Int'l Migrants Day: Mandate registrations to alleviate sufferings, urge experts

CHENNAI: As we observe International Migrants Day, it reminds that the migrants continue to face problems of various natures without a safety net and lack of a mechanism to protect their labour rights.

The Centre’s lack of will to pass the Emigrant Bill and sign the UN convention on the protection of the rights of the inter-state workers and emigrants respectively is a cause of concern.

Apart from this, the lack of a database on the migrant workforce, who are the backbone of the unorganised sectors, is yet another reason for the host of problems faced by the migrant labourers, according to experts.

On the national level, Bernard D Sami of Loyola Institute of Social Science Training and Research, Loyola College, said that India did not sign the 1990 UN convention on migrant workers, which fixes the responsibility of the destination/receiving country to ensure the safety and welfare of the workers.

“Our government is yet to sign the convention. Being a sending (source) country we will benefit a lot as the convention guarantees the safety and security of the workers in the foreign land. By not signing the convention, we are denying the rights and security of our labourers in the foreign land,” said Sami.

Josephine Amala Valarmathi of the National Domestic Workers Movement also echoed the same and said the Bill is pending since 2018. It is the need of the hour as many of the workers are subjected to untold sufferings at their place of work in foreign lands.

When neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bangladesh sign the convention, why India is not forthcoming to sign it, Sami wondered.

“Our country did not have a national level policy on migrant labourers that should empower the migrant workers to benefit under social security and welfare schemes in their place of work,” he added.

No database

Experts also say that the lack of a database is yet another core problem that left the inter-state migrant workers in distress. Without being registered at source or destination states, the migrant labourers are at the “mercy” of their employer or agent.

“Database on migrant labourers is the need of the hour. It should be updated periodically. It will be the best tool to frame policies for the targeted group,” said S Irudaya Rajan of the International Institute of Migration and Development. Sources in the State Labour Department said that the government had enrolled more than 7.7 lakh migrant workers. However, the registered migrant workers are not even close to 30 per cent of the total workforce.

Mandate registration of agents too

“Without being registered in the government portal, the workers remain a ghost. They stand no chance to benefit from any scheme or protection at times of distress,” said Deepak Tirkey of Odisha.

The agents and the employers are exploiting the ignorance of the workers, who lack knowledge about their rights and even the agents are covering up the deaths of the workers at worksite, said the migrant worker-turned-activist.

Tirkey claimed that a women migrant worker died recently at the worksite in Sriperumbudur, but, the death was not reported to the police nor to Labour Department. It is not one of the incidents.

“The government should mandate registration of agents and guarantee all migrant workers will be taken care of,” he added.