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Mahesh

21/01/24 10:10 AM IST

What are labour rules for workers abroad?

In News
  • The Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments, with the help of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), have started the process of recruiting about 10,000 workers to go to Israel, primarily for construction activities.
Rules in abroad
  • Workers going to conflict zones or places without sufficient labour protections are required to register with the Ministry of External Affairs’ ‘e-migrate’ portal.
  • Passports issued under the ECR (Emigration Check Required) scheme cover workers travelling to 18 countries, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, the UAE, and Yemen.
  • Israel is not on this list and the ‘e-migrate’ system will not be used for those going to Israel despite continuing violence due to Israel’s bombing of Gaza.
  • The Rules say that no recruiting agent shall collect from the worker service charges more than a maximum of ₹30,000 and the service charges shall include costs of domestic travel or lodging and boarding for conducting of interviews by the recruiting agent.
  • Here, the workers will have to pay a fee to the NSDC, pay for their flight tickets, etc, which will add up to almost ₹1 lakh.
  • The unions point out that paid recruitment in a war zone facilitated by governments violates provisions of the Emigration Act.
International convention
  • The international practices for protection of migrant workers are governed by two conventions of the International Labour Organisation: the Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97) and Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143).
  • While India has not ratified both conventions, Israel had ratified the 1949 convention in 1953.
  • The 1949 convention says: “Each Member for which this Convention is in force undertakes that it will, so far as national laws and regulations permit, take all appropriate steps against misleading propaganda relating to emigration and immigration. For this purpose, it will where appropriate act in co-operation with other Members concerned.”
  • According to a 2017 report prepared by the ILO, international migration has grown significantly in the last two decades. The number of migrants from Asia to the Arab states has more than tripled, from 5.7 million in 1990 to 19 million in 2015.
Way forward
  • The global unemployment rate is set to increase in 2024 while growing social inequalities remain a concern, said the ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2024 report.
  • Joblessness and the jobs gap have both fallen below pre-pandemic levels but global unemployment will rise in 2024, it said.
  • It added that many low- and middle-income countries will experience a demographic transition after 2030 and asked the countries to design sensible migration policies and skilling initiatives to support and develop local labour markets with growing populations.
  • “To do so will require, among other things, a more accurate forecast of labour demand by occupations and sectors in destination countries, and a strengthened education and training system in countries with excess labour resources,” the report said.
  • In 2019, a report of the Parliament Standing Committee on External Affairs had asked the Centre to draft a migration policy.
Source- The Hindu

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