Vulnerability Of Migrant Workers Research Articles

Industrial Fragmentation, Migration and Live-in Factories in Ahmedabad

This article interrogates live-in factory labour as a distinct feature of informalised industrial structure, an absence of state regulation and an outcome of kinship-based internal migration processes and labour precariousness. It also demonstrates the fallacy of analysing living arrangements of migrant workers as undifferentiated structural artefacts and highlights the underlying social relational dynamics. It argues that suboptimal wages and terms of employment embedded in highly asymmetrical relations between employer and worker mediated through labour contractors and organised on caste, ethnicity and regional lines dictate the persistence of the system of in-factory living of workers. Such a living arrangement represents a distinct configuration of urban employment that allows firms to have greater control over workers’ lives to extract surplus value and determine their relations with the city. Thus, the article posits that migration, informal workplaces and informal labour relations converge together to create certain hyper-precarious occupational niches reserved for workers from particularly marginalised communities. Apart from debt bondage, a phenomenon which has received significant scholarly attention over the years, on-site accommodation is used by employers to keep vulnerable migrant workers in these niches.

Interpol’s Efforts Against Human Trafficking by Non-Procedural Migrant Worker Networks in East Nusa Tenggara: Leveraging Legal Assistance Treaties

This paper delves into the proactive measures adopted by Interpol to counter the pervasive issue of human trafficking, focusing specifically on the activities of non-procedural migrant worker networks in East Nusa Tenggara. Human trafficking remains a grave violation of human rights globally, with vulnerable migrant workers often falling victim to exploitation and abuse. In regions like East Nusa Tenggara, where such networks operate with relative impunity, concerted efforts are necessary to dismantle their operations and bring perpetrators to justice. Interpol plays a crucial role in this endeavor by leveraging legal assistance treaties to enhance international cooperation in combating transnational crimes, including human trafficking. Through these treaties, Interpol facilitates information exchange, joint investigations, and coordinated law enforcement actions among member countries, thereby strengthening the collective response to this multifaceted challenge. In East Nusa Tenggara, where the complexities of jurisdiction and cross-border activities complicate law enforcement efforts, Interpol's involvement becomes particularly significant. By collaborating with local law enforcement agencies and leveraging its global network of resources, Interpol can identify, disrupt, and dismantle the networks involved in human trafficking. This paper will explore the mechanisms through which Interpol utilizes legal assistance treaties to support investigations, apprehend perpetrators, and rescue victims of human trafficking in East Nusa Tenggara. Additionally, it will assess the effectiveness of these strategies in mitigating the impact of non-procedural migrant worker networks and advancing the overarching goal of eradicating human trafficking. Through a comprehensive analysis of Interpol's efforts in this context, this paper aims to contribute to the discourse on international law enforcement cooperation and the fight against human trafficking.

The impact of the health microinsurance M-FUND on the utilization of health services among migrant workers and their dependents in Thailand: A case-control study

BackgroundEven though Thailand has launched multiple migrant health policies, migrants still face various barriers in accessing health care. To some extent, these barriers may be reduced by health microinsurance. The M-FUND is a low-cost, not-for-profit health protection scheme for migrant workers in Thailand, created by Dreamlopments Social Enterprise and Foundation to support sustainable access to quality healthcare services for migrants. We aimed to investigate the impact of the M-FUND on utilization of health services. MethodsOver a period of three months, we conducted quantitative face-to-face interviews with 408 M-FUND members, and 452 age, sex and location matched non-member controls in Tak Province, Thailand. We compared utilization of health services between members and non-members using logistic regression controlling for a number of socio-demographic variables and variables related to migration such as years in Thailand, legal status, etc. FindingsM-FUND members were more likely to have utilized outpatient services (adjusted odds ratio: 1·74, 95 % confidence interval: 1·24–2·44), inpatient services (2·96, 1.11–7·92), and emergency care (1·89, 0·78–4·56), although the latter was not statistically significant. Members were more likely not to have purchased medicines over-the-counter (1·67, 1·22–2·27) than non-members. Members were also more likely to have utilized any additional specific service during a consultation (2·31, 1·49–3·58) including any type of imaging method (2·62, 1·29–5·29) and blood tests (1·64, 0·99–2·71). There were some differences between men and women, but most were not statistically significant. InterpretationThe M-FUND health microinsurance was positively associated with the utilization of all major types of health services among migrant workers and their dependents in Thailand. For migrants, particularly vulnerable migrant workers and their dependents, the M-FUND appears to be a good approach to reducing barriers to health care. This study of the impact of health microinsurance for migrants provides important information for policy and program planners in the field of migrant health. However, more research is needed on health microinsurance schemes for migrants in different settings and for other underserved communities as well as the sex-specific impact on health service utilization.

COVID-19 pandemic induced wage theft: evidence from Sri Lankan migrant workers

ABSTRACTThe COVID-19 pandemic-related labour market issues and the rapid departure from countries of destination have heightened wage theft issues faced by migrant workers. This article provides scientific evidence on pandemic-induced wage theft experienced by migrant workers with the aim of minimising migrant workers’ exposure to similar cases of injustice in the future. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of data on migrant workers who returned to Sri Lanka during the pandemic provides evidence of the dimensions of wage theft. These dimensions include non-negotiable wage reductions and delays in payment of dues, non-payment of salary dues, non-provision of other dues and benefits, unconsented setting off of benefits, non-transparent calculation of benefits and their setting off against other goods and services provided by employer and holding migrant workers in situations of bonded labour. The findings also highlight that non-payment of due wages is more common among vulnerable migrant workers. The article suggests strategies to remedy wage theft issues faced by migrant workers by changing the behaviour of the migrant workers as well as by changing the behaviour the employers. Moreover, the punitive measures to offending employers need to be combined with remedial financial compensation measures to victimised migrant workers.

Precarity, Climate Change and Migrant Labour Amitav Ghosh’s Eco-Aesthetics

Migrant workers play an increasing role in Asia, where they are both remarkably mobile and largely disorganized. The workers’ position leaves them disempowered within the workplace; it also leaves them vulnerable in the world outside. In this sense, migrant workers lead lives that are, in Hannah Lewis’s view “hyperprecarious”. The celebration of the collective has been a recurrent trope in Ghosh’s oeuvre, and this article seeks to shed light on the formation of communities of migrant labourers in a transnational space in Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island. It explores the heterogeneity of exploitative labor conditions, their situatedness as well as their “lived experiences” documenting the variegated landscape of neo-slavery for vulnerable migrant workers. It also highlights how Amitav Ghosh interrogates the ways in which the Western colonial episteme has commodified nature, land, mountains, and ecology in his most recent writing.

Exploring the Case The Dark side of Gay Tourism: (Half-)naked Bodies, Race, Precarity and Sexual Harassment

Introduction This case study discusses the gay tourism industry, focusing on the sexualization and commodification of employees’ appearance (also known as sexualized aesthetic labour) and sexual harassment by customers. These issues are particularly important for vulnerable migrant workers, and workers of colour, whose race and appearance are exploited by employers as a tool to attract customers, neglecting the impact this has on workers’ safety and well-being.

The impact of community-based pulmonary rehabilitation on the health and lives of migrant workers with pneumoconiosis in China: a qualitative study exploring patient experience

Background Globally, China has the highest prevalence and incidence of pneumoconiosis, which mainly occurs among migrant workers employed in dusty work environments. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is recommended as the most effective therapeutic strategy in managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and recent quantitative studies have validated PR’s effect on the health outcomes of patients with pneumoconiosis. However, qualitative evidence regarding PR’s impact on pneumoconiosis patients’ health and lives is lacking in the literature. Therefore, this study aimed to address this knowledge gap by exploring the experience of pneumoconiosis patients in community-based PR (CBPR). Methods A qualitative study based on the phenomenological perspective was conducted. The convenience sampling method was used to recruit pneumoconiosis patients attending a CBPR program supported by a patient advocacy non-governmental organisation. Web-based semi-structured interviews were conducted using a self-made interview guide. Thematic analysis was performed to analyse the interview data. This study was conducted after gaining ethical approval and informed consent from all participants. Results Fifteen migrant workers with pneumoconiosis patients aged 49 to 71 years old (median: 54 years old) participated in this study. Four themes were identified from the interview data: triggering of a difficult life, reconstruction of life, sense of empowerment, and gaps in PR. Pneumoconiosis severely impaired participants’ well-being, and it triggered heavy financial strain and care burden in their families. The CBPR program allowed them to restore their physical and psychosocial health, and they achieved reconstructing their lives by leading a PR-centred life. Participating in the CBPR program, pneumoconiosis patients recognised multiple supports and were empowered with enhanced disease-coping abilities and strengthened hope to survive. Overall, participants reflected on their positive experience in the CBPR program, despite their unmet needs and existing barriers in PR. Conclusions The CBPR program integrating multiple supports empowered the vulnerable migrant workers with pneumoconiosis and facilitated their health transition and life reconstruction experience. To optimise their PR experience and improve their QoL, health service addressing their unmet needs and barriers in PR is needed. PR for pneumoconiosis patients with different sociodemographic characteristics and family-oriented management of pneumoconiosis should be explored in future research.

Bilateral agreements, precarious work, and the vulnerability of migrant workers in Israel

Abstract We examine the short-term and long-term impact of bilateral agreements on migrant workers’ vulnerability during their employment in Israel. To do so, we developed the Vulnerability Index of Migrant Workers based on five dimensions: poor working conditions, poor living conditions, poor safety conditions, low wages, and dependence on migration costs. We focus on migrant workers arriving in Israel from two different countries (China and Thailand), employed in two different sectors of the economy (construction and agriculture, respectively). Data was gathered through a survey conducted among workers arriving from both countries before and after the implementation of the bilateral agreements. The study revealed that after the implementation of bilateral agreements, the working, living and safety conditions of migrant workers remained poor or even worsened. For Thai workers, there was a slight improvement in the working and living conditions in the short term after the bilateral agreement, but they worsened in the long run. The total Index of Vulnerability of both groups showed improvement due to the dramatic decrease in dependence on migration costs, despite the deterioration in some working and living conditions and the reduction in migrant workers’ relative wages.

Exploring low-income migrant workers' health information-seeking behavior during COVID-19 in Taiwan: A qualitative study.

BackgroundCOVID-19 pandemic is reported to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities of marginalized groups, and the lack of self-care can lead to the spread of the virus across society. Therefore, effective responses to the challenges imposed by the health crisis should consider the health information needs of migrant workers.ObjectiveWe aimed to explore how migrant low-income workers seek health information and how their health-related information needs were met during a health crisis. We also investigated migrant workers’ preferred information sources and types of content with the theoretical concept of health literacy to understand the development of health competencies among migrant workers.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with Thai low-income migrant workers. A total of 13 Thai migrant workers participated in the study, among whom five were undocumented. The interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, and analyzed with the thematic analysis approach.ResultsOur findings indicated that migrant workers’ health literacy and health information behavior could be improved through technology when facing a health crisis. We found that participants sought health information proactively to reduce their perceived risks. However, there is still space for design to support the ability to process jargon information and apply local policy, such as providing easy-to-understand, accurate, and timely information. The findings of this study provide some insights for the authority and technological design to respond to migrant workers’ health information needs.ConclusionsThis study acknowledges and understands the needs of vulnerable migrant workers in society. The findings of this study provide insights for the authority and technological design to respond to migrant workers’ health information needs. We also outline the areas worth further investigation, such as the communication between information seekers and providers, and the navigation of the healthcare system for migrants in the host country.

Workplace hazard faced by vulnerable migrant workers working in the informal sector at Lucknow city

Context: Workplace hazard is usually defined as working conditions that have potential to cause injury and/or illness to workers. Examples of hazards are exposed to hazardous substances; working with dangerous tools and equipment or performing potentially injurious task, such as repetitive movement and heavy lifting. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of workplace hazard face of vulnerable migrant workers. Setting and Design: The study was carried out on eighty migrant workers comprising of male and female. The purposive sampling technique was adopted in the study. Data were collected using a 9 question survey tool developed by S. Peter et.al, Institute for work and health, Canada, in 2016. Materials and Methods: A self-structured and standardized interview schedule scale (OHS) devised by institute for work and health, Canada, in 2016 used for the purpose of the gathering information and measurement workplace hazard in different variables of the respondents. The study adopted survey research design and interviewed respondents personally. Statistical Analysis Used: The data were coded and analyzed using IBM SPSS20.0 Version. The level of workplace hazard in different segments was analyzed in the form of frequencies, mean, standard deviation and the significance was tested using ANOVA. Result : The study clearly showed that the maximum hazard in the workplace by migrant workers is to repeatedly repeat the same movement with hands or wrists, exposure to chemical, gas, and flammable substance, standing hours in the same posture and working for 2 meters. The hazard was felt in stand and working in greater heights. Conclusion: In the present study it has been found that the issue of occupational health among workers needs more attention. There was a risk of musculoskeletal problems and breathing problems and slipping while working in their stations. Measures are needed to improve the work environment of workplace safety staff that ensures the availability of personal protective equipment, good living condition and hygiene at the sites. In addition, the protection of workers’ health is the responsibility to the community as well as local government and businessmen.

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.

Children Left Behind in China: The Role of School Fees

AbstractThe barriers faced by Chinese rural–urban migrants to access social services, particularly education, in host cities could help explain why the majority of them choose to leave their children behind. We identified the causal impacts of school fees by instrumenting for it with unexpected shocks to the city’s public education spending. Our findings suggest that higher fees deter migrant workers from bringing their children with them, especially their daughters, reduce the number of children they bring, and increase educational remittances to rural areas for the children left behind. Increases in school fees mostly affect vulnerable migrant workers and could have stronger impacts during an economic crisis. These findings hold for different model specifications and robustness checks.

Staying under the radar: constraints on labour agency of pineapple plantation workers in Costa Rica?

Plantation workers have seemingly little opportunities for labour agency, defined as the worker’s ability to act and improve their conditions. In response to a call for a better understanding of the horizontal dimension shaping labour agency, this article questions what local factors determine the worker’s ability to act by analysing the institutional constraints embedded in the national context through a mixed methods approach. A combination of qualitative and quantitative data is used to understand what shapes and constrains the potential for labour agency in the case of plantation workers in the pineapple sector of Costa Rica. We provide new empirical evidence of the relation between the local opportunity structure—proxied by perceived job security and union awareness—and labour agency in terms of a worker’s intention to choose forthright (voice), evasive (exit) or repressed (loyalty) actions. The model results indicate that a lack of job security and a lack of union awareness significantly reduce the likelihood to use forthright actions (such as voicing concerns, striking or joining a union) compared to evasive (such as leaving the job) or repressed actions (such as doing nothing). In addition, the qualitative analysis of the local opportunity structure identifies four institutional constraints: weak employment protection, vulnerability of migrant workers, limited workers’ representation and insufficient labour law enforcement. Besides overcoming these institutional constraints, empowering workers to make their voices heard also requires awareness raising about their collective bargaining rights and more job security.

Irregular migration and migrants’ informal employment: a discussion theme in international migration governance

ABSTRACTUnequal development in neoliberal globalization causes economic, social, and political problems that force people into irregular migration and to become part of informal labour markets. Although informal sector enterprises in both developed and peripheral countries depend mainly on migrant labour, this demand is usually not recognized in official migration policies, thus increasing the vulnerability of migrant workers. The relationship between informal employment and irregular migration has been one of the main themes in the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) since its foundation. The general approach in the GFMD can be summarized as acceptance of this interrelationship, without discussing the underlying causes behind it. This article reviews discussions in the literature by focusing on the interrelations between the informal sector, informal employment, and irregular migration. Then, it investigates how this issue has been tackled in the Forum's Government and Civil Society Days.

Specific forms of human trafficking in Slovenia: overview and preventive measures

Paper presents a research study on specific forms of human trafficking in Slovenia. The research indicates that the vulnerability of migrant workers in Slovenia results from their social vulnerability and deteriorating social conditions in the countries of origin. Employers are aware of these conditions and take advantage of the situation, which results in planned recruitment of workers in countries of origin. Furthermore, cases of human trafficking for the purpose of forced criminality and forced begging, as well as trafficking in children, are also indicated in the research. However, in the time period under review the Slovene police detected only a few underage victims of crimes that can be considered as trafficking. No evidence of trafficking in human organs, tissues and blood was found, but the research unveiled some cases indicating illegal intercountry adoptions. The research results and recommendations can guide further action and the planning of preventive activities.

Irish Flex‐insecurity: The Post‐crisis Reality for Vulnerable Workers in Ireland

AbstractInstitutional reconfigurations of Irish welfare architecture and specific policy regimes including social security, labour activation and employment regulation have reshaped the contemporary low‐paid labour market with more focus on flexibility than security. Irish workers, particularly women, young people and vulnerable migrant workers are more likely to experience a form of labour market precarity we term ‘flex‐insecurity’. This Irish form of flex‐insecurity occurs in a highly globalized, segmented and gendered production regime. A particular model of competitiveness supports light touch regulation, while government procurement policy and tendering practices promote a flexible and low‐paid labour force. Case studies demonstrate how the institutional reconfiguration of income support, labour law and work‐first activation policy impact on mothers, vulnerable migrants and young people, disempowering these workers. The social politics of change is difficult, despite growing awareness of the extent and impact of these forms of work and some solidarity for and with these vulnerable workers, there remains considerable resistance to implementing policies to address the growing problem of precarious work.

Forced Flexibility and Exploitation: Experiences of Migrant Workers in the Cleaning Industry

Globalization has resulted in structural changes in the labor markets over the last decades. These changes have weakened some of the economic and social dimensions of work. At the same time, migration and especially labor migration have increased on the global level. This article looks at the situation of migrant workers in the cleaning industry in Finland. It is based on interviews with migrant workers who have experienced labor exploitation in the cleaning industry, representatives of cleaning industry employers, and representatives of labor unions. The primary aim is to give voice to the migrant workers themselves and to analyze how they experience their work and their position in working life. The findings suggest that there is a risk that migrant workers in the cleaning sector experience various forms of exploitation. This article argues that the demand and need for (employee) flexibility may turn into forced flexibility that exploits the powerless and vulnerable migrant workers who have few other options than to agree to work on poor terms. The article suggests that the structural reasons that make the exploitation of migrant labor possible should be identified and addressed in order to prevent misuse of any workers, especially migrants.

Climate variability, livelihoods and social inequities: The vulnerability of migrant workers in Indian cities

This paper examines the vulnerability context of migrant workers in the informal sector in three Indian cities (Kochi, Surat and Mumbai), specifically in terms of how their livelihoods interface with climate variability, related hazard events and social inequities. It examines the progression of population vulnerability from a political economy perspective. The underlying assumption is that migrant workers’ vulnerability to climate variability in cities is closely embedded within the wider political economy of their day-to-day livelihood struggles. A mixed methodology design was adopted to carry out the study. Data from 50 migrants in each of the three cities were collected using a semi-structured interview schedule. The research demonstrates that urban vulnerability is a condition that shapes and reshapes itself continuously and fiercely, accompanied by the processes and structures of unplanned rapid urbanisation, environmental change and social exclusion. A significant feature of migrant workers’ vulnerability is its multi-dimensionality. This paper suggests that urban planners involved in environmental governance and risk reduction have to critically reflect on certain terminologies and practices in the field of climate change, while addressing these multi-dimensionalities.

Local Village Workers, Foreign Factories and Village Politics in Coastal China: A Clientelist Approach

AbstractIn market reform China, contentious and unfair labour relations between vulnerable migrant workers and exploitative foreign factory owners are one of the most critical issues of the political economy. This article analyses another group of workers – non-migrant local village workers – who protect themselves from foreign employers using two political resources: collective land-use rights and local political organizations, such as village governments, affective networks and physical forces, during their suburban village's industrialization. Based on intensive ethnographic fieldwork in Shandong (Qingdao) and other coastal regions in 2007, 2008 and 2011–2013, this article attempts to answer the questions of how local village workers protect their labour rights without reliable trade unions or rigorous governmental protection. How can villagers protect, if not maximize, their interests in their relations with the foreign factories in their villages? It also contrasts local labour relations in Qingdao with migrant labour relations in other coastal regions.

Organising migrants as workers or as migrant workers? Intersectionality, trade unions and precarious work

This paper considers precarious work from the point of view of trade union practice in the area of equality and diversity, exploring the way in which unions organise and recruit low-paid, vulnerable migrant workers. A theoretical approach is developed in order to understand the particular vulnerability and diversity of migrant workers in the labour market. Insights from the literature on intersectionality are applied to the study of employment, industrial relations and human resource management practice. Drawing from four case studies, the strategies of three UK trade unions towards organising low-paid migrants are compared. It is concluded that trade unions tend to consider migrants primarily as workers (taking on a so-called ‘universalistic’ approach), rather than as migrant workers with particular and overlapping forms of oppression (a ‘particularistic’ approach). As a result, unions tend to construct a dichotomy between workplace and migration issues, impeding the effective involvement of diverse and marginalised workers into unions. Based on these findings, we argue that integrating universalistic and particularistic approaches to union organising and recruitment strategies is critical to promote the successful involvement of vulnerable migrants into trade unions.