Intervention on behalf of migrant workers issues

Workshops on Leadership and personality development personality development for the children of migrant workers’ families

The  network was formed in 1994 with 31 peoples’ and women’s organization. But now functions with only the active ones Discussing plans and strategies for migrant workers’ issues, having discussions with government officials, submitting petitions and memoranda to the authorities demanding migrant workers’ right as well as protest rallies and demonstrations beneficial policy changes for migrant workers are the main functions of the network.

Workshops on Leadership and personality development personality development for the children of migrant workers’ families

20 children here participated in each the workshops conducted in the following RWF work areas lest year

sinhalese Tamils and Muslim children were involved in the activities harmoniously where their hidden talents were discovered

MPMWR Hopes to conduct a work shop at national level selecting 5 outstanding children from each area.

Arrangements have been made to conduct area level work shops in the remaining work areas too, in the near future.

Credit for Self Employment Project

 

Last year sum of Rs.309, 600/- has been given to 32 women in RWF work areas for self employment projects, as they had to return suddenly due to various type of harassment at their places of work

 

A monthly report of the progress of the self employment projects is sent to the head office by each MPMWR activist in the work areas.

Interventions since 1994 to date

 

Movement for the Protection of Migrant Workers Rights

The main aim of this project is to secure the rights of the women migrant workers and their families. The rights are specially the labor rights, such as - insurance, compensations, bring the bodies of the dead women, maintaining an information flow between the relatives and the women workers working abroad, salary issues, issues with agencies such as passport issues, sexual harassment, deception, birth control issues, age issues etc. and fraud by the agencies and the intermediateries, social rights. It targets to work with the SL Foreign Employment Bureau and solve the issues of the women workers and to solve the problems with the Sri Lankan missions abroad.

The organization plans to work for social rights and issues of children of the migrant women workers such as sexual harassment issues and child abuse by various perpetrators starting from the father. Some of the issues coming up are break down in education, issues of family break down, alcoholism and women and men getting into multiple partners and illegal affairs, illegal abortions, etc. Returning to the same employment results in a cycle of violence for these women.

As RWF there are programmes for the children of the women workers and conduct education and cultural programmes. There are personality building programmes, art exhibitions, youth and children camps and library programme, distribution of school books etc.
To prevent the women going abroad RWF conduct awareness programmes on the issues of women working aboard and awareness raising on the recruitment processes with the help of IOM and conduct video programmes. 

With returnees there is a loan scheme for self employment. The women leadership programmes is introduced to the women who have returned and women are increasingly getting involved in the leadership propgramme of the returnees.

Interface with the Foreign Employment Bureau has the aim of solving the issues of the women workers and returnees. RWF acts as an intermediary between the women migrant workers and the bureau. RWF also makes a set of demand each year from the Bureau and tries to get the demand meet. One such demand is the shelter homes for the women workers in the respective missions abroad. Other demands made are:

 

1. Prevention of young and below aged women from going aboard through policy formation
2. Prevention of trafficking of  women workers  and getting into underemployment
3. To deal with the frauds in the embassies in dealing with women workers and to punish the embassy workers who are involved in these frauds
4. To make laws to control the agency mafia
5. Set a pension scheme for the women workers

Another key area of work is the network of the organizations working on the issues of migrant workers and other workers such as farmers, fishers and others. This network celebrates the Migrant Worker Day and then it intervenes in the worker rights and creates a collective voice and act as a pressure group. This network also enables an exchange of information.

 

Expectation to take forward Movement for Migrant Workers Rights

• In the future the main aim is to prevent women from going abroad and getting into difficulties. It is expected to discourage women from going abroad as housemaids and provide alternative employment facilities through self employment. The recent increase of salaries and government action to encourage women this way has created obstacles
• A programme to be developed at the receiving end to facilitate an information flow and to deal with the difficulties that are faced by these women in the foreign countries. To facilitate a network and identify organizations in the foreign soil who could be of assistance to these women other than the embassies
• Use media and documentaries to prevent women from going aboard and getting into trouble. Use of different media to reach the women who are already there to develop a better communication system. New and innovative ways to highlight the real situation is expected
• To continue the commemoration of the Migrant workers’ day
• To create a database and information based on the facts on the migrant workers and how violence is inflicted upon them in many ways.  A nation wide study is to be done on the different dimensions of the women migrant worker situation.
• To broaden the interventions through expansion and adding new features such as a hotline