PREAMBLE:

At the South Asia Conference on Migrants Rights (6-8 Dec 2004) convened by Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) and Centre for Education and Communication (CEC) in Gurgaon (India) , the participants from five major countries of the SAARC region, namely Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, including representatives of government (except India), trade unions, media and civil society organizations express concern on the issue of out-migration from South Asia which is increasingly been recognised as a complex phenomenon and a multidimensional problem.

While it is a developmental strategy for governments, it is a survival issue for the migrant. It has raised a number of important concerns and issues including that of

• the commodification of labour as a result of globalization,
• vulnerability of women, trafficking of women and children
• violence against and sexual harassment of migrant women,
• inadequacy of national labour laws,
• lack of coverage by laws in host countries,
• government’s role in migration, which falls short of upholding the dignity and rights of the migrant worker as enshrined in the UN Migrant Workers Convention,
• inadequate guaranteed protection for Migrant Workers in some receiving countries in spite of various initiatives and bilateral dialogues between governments and regional organizations,lack of coordinated regional efforts to address the issue of migration within and outside the region of South Asia,
• reluctance of the South Asian governments (except Sri Lanka) to ratify UN Convention on Rights of Migrant Workers and by all countries in the region to ratify ILO Conventions 97 and 143 .

In the light of above concerns, we therefore recommend

• That a regulatory framework in the context of ILO Standards and UN Conventions be adopted to respond to the issue of migration in the region.
• That while working out contracts with host countries, the countries in the region work out a uniform framework with respect to minimum labour standards and wages for migrant workers
• That minimum provision be made for social security, health and safety of the migrant workers in conformance with ILO standards.
• That measures be taken to monitor the recruiting and employment agencies in both host countries and countries of origin to avoid malpractices and harassment
• To provide rights based pre departure training to migrants.
• To improve networking and information exchange between all stakeholders in the region on all issues involving migrant protection.
• To build a national and regional database for migrant workers.
• Include the provision of “work permit” under SAFTA for labour migration within SAARC countries.
• That media should be actively involved in the dissemination of information and building public awareness of this issue. These programmes should be aired on both the national and other channels for the widest possible coverage. Discussions on global issues pertinent to migrant workers should be highlighted by the media.
• That awareness programmes be undertaken with the involvement of NGOs, IGOs, media, CBOs, trade unions and civil society organizations to popularize the Conventions on Migrants Rights.
• That Human Rights Commissions have special cells working exclusively for migrant workers.
• That the above stakeholders work to persuade policy makers and parliamentarians to take steps to ratify the ILO Conventions and UN Convention.
• That academic institutions take up seriously the systematic study of the problem for arriving at a reliable data base and statistics and give sufficient priority in the academic agendas to the issues posed by migration.
• That a mapping and charting of the benefits accrued by receiving countries through the contribution of migrant workers be undertaken.
• That organisation of the migrant workers be undertaken as an important step towards achievement of their rights.
• That Trade Unions in all SAARC countries be encouraged to take up the issues of organising migrant workers in the course of their regular activities.
• That in the SAARC region, India and Pakistan being two countries which are both countries of origin as well as destination countries and both also having active trade union movements, the trade unions in these countries take the lead in taking up the issue of migrants rights, thereby setting an international trend and example to emulate.
• That since migrants contribute towards the social security funds in the host countries, they should get the benefit of social security even after their return.
• That the migrant workers should be encouraged to be organized into unions/associations, or wherever possible, join existing ones.
• That Governments, unions, NGOs, and other stakeholders work in close collaboration and cooperation to further the rights of migrant workers.

A follow up at the national and regional level

• That workshops, programmes be organised to involve the trade unions, human rights activists, academics, media, lawyers, NGOs and social movements to continue with the objective of this conference.
• To observe 18 th Dec (International Migrants Day) in a befitting manner

he framework agreement will be submitted to the respective governments and the SAARC secretariat by the respective participants.