Nisha Varia, senior researcher in the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, says, “Governments seem to forget that when men, women, and children migrate, they don’t leave their rights at home. Instead of protecting people who already are at special risk of abuse, many governments further marginalize migrants, punish them, or push access to services out of reach.

“Migrants form the backbone of many economies, performing the labor and services that people in their host countries depend on but won’t do themselves. Instead of getting respect and the freedom and wages they are owed, they are treated as security threats, and in general, as undesirables to be pushed out of sight.”

Such is the fate of migrant workers who have been deemed negatively by some, but who are actually saving the global economy with their continuous and consistent flow of remittances to their countries of origin while giving their labor, skills, and knowledge in their host countries. To say that migrant workers are not getting the treatment that they deserve is a gross understatement.

In observance of International Migrants Day last December 18, Human Rights Watch specifically enumerated the ills that befall migrant workers worldwide due to skewed policies of governments, especially in 2009: ‘human rights abuses including labor exploitation, inadequate access to health care, and prolonged detention in poor, overcrowded conditions.’ 2009 is a particularly bad year for migrants, the concerned group concludes.

These observations and conclusions can be found in the 25-page roundup of Human Rights Watch reporting on violations of migrants’ rights this year, entitled Slow Movement: Protection of Migrants’ Rights in 2009. The significant report covers migrant workers in China, Cuba, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

Image by David Shankbone
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