Labour Migration in Asia Protection of Migrant Workers, Support Services and Enhancing Development Benefits Opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IOM. IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. As an intergovernmental body, IOM acts with its partners in the international commu- nity to: assist in meeting the operational challenges of migration; advance understanding of migration issues; encourage social and economic development through migration; and uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants. Publisher: International Organization for Migration 17 route des Morillons 1211 Geneva 19 Switzerland Tel: +41.22.717 91 11 Fax: +41.22.798 61 50 Email: [email protected] Internet: http://www.iom.int _______________ ISBN 978 92 9068 242 4 © 2005 International Organization for Migration (IOM) _______________ All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. Editor: Caroline Mackenzie Cover illustration: from a painting by Vanessa Cuisinier Cover design, copy preparation and layout: Angela Pedersen 25_05 Labour Migration in Asia Protection of Migrant Workers, Support Services and Enhancing Development Benefits Authors’ Note Throughout this volume, “Hong Kong” refers to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, “Macao” refers to the Macao Special Administrative Region of China, and “Taiwan” refers to the Taiwan Province of China. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 9 Regulatory Frameworks for Recruitment of Migrant Workers and Minimum Standards in Employment Contracts: A Comparative Study of Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka 13 1. Introduction 15 2. Legal and Structural Frameworks for Regulating Recruitment Activities 17 2.1 Pakistan 17 2.2 The Philippines 18 2.3 Sri Lanka 22 3. Licensing and Supervision of Agencies 23 3.1 Pakistan 23 3.2 The Philippines 25 3.3 Sri Lanka 26 4. Monitoring of Recruitment Agencies 27 4.1 The Philippines 27 4.2 Sri Lanka 28 5. Processing and Documentation of Workers 28 5.1 Pakistan 28 5.2 The Philippines 30 5.3 Similarities in the processing of workers in Pakistan and the Philippines 31 5.4 Sri Lanka 31 6. Benchmarks for Fixing Minimum Standards of Overseas Employment Contracts 32 6.1 Pakistan 32 6.2 The Philippines 34 6.3 Sri Lanka 36 7. Role of Private Recruitment Agencies in Labour Migration 36 7.1 The Philippines 36 7.2 Sri Lanka 39 8. Regulations and Mechanisms for Regulating Recruitment of Vulnerable Workers 40 8.1 Pakistan 40 8.2 The Philippines 43 8.3 Sri Lanka 45 3 9. Malpractice by Private Recruitment Agencies 46 9.1 Pakistan 46 9.2 The Philippines 47 10. Malpractice by Employers 50 10.1 Pakistan 50 10.2 The Philippines 51 10.3 Sri Lanka 52 11. Illegal Recruitment and Unlawful Emigration 54 11.1 Pakistan 54 11.2 The Philippines 54 11.3 Sri Lanka 55 12. Redress for Violation of Rights of Migrant Workers 56 12.1 Pakistan 56 12.2 The Philippines 57 13. Efforts at Enforcing Minimum Standards in Employment Contract 57 13.1 The Philippines 57 13.2 Sri Lanka 59 14. Other Mechanisms to Check Abuses by Recruitment Agencies 61 14.1 Pakistan 61 14.2 The Philippines 62 14.3 Sri Lanka 62 15. Good Practices and Lessons Learned on Regulation of Recruitment 63 Conclusion 65 Bibliography 67 Appendices 68 Appendix A Comparative Study of Emigration Laws and Rules of Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka 68 Appendix B Organizational Chart of the Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment, Pakistan 70 Appendix C Organizational Chart for the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) 71 Appendix D Pakistan: Procedures for Overseas Employment through Overseas Employment Promoters/Agents 72 Appendix E Pakistan: Procedures for Registration of Foreign Service Agreements for Direct Employment 74 Appendix F Philippines: Model Employment Contract for Filipino Household Workers 75 Appendix G Philippines: Standard Employment Contract for Overseas Performing Artists in Japan 78 4 Appendix H Pakistan: Procedures for Handling Complaints Submitted to the Protector of Emigrants’ Office 80 Appendix I Pakistan: Procedures for Handling of Complaints by the Office of Community Welfare Attaché/Labour Attaché 81 Appendix J Pakistan: Action by Director General, Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment 82 Appendix K Pakistan: Emigration Ordinance 1979 Sections 17 and 18 relating to unlawful emigration 83 Pre-departure Orientation Programme: Study of Good Practices in Asia – A Comparative Study of Bangladesh, the Philippines and Sri Lanka 85 Summary 89 1. Introduction and Methodology 90 2. Overview of the Migration Situation and its Needs 94 Profiles of migrants 96 Institutional arrangements and the migration process 99 Stages of migration and needs of the migrant workers 101 3. Overview and Assessment of Pre-departure Orientation Programmes 104 Cost of PDOS programmes 114 4. Good Practices and the Way Forward 117 Enabling pre-departure registration and orientation 117 Involvement of private sector, international organizations and NGOs 118 Innovative curricula for pre-departure programmes 122 Content of pre-departure orientation seminars 124 Pre-employment orientation seminars 126 Standardization and certification 127 Special needs of skilled migrants 129 Media campaigns for awareness and accountability 129 Peer and community involvement 130 Enabling networking for support and redress 132 Gender-sensitive policy 133 Sustainability 136 Way Forward 137 Endnotes 138 Bibliography 139 Appendices 142 Appendix I Interview Sample – Bangladesh 142 Appendix II Interview Sample – The Philippines 143 Appendix III Definition of Migrant Labour Categories 145 5 Appendix IV Canadian Orientation Abroad Programme in the Philippines 146 Appendix V Training of the Trainer Course Manual for Community Volunteers, Migrant Peer Educators and Community Workers – Bangladesh 148 Appendix VI Basic Modules for PDOS run by Private Agencies – The Philippines 149 Appendix VII Example of PDOS Course Structure – Sri Lanka 150 Appendix VIII Overseas Employment of Bangladeshis by Broad Categories 152 Welfare Funds for Migrant Workers – A Comparative Study of Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka 153 Introduction 155 1. Comparative Institutional Setting, Clientele and Performance of the Three Countries’ Welfare Fund 156 1.1 Organization and objectives 156 1.2 Performance of the welfare funds 158 1.3 Services provided 160 1.4 Financial accounts 163 1.5 Good practices and bad 163 2. The Welfare Fund of Pakistan 165 3. Sri Lanka Workers’ Welfare Fund 177 3.1 Organization of Sri Lanka’s welfare fund 177 3.2 Outflow of Sri Lankan overseas workers and target clientele 178 3.3 Services offered by the Welfare Fund 182 3.4 Financial management 188 4. The Philippine Overseas Workers Welfare Fund 192 4.1 OWWA target population 194 4.2 Service rendered by OWWA 199 4.3 Scholarship programmes 203 4.4 Livelihood programmes 205 4.5 Financial accounts 216 Endnotes 217 Policies and Institutions for Training and Skills Development of Migrant Labour 219 1. Introduction 221 2. The International Perspective of Migration and the Structure of Migrant Labour in Asia 223 3. Basic Notions of Education and Training Labour Market 229 4. The Philippine Education and Training Labour Market 232 5. Planning Education/Training and Employment 242 6 A. Basic education 243 B. Middle-level skills development 244 C. Higher education 246 D. Science and technology 247 6. Certification and Work Experience 248 7. Key Findings and Conclusions 257 Endnotes 259 References 259 Appendices 261 Appendix A Statistics on Overseas Filipino Workers 261 Appendix B Philippine Employment Figures 265 Migrant Workers’ Remittances – Flows, Utilization, Policies and Prospects: The Case of Bangladesh 269 1. Introduction 271 2. Bangladeshi Migrants 273 3. Remittance Dynamics 276 4. Public and Private Actors in Remittance Transfers 284 5. Reforms and Actions in Harnessing Remittance 287 6. Remittance and Development 295 7. Civil Society and International Bodies 299 8. Conclusions and Recommendations 300 Endnotes 305 References 306 Appendix 1 308 External Migration and Remittances: Trends, Policies, Impact and Development Potential – The Case of India 309 1. Introduction 311 2. Magnitude and Composition of Labour Outflows 313 3. Financial Flows Associated with Migration 319 4. Policy Regime and Regulatory Framework Governing Financial Flows 328 5. Formal and Informal Remittance Transfer Systems 331 5.1 Formal transfer systems 331 5.2 Informal transfer systems 335 7 6. Developmental Effects of Remittances 339 7. Policy Implications 345 7.1 Facilitating greater mobility of international labour 345 7.2 Enhancing accessibility, expanding infrastructural capabilities and widening outreach of formal financial institutions 346 7.3 Maximizing the developmental potential of remittances 348 Endnotes 350 References 352 Appendices 354 Appendix I List of Persons/Categories of Workers for Whom an Emigration Check is Not Required (ECNR) and List of Categories of Persons Who can Obtain ECNR if they Possess a Valid Employment Visa 354 Appendix II Present Non-resident Deposit Schemes in India 355 Appendix III List of Banks and Other Institutions to Whom Licences have been Issued to Deal in Foreign Exchange 357 Appendix IV Correspondent Banks/Exchange Houses of SBI in UAE 358 8 INTRODUCTION In recent years migration has been making its way steadily to the top of the international affairs agenda, and now calls insistently and urgently for the attention of all governments, whatever the nature of their involvement or interest in the management of migratory processes.* The migration of workers from developing to industrialized countries has grown over the last few decades, although migrant workers still account for only a small proportion of the total workforce in industrialized countries. The International Labour Organization estimates that there are over 80 million workers worldwide, of whom 27 per cent are in Asia.