UNIFEM reports that there are 56 million migrant women workers in Asia and Pacific. According to Irena Vojackova-Sollorano of the International Organisation for Migration, this could be taken as a positive indicator that women are becoming empowered, taking a decision for themselves to seek work outside their own country. However, women migrant labourers still come into adverse conditions once they enter into employment abroad. A combination of racial discrimination, employer abuse, lack of health services, and vulnerable legal status face women seeking low-paid jobs abroad, but still they accept these conditions over the lack of employment at home.

A session was held on Migration in the Context of Globalisation on the second day of the ESCAP High Level Ministerial Meeting (HLM) to Review Regional Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in Bangkok, Thailand on September 7, 2004. The first part of the session allowed policy analysts to come face to face with the government, UN and NGO participants in tackling the compound problem of women migrant labour in the region, hopefully to influence policy and change the conditions of women migrant work.

Swarna Jayaweera, of the Sri Lanka Women’s NGO Forum reminded governments that women leaving their country to work abroad are still their responsibility. The ultimate goal for governments should still be to create good jobs that would induce women to stay in their home countries. Many women seek work that require low-level skills and are recruited under exploitative contracts. Governments should also have to provide support for workers who leave by giving them skills training, readiness for cultural realities in their destination countries, and proper documentation to ensure that they have appropriate legal status.

But destination countries are equally responsible for workers arriving on their shores and borders, and must have humane systems, law and policies in place whether these workers arrive legally or illegally.

Jayaweera lamented the fact that only few countries have ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. In fact, only countries sending out people such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Philippines, have ratified this international instrument for protecting migrant workers. She urged receiving countries to not just ratify the convention, but also to form bilateral agreements with sending countries.

Vojackova-Sollorano believes that a migration management policy in sending and receiving countries would limit the exploitative practices of traffickers. She wants governments to have migration policies based on the realities of labour demand and the needs of migrants. Women should also be in migration-related positions such as border guards and immigration authorities. Lastly, migrant women should have access to health services, since they work in jobs that require them to be healthy.

The latter part of the session was given to women who recounted their experiences as migrant workers. All of them had similar experiences of coming from low-income families, being defrauded in their contracts, suffering through poor living and working conditions in their place of employment and mishandling by immigration authorities.Two domestic workers, Tina Supilatin, an Indonesian, and Jyoti KC from Nepal, were able to seek justice for abuse by former employers through assistance from NGOs working with migrant workers. They have since been active in organising fellow workers, and Jyoti continues to work outside her home country. Meanwhile, Kasanita Queilusevalu, a Fijian midwife and nurse, returned to work in Fiji only to receive low wages and part-time status with no benefits.

While they might have had different outcomes from their experience, they echoed the policy analysts’ calls for better services and policies from their governments. Similarly, they asked their governments to follow and implement international instruments for migration.

Jean D’Cunha of UNIFEM said that the conventions for migration are quite new. Women should instead look to the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as a stronger means of holding countries accountable. CEDAW has already been ratified by 177 countries to date.

Aileen Familara of Isis International Manila for APWWW