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Dr. Shashi Tharoor is a two-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, the former Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Human Resource Development and the former UN Under-Secretary-General. He has written 14 books, including, most recently, Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century.)
Among the unsung factors in India's near-miraculous survival of the global economic recession over the last five years were the remittances that kept coming in from our mainly blue-collar workers in the Gulf. India receives the highest amount of remittances in the world at roughly $70 billion, almost three times the amount of FDI that comes into the country.
By far the largest share comes from the Gulf countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE - which sent us a combined sum of $32.7 billion in 2014, almost half of all remittances received. And most of those represent the sweat and toil of labourers, masons, clerks, shop assistants and other working class Indians who never lost their faith in our country, or diluted their commitment to India, at a time when well-heeled Indian capitalists preferred to invest their money abroad.
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.
Look at the kinds of challenges that migrant workers face:
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Deception by visa brokers and recruiting agents: They are victims of various forms of deception and trickery at the recruitment stage. These include excess charges for visas and other travel documents, processing of 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. This is compounded by:
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Lack of awareness of pre-departure training: lack of authentic and timely information relating to overseas employment, recruitment agencies and emigration procedures makes workers dependent on intermediaries and vulnerable to exploitation. And:
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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.
International Migrants Day, December 18, celebrates the spirit of millions of migrants across the world. It recognizes that a large section of these men and women put their freedom and sometimes even their lives at risk to follow their dreams and aspirations. It's a good occasion for us in India to think of how we can protect our migrants better.
The Emigration Act 1983, which has been used to regulate the recruitment and employment of migrant workers, has been criticized by government commissions and NGOs such as Amnesty International India. The government-commissioned report by the Ministry of Overseas Affairs in 2009 stated in its recommendations: "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. 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 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" says the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, 1995.
Our Emigration act expresses no such sentiment.
Their law also recognizes 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. Previous reports by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs have specified the shortcomings of the recruitment process and expressed the need to modernize the legislative framework into a more effective instrument in facilitating legal migration and empowering emigrants.
Now it's time for the BJP government to treat this issue with the seriousness it deserves, and I've written to Sushma Swaraj with some ideas for a new Emigration Bill.
Based on research and field experiences, organizations 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.
In a country like ours, with unemployment and underemployment problems and excess human resources, a robust emigration law will help fulfil the aspirations of millions of India's citizens going abroad in search of better economic opportunities.
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