On Intl Migrants' Day, group urges protection for foreign workers in strife-torn countries


On International Migrants Day on Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) urged governments to protect rights of migrant workers, especially those in host countries that are undergoing political upheavals.

The IOM, an attached agency of the United Nations, said migrant workers are vulnerable to lose jobs, money, documentation and means to go back home in strife-torn countries.

The IOM particularly cited the case of more than 200,000 migrant workers who were displaced in Libya during the political turmoil that led to the downfall of strongman Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.

IOM director general William Lacy Swing said governments need to mitigate the impact of conflicts as well as man-made or natural disasters on migrant workers.

“The evacuation of migrants from Libya was a remarkable humanitarian achievement, but was a job half done," Swing said in a statement.

The IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) assisted some 9,000 Filipino workers displaced in Libya, along with some 35,000 migrants from Bangladesh.

"While we recognized the reintegration needs of returning Bangladeshi and worked with the government and the World Bank to meet them, we failed to recognize the needs and well-being of other migrants who returned empty-handed to economically depressed and food insecure countries such as Chad and Niger,” he added.

Swing said the international community needs to address the issues affecting migrant workers.

He called for the "protection of vulnerable migrants from crisis-related violence and exploitation in their host country, and in transit, and their safe and sustainable reintegration once they get home.”

“Finding humane and effective solutions to the complex and multi-faceted challenges of crisis-related migration flows requires strong partnerships between international organizations, states and a variety of non-state actors, including NGOs, the media, the private sector, religious groups and transnational diaspora communities,” Swing said. 

“We all share a responsibility to protect the human rights of all people on the move,” he added. - VVP, GMA News

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