People's Democracy

MIGRANT WORKERS IN A GLOBALISED ECONOMY

M K Pandhe

GLOBALISATION has created a situation which generated a worldwide phenomenon of migration of millions of workers to other countries. The finance capital�s thrust for cheap labour to bring down the cost of production in an environment of cut throat competition has given a powerful impetus to the phenomenon of migration of labour both within as well as outside the country.

The migration of labour has created a totally unregulated labour market where finance capital will have its sway over the entire gamut of labour relations. With all round downsizing of manpower drastically reducing the job opportunities within the country, the new entrants in the labour market have to be in search for job opportunities outside the country.

There is much talk and lip sympathy shown towards migratory labour but not much is being done. Perhaps, if the migrant labour is given their due then the capitalist will not be able to compete in the world market. Hence the logic of capitalism leads to only pep talk without any meaningful action to ameliorate the distress undergone by migrant labour.

The director general of the International Labour Organisation J Somavia repeatedly talks about �decent labour� but the labour migration has created a phenomenon of �indecent labour� which prevailed upon the ILO director general to speak about the issue of severe decent-work-deficit for the migrant labour in general.

The unlimited number of young persons available for migration have created a situation in which the employers as well as the governments of countries engaging migrant labour do not feel the necessity for governing the working and living conditions of the migrant labour. They are treated as second class citizens and deprived of all civic rights. A new form a slave labour has been created with the advent of globalisation and the pontiffs of globalisation have no word to utter about this inhuman phenomenon created by their policies.

GROWING PHENOMENON

According to official estimate four to five million Indian workers have migrated abroad in search of jobs. The total amount of money remitted by them to their families works to about 12 to 15 billion US dollars annually. It is further estimated that about 1 million workers form India have been migrating abroad every year.

The government of India gives emigration clearance to workers going abroad when they get confirmation letters of contractual employment. During the year 2005, 5.49 lakh workers were given such emigration clearance by the government of India. The number was only 2.79 lakh, in 2001.

In 2005, nearly two lakh workers officially migrated to United Arab Emirate while about a lakh did so to Saudi Arabia. Kuwait, Oman, Malaysia and Bahrain also accounted for a substantial number of workers migrating from India in search of jobs. Qatar, Mauritius, Maldives and Jordan are also accounting for sizable number of workers. Most of these workers, however, come in the category of unskilled and semiskilled workers.

Over 15 thousand skilled and technical persons go to the advanced capitalist countries every year through official emigration channel.

Kerala accounted for the largest number of emigration in 2005 with 1,25,075 workers migrating for jobs followed by Tamilnadu with 1,17,050 workers in the same year. Karnataka was far behind them with over 75,000 workers migrating for jobs outside the country. Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and UP are the states accounting for more than 20,000 workers migrating for jobs.

Equal numbers of workers are migrating illegally from India without emigration clearance from the government of India. Various spurious recruiting agencies are operating who are charging a high amount from the workers and giving the false employment assurance and good salary, who later on find that they were cheated by the Indian recruiting agencies and their counterparts in foreign countries. Several workers who were promised well paid jobs ultimately had to work as domestic servants.

Illegal recruitment of seamen from India by unscrupulous recruiting agents has been periodically reported. They go to Middle East as tourists and get job in foreign shipping companies at low wage rates. Since they are not trained, they meet several accidents but no step is being taken to protect their interests. I have personally raised the question of clandestine recruitment of seamen from India in the meeting of the National Shipping Board on several occasions, but no step has been taken to stop the malpractice. The problem becomes more aggravated because the trained seamen who are registered have to remain unemployed for a long time since jobs are illegally sold to untrained people for foreign shipping companies through agents in India.

UNCONTROLLED MALPRACTICES

The government of India has blacklisted 310 companies in foreign countries out of which 122 are from Malaysia, 54 from Saudi Arabia and 49 are from Bahrain. However, these companies register in some other names and continue to carry out their illegal practices without any check in their exploitative practices. Indian missions in these 17 countries, where employers have been blacklisted, have no mechanism to control such malpractices as a result of which workers continue to suffer. Recent Malaysian agitations by workers of Indian origin have clearly highlighted our mission�s failure in the matter.

Moreover, these foreign employers carry their malpractices with support from their agents in India. Action against these agents is largely absent in India. Whatever action the government of India takes is symbolic and does not touch the problem squarely.

According to a study conducted by Indian Council of World Affairs (2001) titled �Report of the High level committee on the India Diaspora�, Indians have migrated to 133 countries in search of livelihood. Major countries among them include Australia (1,90,000), Bahrain (1,30,000), Canada (8,51,000), Fiji (3,36,829), Guyana (3,95,350), Kenya (1,02,500), Kuwait (2,95,000), Malaysia (16,65,000), Mauritius (7,15,765), Myanmar (29,02,200), Netherlands (2,17,000), Oman (3,12,000), Qatar (1,31,000), Reunion Islands (2,20,055), Saudi Arabia (15,00,000), Singapore (3,07,000), South Africa (10,00,000), Suriname( 1,50,456), Trinidad and Tobago (5,00,600), UAE (9,50,000), UK, 12,00,000), USA (16,78,756), Yemen (1,00,900).

The number must have increased during the last decade due to a large exodus of Indian workers and educated personnel to foreign countries. Though the living conditions of industrialists, businessmen and technical persons may be good, the vast strata of unskilled and semi-skilled workers are facing bad working and living conditions. In advanced capitalist countries Indian are victims of racial discrimination and are paid lower wages than their counterparts in advanced countries. Trade union movement in these countries do not pay sufficient attention to the problems of migrant workers.

SHOCKING WORKING

CONDITIONS

The Report of the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora (2001) has collected some information about the working conditions of the Indian migrants in gulf region. Similar conditions are prevailing in other countries due to non-availability of proper labour protection machinery. The following are glaring examples.

Employment agreements are sometimes ignored on arrival of labour in the gulf and skilled workers are forced to work as unskilled persons. Employers sponsoring visas for labour sometimes do not receive them on arrival and leave them to fend for themselves. Several months of work may have to be devoted initially to the settlement of debt incurred in meeting the fee extorted by their recruiting agents in India, salaries are often not paid when due; some times not paid at all for several months towards the end of the contractual period resulting in workers being repatriated without full payment of their dues. Work permit fees are often deducted from their salaries.

Moreover, the workers have to work more than eight hours a day without any overtime payment. Medical facilities are inadequate or in some cases almost non-existent. The domestic workers are excluded from the purviews of the labour laws. Many women workers are sent to Gulf with false promises and made domestic servants. Quite often they have to face sexual harassment, molestation and rape by their employees. Many young girls are �given away in marriage� for a price to unknown persons in the Gulf. �Difficult conditions of work, inclement weather, inability to participate in any social and cultural activities, concern for their families back home and troublesome feeling of emotional deprivation, have sometime led to serious cases of mental depression and even suicide�, the Report noted. Workers are accommodated in crowded labour camps in small rooms with four or eight bunker beds. The facilities provided to them as toilets and kitchens are inadequate and unsatisfactory.

These are only some selected examples. Many more aspects of their working and living conditions can be cited which require attention of the government of India so that conditions are improved and made humane for the migrant workers.

The Report has further noted, �Na�ve, vulnerable and gullible migrants have sometimes had to encounter dangers of a serious character. According to a report in India Today of March 9, 2001, as many as 24 persons from Kerala had been publicly beheaded on charges of narcotic smuggling, an offence that attracts execution under local law�.

While unskilled and semi-skilled workers are living in shocking working conditions abroad the technical and highly skilled manpower are going abroad in large number causing �brain drain� from India. Ministry of External Affairs recently estimated unpublished figures of large proportion of high paid jobs in USA obtained by Indians. 38 per cent of doctors in USA are Indians. Similarly 12 per cent of scientists, 36 per cent of NASA employees, 36 per cent of Microsoft employees, 28 per cent of IBM employees and 17 per cent of Intel employees in USA are of Indian origin.

The recent Doha Declaration endorsed by 21 Asian and Gulf cooperation council of Ministers outlined an action plan to give a fair deal to migratory workers, most of them are from Asia. The Asian Regional consultative Process on overseas employment and contractual labour as it is called, recommended that effective actions should be initiated within three months to root out illegal recruitment practices, in the countries of origin as well as in the host countries, and to promote more transparent policies and practices of recruitment and employment, which could bring the guest workers job security and fair benefits.

It is not for the first time that such pious declarations have been made. The main problem is that the Gulf countries have no policy of labour protection, though more than one third of their population is of migratory workers. The six Gulf Cooperation Council Countries have a population of three and a half crore out of which more than one crore and thirty lakhs of workers migrated from several Asian countries. However, the Gulf countries claim that the nature of these workers presence is temporary. They claim, �Asian workers are contracted workers and not what some call immigrant workers�. This approach of the Gulf countries about the workers who have been working for years together, make such pious declaration meaningless.

Several Indian workers after their contract is over find some other work in Gulf countries and continue to stay there. They are supposed to be staying illegally and are being deported to India. The Indian Mission in these countries instead of helping the Indian workers only advocates that they should follow the national laws. The law should be flexible to allow a person to work if he is doing some work.

CHEATING OF

WORKERS

The United Arab Emirate, the Sharjah Department of Nationalization and Residency and Sharjah police recently arrested 267 Indian workers. According to a report published by �The Hindu� the Indian Consulate was not informed about the incident. These workers who were doing odd jobs in UAE were forced to leave the country on the plea that they violated the labour laws of those countries.

According to a reply given in Rajya Sabha in May 2007 by the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, government of India, Vayalar Ravi, 1820 registered recruiting agents are operating in India. Several of them are spurious agents who indulge in cheating the workers and charging high amount on the promise of giving job in the foreign country. On many occasions workers find that jobs are not commensurating with the assurances given. The ministry had received 76 complaints in 2006 and 14 till May 2007. However, the government of India sends such complaints to the state governments for action. But most of the state governments generally do not take action since these agents are heavily bribing the officials. As a result of the malpractices not being checked, even now large scale cheating of workers is going on unabated.

On behalf of CITU, I have taken some complaints to the authorities, but instead of taking actions, the complainants are being threatened by the culprits. Without stringent action against the culprits, the phenomenon of clandestine recruitment cannot be checked. There are thousands of unregistered employment agencies whose addresses cannot be traced when complaints are made against them. Many such recruiting agencies have made crores of rupees and withered away without any punishment by the authorities. During May 2007, 3846 migrant workers were in jails in 16 countries.

Moreover, the reality is that the countries, particularly in the Asian and Middle East region, where the Indian workers are mostly migrating, do not have any labour protective measures. There is no grievance procedure worth the name. Any worker raising any grievance is considered to be persona-non grata and deported out of the country.

No trade union movement is permitted in these countries. Even a demonstration of workers is considered to be an illegal activity. Even if the employer violates the labour law, the worker has no right to oppose such an action. Without freedom to ventilate the grievances of the worker, there can be no labour protection ensured in these countries.

The oil rich Sheikhs are not interested in any measure to give a fair deal to the workers migrating from Asian countries.

The trade union movement in India should consider the problem of migration abroad and their working and living conditions as problem of Indian Trade Union movement, so that sufficient pressure is brought on the government of India to take effective steps to protect the interest of millions of workers who have gone abroad in search of livelihood.

Though the government of India adopted Inter-state migrant workmen (Regulation of Employment and conditions of service ) Act 1979 which provides certain protective measures like payment of wages, equal wages for equal work, residential accommodations, medical facilities, protective clothing and compensation for injures, it is largely not implemented in India.

While the government has no machinery to ensure implementation of the Act, the trade union movement is also not taking their problems in right earnest. Wherever trade unions have taken interest in their problems they have participated in the struggle and achieved improvement in their living conditions. The problem of several migrant workers is linked with the system of bonded labour despite legal ban imposed by the government of India.