trying to join the outside world in order to attain Economic development for the nation. Exploiting Opportunities of globalized world economy does not mean our sovereignty weakened but rather as an effort to achieve more substantive effort. This can be interpreted as a political commitment from the government - by learning and cooperating with Other States - to be more pragmatic by prioritizing the interests of the people as a form of democracy.

New architectures for migration governance: NAFTA and transnational activism around migrants’ rights

ABSTRACT This article analyses the way in which free trade agreements may become a new form of migration governance architecture, through an examination of the case of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We argue that the inclusion of migrant worker rights among the labour rights covered by the labour side accord unexpectedly resulted in new forms of migrant rights advocacy and transnational cooperation to promote migrant worker rights, especially in the United States. We examine two cases that were brought before the NAFTA labour rights tribunal. While this form of activism has had limited concrete impact on improving the actual conditions faced by vulnerable migrant workers, it has had some positive results in politicising the issue of abuses of migrant workers’ rights in the United States. It has also resulted in the transnationalisation of struggles around migrant workers’ rights and the forging of new alliances between trade unions and migrants’ rights activists.

Learning from the BITs: Bilateral Labor Agreements in Comparative Perspective

The recent proliferation of Bilateral Labor Agreements (BLAs) has attracted minimal scholarly attention. This agenda-setting article analyzes whether and how BLAs may serve as useful tools in improving the protection of the rights of migrant workers. The article undertakes a comparative study of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and BLAs, and draws lessons from BITs' success in protecting the rights of foreign investors.

A new narrative for European migration policy: Sustainability and the Blue Card recast

AbstractThe Blue Card Directive 2009/50 has failed. It sets conditions for entry and residence in the EU for third‐country nationals in highly qualified and well‐paid employment. Recently, negotiations over its recast have come to life, and gives reason to discuss the way forward. This comment reflects on the European Blue Card Directive 2009/50 and its recast and the thoughts presented in this special issue by two legal practitioners, Jo Antoons and Andreia Ghimis, and a philosopher, Johan Rochel. I argue in favour of a new narrative focusing on sustainable labour migration, instead of the current narrative which is based on solving old problems. More particularly, drawing from intersecting policy fields (environment, foreign investment, integration and migration policy), this contribution revisits three themes at the core of the Blue Card and its reform: the economic needs test, privatisation through the concept of a trusted sponsor, and intra‐EU mobility rights for migrant workers.

The Heterogeneous of State and State Governance: Case of Indonesian Irregular Migrants in the Netherlands

The main issues of Indonesian migrant workers mostly lies on pre-departure phase, especially related to the issuance of travel document. They manipulate their data for passport application. From the bigger picture, this occurs because the high rate | of corruption within the immigration office. However, the immigration department is not solely responsible for this problem, but also with BNP2TKI (National Body for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Wor- kers) and the Ministry of Manpower as they responsible for issuing regulations and procedures for migrant worker. Additionaly, the Department of Foreign affairs, which accommodates and oversees all Indonesian embassies and consulates abroad, also plays a role concerning the legal and political protection of Indonesian citizens. The embassy or consulate consist of officials from many departments (immigration department, department of education and cultural affairs, etc.), and they are not only responsible to the ambassador but also their departments in Indonesia. The lack of integrated legal understanding between these four departments and the imbalance of work between them could be the factors of the issues related to the rights of migrant workers. The heterogeneity of the state above and the state governance happens not only in Indonesia but also in the destination country, and migrant workers should deal with two systems of legal gover- nance which also experience transformations through time. This paper will discuss the impact of the heterogeneous state and state governance to Indonesian migrant workers in the Netherlands and how the migrants themselves navigate with these two systems.

The Reform of Chinese Migration Law and the Protection of Migrants’ Rights

With the adoption of the 2012 Exit-Entry Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China implementing legislation and institutional changes, the Chinese migration law regime underwent fundamental reformation. Streamlined application procedures that are available online and clarified competences have increased efficiency whereas the classification scheme of different categories of foreign nationals has enhanced transparency. This chapter outlines the development of Chinese legislation governing foreign nationals and the changes of the overall legal framework. Further, we will analyse the level of protection of rights of foreign nationals in the area of labour law and legal remedies against measures taken on the basis of the Exit-Entry Administration Law. We argue that recent reforms have been more symbolic than functional and that the protection of rights of migrants has not been significantly improved by recent reforms. The Chinese legislator has taken into account foreign immigration law, in particular legal regulations of typical immigration countries such as Australia or Canada. However, such legal transfer appears to be rather superficial, as the effects of new legal regulation do not deviate substantially from the effects of the previous legal framework. With regard to international law, China has not ratified the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and does not model the protection of labour rights of foreign nationals on the equal treatment principle as it is embodied in the Convention. However, China voted for the Global Compact for Migration after being actively involved in its drafting process and further committing itself in this context to improve national migration legislation.

Defensa de los derechos del trabajador migrante a través de políticas públicas estatales

El marco regulador de migración no ha registrado cambios sustanciales hasta el momento en lo que respecta a migración laboral, sobre la base de esta problemática, el presente artículo tiene por objetivo analizar las políticas estatales desarrolladas en Ecuador encaminadas a proteger los derechos de los trabajadores migrantes, como mecanismo de determinación de una línea base de fundamentos jurídicos sobre la red compleja de normas y procedimientos expuestos en la Constitución. La metodología utilizada se enmarco en el paradigma cualitativo mediante un enfoque multimetódico en el que se logró un acercamiento interpretativo de las políticas públicas migratorias, lo cual implico estudiar las variables en su ambiente natural. Como resultado del estudio se concluye que los migrantes no están siendo considerados tal como lo establece la Constitución de la República del Ecuador. El Estado busca la creación de políticas públicas que se adecuen a la realidad migratoria del país.

International protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of irregular migrants

The situation of the migrants particularly irregular migrants is closely related to the respect for human rights, as long as migration is a social phenomenon with a human dimension. The question of international protection was therefore before the international community, which recommended the formulation of legal solutions to the issue of migrants wherever they may be, considering their rights primarily a humanitarian issue, with a view to the rehabilitation of this group, which is deprived of the enjoyment of the most important human rights. This trend was embodied in the conclusion of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their families on December 18, 1990, under the auspices of the United Nations, and was the culmination of a 12-year effort by a group of international experts. There are many international mechanisms for the protection of irregular migrants, including those relating to general international conventions for the protection of human rights, the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the rights of migrants, and the Com- .mittee on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

Protection of the rights of migrant workers in the EAEU

Protection of the rights of migrant workers in the EAEU

Zapošljavanje radnika migranata - pretpostavke, uslovi i ograničenja

Although the need to provide decent working conditions is at the heart of the labour law rules on protection of migrant workers, a significant challenge for modern countries remains to create such conditions for their decent employment. The article discusses assumptions (legally entering a country), requirements for employment of foreigners (stay visa and work permit), as well as the employment limitations (quotas for employment of foreigners, limiting the catalogue of jobs that can be entrusted to foreigners, etc.). Regulation of these issues is closely related to the needs and the state of the domestic labour market (general and/or in specific professions), as well as the goals of migration, demographic, economic and employment policies. The author concludes that by establishing certain assumptions and special requirements for establishing employment relationships with foreigners, a number of diferent migrant positions are established for migrant workers, some of which are extremely precarious. Implementation of the relevant legal regulations should therefore be accompanied by (legal and extralegal) measures aimed at efectively protecting the dignity of migrant workers and preventing their labour exploitation. Among much else, this can be facilitated by establishing authorizations for employment of foreigners, as a special condition to be fulfilled by the employer, which can only be issued to the employers who respect labour and immigration regulations. Although this prevents employers who violate the rights of migrant workers from hiring new workers, there are no instruments in place to protect vulnerable categories of persons from labour exploitation in the period until the application for renewal of the employment authorisation or the application for a new employment authorisation is submitted. This is especially true as the dependence of migrant workers on the employer often discourages migrants from initiating the proceedings for protection of rights.

A Report on Lives and Rights of Migrant Workers by Zentouitsu Workers Union

A Report on Lives and Rights of Migrant Workers by Zentouitsu Workers Union

THE PROTECTION OF MIGRANT CHILDREN IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: A READING IN THE LIGHT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD’S GENERAL COMMENT (NOS. 22 AND 23) ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDREN IN THE CONTEXT OF THE INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION

The article analyzes the evolution of the international regulation of human rights by migrants with special attention to the adoption of general observations 22 and 23 on the rights of the child within the framework of international migration of the Committee on the Rights of the Child drafted together to the Committee on the rights of migrant workers and their families. Since 2013, the number of children, especially foreign unaccompanied children who have reached the territory of the European Union, has increased exponentially. The European legislator, involved in an unprecedented migration crisis, has made an important effort to adapt its regulations to the obligations established by the International Law of Human Rights; however, incompatible and chiaroscuro approaches remain in regulation.

Work-Related Immigration Policy in the United States: Past and Present Problems

United States work-related immigration policy is deeply flawed, creating overly stringent restrictions on immigration and failing to adequately protect the rights of migrant workers. The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policies have exacerbated pre-existing problems and created a new level of hostility toward immigrants. Legislative reform is needed to establish equal and equitable treatment of immigrant workers.

Moroccan migration law in storm

If Morocco has long remained a country of emigration, marked by a small presence of permanent foreign residents, it seems that a new immigration and asylum politics is now in working order. The ratification of the United Nations Convention on the protection of the rights of migrant workers in 1993, the adoption of the Law 02-03 on the entry and residence of foreigners in Morocco in 2003 and the accession to the Pact of Marrakech on migration in 2018, have gradually transformed the Moroccan migration politics. Now committed to the recognition of equal rights for migrant workers and the affirmation of their fundamental rights, the country offers protective measures to immigrants, while respecting the security objectives of the European Union.

Transnationality, transnational migrations and the rights of migrant workers

The main objective of this article is to analyze transnationality, transnational migration and the rights of migrant workers. The work is divided into three parts: the first part deals with transnationality and transnational law; the second part deals with transnational migration and its main characteristics; and the third part aims at identifying the rights of migrant workers and the existence of social dumping in Brazilian companies as an offensive practice for the dignity and rights of these workers. The inductive method was implemented using reference and category techniques, operational concepts and bibliographic research. Based on the cases analyzed, it was concluded that the vulnerability condition increases considerably when the worker is also a migrant. Therefore, the practice of social dumping by any company must be strongly fought to avoid any misuse or illegal use of migrant labor since transnational relations and events should not serve as a regression in the application of the rights but be the opposite.

Neutrosofic Iadov for the analysis of satisfaction on the regularities in the international legal field concerning the human rights of migrant workers in Ecuador

Legal norms regulate the situation of migrants. At international level, however, they are primarily responsible for establishing fundamental human rights, but the normative development of both the United Nations and the ILO focuses primarily on analyzing the situation of migrant workers in regular status, which leaves aside the situation of irregular migrant workers. The method of document content analysis was used to review and assess various sources, studies and legal documents. In the same way, the analytical-synthetic method is used, which makes it possible to integrate the most important normative and jurisprudential sources. In order to support the validation, the IADOV method and the neutrosophic logic were applied for the analysis of satisfaction on the irregularities in the international legal field related to the human rights of migrant workers in Ecuador.