AHM Zehadul Karim
Migrant workers had remained involved as part of the productive forces since long past when people in different parts of the world started exploring economic resources for development of their respective country. If we look back on history, it becomes known to us that since the beginning with the Greco-Roman civilization and later during the European colonial era, the workers and specially the migrant workers were employed for resource mobilization and economic expansion of their economy.
Evidences suggest that many colonial countries around the world had to welcome the foreign nationals to work for their respective colonized countries in their multifarious development sectors as in many cases, the local people often were reluctant to work as paid workers. Since the very beginning of the colonial period, Britain was perhaps the first country to experience a large number of labor migration in the 18th century which is also true for other European countries like France, Germany and Switzerland.
Like many European countries, the United States also imported a large number of foreign workers for purpose of employing them for developing its national infrastructure. Like many other western countries, the inflow of migrant workers in Middle East and the Gulf countries had started just recently when Arabian nations started becoming rich after having their new-found oil resources during 1920s and 1930s.
After the Second World War, we find Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea had employed enormous of the labour force requiring them to work for their expanding commercial, industrial and developmental sectors. At present, the concept of foreign workers has become a global issue and for that reason, it receives special attention from different parts of the world in different perspectives.
In the past however, many countries were not much concerned about the rights and privileges of these groups of people, but presently the situation is fully different. Their rights are now formally recognized and accordingly on 18 December 1990, the Suited Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on the ‘International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families’ and since then, this Day is celebrated as the International Migrants Day showing honor and recognition of labour rights.
In observance of this Day, former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, urged the nations of the world saying that, “on this International Migrants Day, I urge the Governments to ratify and implement all core international human rights ….and reject xenophobia and embrace migration as a key enabler for the equitable, inclusive and sustainable social and economic development”.
In continuation of his deliverance he further added that “Too many workers still now live in the worst conditions having least access to basic services and fundamental rights of themselves; thus making them disproportionately vulnerable to extortions, violence, discrimination and marginalization”. Migrant workers are now entitled to many legal rights and thus are supposed to enjoy many privileges including their medical facilities and economic benefits relating to their treatment which they do not enjoy fully. As of today, many of their rights are still refused and remain unconsidered deliberately violating the UN Charter.
This is proved when we find enormous of the research findings documenting the lives and living of the foreign workers in many countries of the world; it is clearly evident in those studies that the health care aspects of the foreign workers are fully ignored. Moreover, the migrant workers are not covered by any insurance for which they often cannot see a doctor at the time of necessity; it effectually keeps them in tension.
Since the foreign workers do not have any medical insurance as such, it is quite likely that they are very much afraid and terrified at this moment of Coronavirus pandemic and there is no denying of the fact in many cases, they are put to severe unprivileged situation. Singapore has been quite successful in lessening the coronavirus victims among the people by rigorous contact tracing and surveillance, but infections within migrants have been alarmingly recorded to 1,625 who are linked to outbreaks in the migrant workers’ dormitories.
Qatar has locked down tens of thousands of migrant workers in a crowded neighbourhood which is susceptible to corona infection. It may regretfully be mentioned here that one celebrity from Kuwait mentioned on the television saying that migrant workers should be thrown to the desert. But we have to remember that Islam does never prescribe such cruelty. The oil-rich monarchies of the Persian Gulf always relied on the low-paid migrant workers who are now locked down in cramped and unsanitary dorms being scarce of any money and food.
Migrant workers in Malaysia are also facing the same difficulties although everybody admits that their economy and development has entirely been lifted by their laborious works. It is reported that many undocumented Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia, are facing serous food problem due to extension of the lockdown period amid coronavirus outbreak. Positively, Saudi Arabia has recently declared the coverage of all corona victims in the country irrespective of locals or foreigners but, a 2. 4 billion aid package is however, absolutely meant for the private sector salary payment of the Saudi nationals straightway excluding the foreigners from the system.
Similarly, the United Arab Emirates allowed the companies granting paid or unpaid leave and also suggest them to cut down the salary of the foreign workers. From humanitarian point of view, salary curtailment is simply expression of cruelty especially at this crucial pandemic situation. A recent report of New York Times clearly mentioned that a bulk of these foreign workers are coming from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, the Philippines, Pakistan and other Asian and African countries. Like all other foreign nationals, a great majority of the Bangladeshi workers abroad are very much helpless and they are eager to return home which is difficult at this moment due to airline disruption throughout the world.
At this situation, Bangladesh may appeal to the concerned countries to provide these workers with all atmospheric and economic support to create congenial situations for these migrant workers staying abroad and we may modestly remind them saying that these brothers are the real contributors to their infrastructural development. In this context, our embassies abroad should monitor everything very sincerely in a modest and unbureaucratic way so that the real problems of the workers are solved at this critical situation.
Relating to Corona situation, Indian government recently imposed lockdown in certain regions for three weeks where millions of migrant workers became stranded being worried about food and aid which was vehemently protested when the Government wanted to prolong the shutdown until 3rd May.
But it did not happen the same way in Kerala where the State Government did not allow any worker to face problem in regard to food and money, instead they embraced the workers as their guests. Kerala has done excellent in facing the corona; they are the model of democracy and humanitarianism.
In Bangladesh, the Prime Minister repeatedly requested the industrial owners to pay off the salary of their workers on regular basis and not to lay-off any one of them at this critical situation. Yet, many of the factory owners did not pay any heed to such request for which many protestors came out on the street.
To conclude here I would finally say that since the foreign workers mostly live in congested accommodations with unhealthy atmosphere and poor quality of life, it is therefore suggestible that they are immediately moved to some alternative and bigger accommodations so that they can maintain social distance to each other living in a hygienic environment.
Many nations of the world, for that reason, allow the foreign workers to get their health-coverage from insurance companies. It is learned that Nepalese migrant workers in three Gulf countries are covered by insurance during the first year of their stay in those countries and the companies there later, cover any accidents and deaths whatsoever that occur while they are at work.
Recently, Thailand introduced a universal health coverage system through a scheme of health insurance for the registered foreign workers. We suggest that following Thailand and other Gulf countries, Malaysia, Singapore and other Arab countries also innovate such scheme for all foreign workers employed there which eventually help all foreign workers in general including the Bangladeshis who number the majority in those countries.
AHM Zehadul Karim is a professor, Department of Anthropology, Jagannath University
