Ineffective complaint mechanisms coupled with missing coordination among grievance registration and redressing systems, and lack of awareness about their availability have been identified as major hurdles in access to justice for the migrant workers in a study. Conducted by the Punjab labour department with the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the study has […]
Category: Pakistan
“You’re suffering from hepatitis C. So you can’t leave for Saudi Arabia,” tells the receptionist at a medical facility in the provincial metropolis to a migrant worker seeking reemployment in the oil kingdom. Anwar has earlier served as a cab driver in Riyadh for three years and has returned home a few months ago on […]
As the government sits on a draft law prescribing stricter punishment for human smugglers, the menace of trafficking people thrives, claiming lives of those traveling abroad in search of greener pastures. With the arrest of three more alleged human smugglers on Friday, the tally of those held for involvement in the ugly business has risen […]
For the promotion of safe and secure employment abroad, the Punjab government in Pakistan is working on a rare idea of setting up its own ‘camps’ in countries of destination for migrant labourers from the province. Under the plan, the provincial government will set up residential quarters or camps in host countries exclusively for the […]
The Punjab labour and human resource department has set up the first-ever Migrant Resource Centre in the country, to plug the information gap migrant workers mostly face at home and abroad. Established with the support of the ILO at the Industrial Relations Institute, Township, the centre will provide reliable and accurate information and support services […]
Delayed wages, harassment, sleeping 20 to a room These are just some of the things migrant workers put up with. It’s in sharp contrast to what recruiters told them they would get out of Malaysia’s vibrant economy. For the last six months, Asif Tanvir Zia, who is originally from the Rahim Yar Khan district in […]
“…but I’d paid for and been assured of an automobile driver’s job,” Maqbool protested when the employer (kafeel) in Abu Dhabi the poor Pakistani chap had reached, told him that he would be driving a herd of sheep and not a vehicle. “I couldn’t turn round and go home as the employer wouldn’t hand over […]