{"id":3185,"date":"2021-04-05T08:15:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T08:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redfranciscana.org\/rompiendo-los-muros-mito3\/"},"modified":"2021-04-05T09:49:25","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T09:49:25","slug":"tearing-down-the-walls-myth3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redfranciscana.org\/en\/tearing-down-the-walls-myth3\/","title":{"rendered":"Tearing Down the Walls"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cMigrants are ruining national economies and should not be allowed to work\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

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Politicians and others have often tried to demonize so-called \u2018economic\u2019 migrants in order to rally support for xenophobic policies or create a scapegoat during economic downturns. In reality, economic migrants (or migrant workers) positively contribute to the economies of both their States of origin and destination.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICMW) defines a migrant worker as \u201ca person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national.\u201d The Convention defines certain categories of migrant workers, including seasonal workers and itinerant workers, but also underscores certain groups to which the ICMW does not apply, including refugees and stateless persons.<\/p>\n

A broad range of individuals therefore may be considered migrant workers, whose experiences differ not only as a result of their employment context, but also as a result of protections offered to them by the State in which they live. A 2018 study, for example, found that migrants significantly contributed<\/strong><\/span> to the health care industry in the United States in \u201cnearly every occupation.\u201d While these and other similarly placed migrants may have their rights fulfilled, others may be vulnerable to exploitation.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMigrant labour is an economic resource, both of receiving jurisdictions through the expansion of the labour market and of sending jurisdictions through the receipt of valuable remittances.\u201d UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders UN Document A\/HRC\/37\/<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Migrants also positively contribute to the economy of the country in which they work. A 2016 study found that undocumented immigrants in the United States contributed $11.64 billion to state and local taxes, which includes \u201cjust under $1.1 billion in personal income taxes.\u201d Studies on the United Kingdom and Germany have also found that intra-European Union (EU) migration contributed positively to their domestic economies.<\/p>\n

Economic migrants not only play an important role in the country where they work, but also contribute to the development of their home country. The World Bank has noted that \u201c[r] emittances have exceeded official aid\u2026since the mid-1990s,\u201d and in 2019 were expected to \u201covertake foreign direct investment.\u201d Such remittances were found to significantly contribute to the education and health care of members of the migrant\u2019s family and community, and the local economy more broadly, in their country of origin. In recognizing the value of remittances to development, the UN\u2019s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes the goal of reducing \u201cto less than 3 per cent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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La realidad desde el terreno<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

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FI has reported on the case of Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia, who are an important component of the care sector in a country with an ageing population. In its joint submission for the Universal Periodic Review of Malaysia, FI and partners wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ratio of documented and undocumented migrant workers is estimated at 50:50. Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia have often been exploited and tortured. They have limited access to health care and other services, which lead to permanent disabilities or death. The volume of complaints received from domestic workers, as well as a series of high profile cases of abuse disclosed by the media, led Indonesia to suspend deployment of domestic workers to Malaysia in 2009 pending a revised agreement. However, in 2011 Indonesia and Malaysia resumed another MoU with some additional clausal on labor protection, including the minimum wage. This MoU ended in 2016.<\/p>\n

[\u2026]<\/p>\n

On the 11 February 2018, Ms. Sau, a 21-year old Indonesian maid from NTT Province, died allegedly as a result of mistreatment by her employer in Penang in Malaysia. Before dying, she was found sitting helpless on the porch of her employer\u2019s house in the company of a Rottweiler-style black dog tied to the rope beside her. She was rushed to Bukit Mertajam Hospital, but she passed away. The neighbors around the employer\u2019s house told police that, for over a month, Ms. Sau was forced to sleep with a Rottweiler on her employer\u2019s porch.<\/p>\n

Initially, she worked legally in Malaysia until her return to Indonesia in 2014. She went back to Malaysia to work a second time without going through the formal procedure. Therefore, she was allegedly a victim of human trafficking, and working without a visa for two years which forced her to work in a deplorable condition until her death. The employer of Ms. Sau was charged of employing a foreign worker illegally and murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case of Ms. Sau is unfortunately not unique. As noted by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, women may be particularly at risk, especially when \u201cworking in unskilled, undervalued and lower paid sectors, often as domestic workers or caregivers, [\u2026] in spaces that are difficult to regulate, such as private homes.\u201d Such abuses are pervasive across countries. One study conducted by the Comite\u0301 d\u2019action contre la traite humaine interne et internationale (CATHII), an FI partner in Canada, found that \u201cmost cases of forced labor had to do with migrant workers who had entered Canada legally.”<\/p>\n

Given the vulnerable situations that migrant workers, especially women, find themselves in, it is critical for host States to accept and implement relevant international human rights legal obligations and standards and take other actions that prevent the abuse of migrant workers as well as reinforce their rights. The 2030 Agenda recognizes the importance of protecting labor rights and promoting \u201csafe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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State Obligations:<\/strong> Article 6 and Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights respectively affirm the right to work and the right to an adequate standard of living.<\/p>\n

In regards to the right to work, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has affirmed:<\/p>\n