The global migration compact and OFWs

With 10 million documented Filipino migrant workers, the Philippines understandably is one of the countries in the world which maintains more than a cursory interest in any undertaking that seeks to create a more reasonable world order that will define how nations deal with expatriates.

Overseas working Filipinos, however, are just a fraction of the estimated 258 million international migrants, mostly “unwanted” people by countries that are forced to deal with them.

The growing problem of unwanted migrants, many forced to flee their homes because of strife and persecution threats, has pushed many receiving countries to tighten their border patrols and impose rigid controls over asylum seekers.

The throngs of illegal migrants have caused economic and social discord on the immediate communities where they seek refuge, and have even become reasons for rising crime. In this era of terrorism, the influx of undocumented migrants is seen as a weak link in national security.

Yet, even legal migrant workers are viewed with concern by host countries. They are a reminder of their population and economic imbalance, and the often starkly different culture of the migrant worker calls for special rules and monitoring.

Rights of refugees

Migration, whether through legal means or unwanted, has always been an issue of civilizations even during ancient times. Wars and aspirations of a better life continue to be reasons, but never has migration numbers reached the crisis proportions as seen today.

In 2015, for example, more than a million migrants and asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea, and Kosovo made their way into Europe, triggering a crisis among member countries of the European Union (EU) on how to deal with the problem.

All EU states are signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, a legally binding document drawn up after World War II to protect Europeans forced to flee their homes. The treaty compels signatories to accept refugees, and accord them asylum privileges.

More than a decade later, the treaty was extended to all refugees under the 1976 Protocol signed by 142 countries. However, in view of recent events, this international human rights law is now being questioned, even as the United Nations prepares for the signing of the Global Compact on Migration in December this year in Morocco.

Unlike the 1951 Convention and 1976 Protocol, the Global Compact is non-binding. With blatant disregard to the 1951 and 1976 agreements today, there is growing belief that the Global Compact will not amount to much.

Already, the US, Hungary, and Australia have made it clear that they will not be part of the Global Compact. The US under President Trump is hostile towards cross border migrations, Hungary now has anti-immigrant laws, while Australia maintains long and often cruel detention procedures on asylum seekers and migrants.

No less than Pope Francis is expected to join the Morocco signing, where the UN says 190 countries will be participating. However, growing political movements in countries such as the UK, Italy, and Germany is raising more questions on the relevance of the Global Compact.

Relevance to the Philippines

The final draft of the 34-page Global Compact lists 23 objectives that will become the basis for a range of actions composed of policy instruments and best practices.

The Philippines, while not a major contributor to the global refugee problem, is supportive of the Global Compact, particularly on issues concerning human rights of migrants, as well as mitigation measures on migration causes.

More relevant to the Philippines is the Global Compact’s sixth objective, which seeks to “facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions that ensure decent work.”

On this, the Global Compact calls for a commitment to review existing recruitment mechanisms that will guarantee that these are fair and ethical, as well as to protect all migrant workers against all forms of exploitation and abuse in order to guarantee decent work and maximize the socioeconomic contributions of migrants in both their countries of origin and destination.

Whether this will solve the recurring problems that our overseas workers face in countries where they work, only time and more work by our overworked consulate and overseas employment bureaucrats will matter.

Abuses

Considered as a first step towards a meaningful and sustainable global migration governance framework, the Global Compact can only become relevant to our millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) if countries that take them in would define better protective employment laws.

Numerous cases involving abuses by foreign employers have been documented ever since the Philippines started sending out Filipinos to work abroad. That has been more than half a century ago.

Our consulates abroad have been almost powerless to intervene on behalf of maltreated employees, and many cases have dragged on for years. The latest abuse of a Filipino worker in Kuwait, where her mutilated body was discovered in a freezer, had forced an order from the President for a total recruitment ban.

While there has been a partial thawing in the “permanent” ban, the concerned Kuwaiti government agency in charge of overseas recruitment of workers recently announced new policies that would, hopefully, guarantee better rights of employees.

Kuwait, which employs about 250,000 Filipinos, is just one of the Middle East countries where rights of migrant workers need to be improved. Other countries like Saudi Arabia (with 1.02 million Filipinos), United Arab Emirates (with 700,000), and Qatar (with 200,000) also have had their share of unfair labor stories.

In the face of far greater refugee migration issues all over the world, is the Global Compact going to help Filipino migrant workers soon?

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