According to the World Report 2000 of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 150 million people are residing outside their countries of origin. Other estimates state that more than 25 million are Asian migrants working in other countries.
In recent times, Asian migration patterns have been marked by intra-regional migration, temporary labor migration and a rise in irregular migration.
There is also an increasing trend towards the feminization of migration. The IOM report puts the gender distribution of migrants internationally at 52.5% for men and 47.5% for women migrants. However, the increase in the participation of women in the regional labor migration from 15% in 1976 to 27% by 1987 with the upward trend showing no let up in the 1990s is evidence of the feminization of migration in Asia.
In the Philippines, newly hired women Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) increased from 61% in 1998 to 68% in 1999, as against a percentage share of 12% of total OFWs in 1975. The situation is the same for Sri Lanka. (see table)
TABLE -1
Migration of Sri Lanka Workers to All Countries Distribution by
Gender
|
1981 |
1996 |
||
|
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|
27,265 |
30, 385 |
41,315 |
121, 257 |
While the vulnerability of migrants to HIV and other infections is
recognized because of various working and living conditions which
impact on their human rights, the feminization of migration
exacerbates the problem. Recent UNAIDS (2001) estimates indicate that
out of five million people who were newly infected, two million were
women. Similarly, by 2001, 19 million out of the 40 million people
living with HIV/AIDS were women.
Some of the human rights issues affecting the health and HIV
vulnerability of migrant workers concern the following:
Access to information
In the context of active promotion of export of labor to finance
economic growth and meet foreign debt obligations by many sending
countries, the availability and accessibility of information for
migrant workers at pre-departure, post arrival and reintegration
stages are either limited or non-existent. In a survey of Bangladeshi
workers in Malaysia, 91% say that they did not receive orientation or
training relating to HIV or AIDS before leaving their home
country.1 Existing information available to
migrant workers focuses on developing job skills and greater
subservience2 ignoring rights-based orientation
programs which facilitate development of survival skills and
empowerment against health and HIV vulnerabilities. Such a situation
could adversely impact on the security and health status of the
migrant workers in the other stages of migration.
Mandatory testing, notification and deportation
Most receiving countries in Southeast and Northeast Asia and in the Middle East require people applying for overseas jobs to undergo mandatory testing for HIV and other infectious diseases. In addition to the discriminatory nature of the mandatory testing, it is often undertaken in an insensitive and irresponsible manner.
Though the Bangladesh government condemned in 19973 the mandatory HIV testing requirement, emigrating workers are still required to undergo tests in Bangladesh prior to departure. The 2000 survey done by CARAM of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia reveals that:
Similarly, in a study conducted in the Philippines, many migrant workers were unaware that they were tested for HIV.4
HIV testing can also be a discrimination tool when imposed on
people in difficult situation. The mandatory HIV testing by the
Burmese government in April to June 2002 of the three thousand
Burmese migrant workers, who were deported from Thailand, constituted
a discriminatory act against people whose migration was caused by the
forced relocation and forced labor policies of (along with economic
mismanagement by) the government.5
Access to health care
Access to health care is not considered a right of migrant workers
in receiving countries. For undocumented migrant workers, their fear
of arrest effectively restricts the use of medical facilities
especially of state-run hospitals. Lack of or poor access to health
care by migrant workers precipitates their HIV vulnerability.
Working conditions
Labor rights violations such as long working hours with little or
no rest, exposure to unsafe working conditions, poor sanitation and
nutrition, and wage withholding, underpayment or illegal deduction
have the potential of compromising the health of migrant workers and
predispose them to infections.
Single entry policy and denial of right to marry
Most receiving countries require migrant workers to enter the
country without spouses and partners. Further, marriage in the
receiving country often becomes reason for deportation. Such policies
deny the human, social and sexual identities and needs of migrant
workers, and increase their health and HIV vulnerabilities when they
opt for unsafe means of pursuing relationships.
Detention centers and health
Reports indicate that in most detention centers, migrant detainees
face poor nutrition and sanitation, minimal or no medical
attention.6 Rape and sexual abuse of women
migrant detainees are also common. Such violations may cause direct
infection with HIV and severely compromise the health of detainees
and increase vulnerability to infection.
HIV-positive migrant workers
Returning migrant workers who are HIV positive face discrimination at home. The case of two returning migrant workers in Bangladesh illustrates this point. They were isolated in a jail-like situation in a hospital and the media hounded them by publishing their photographs in newspapers using information supplied by the hospital.7
Until returning migrant workers are protected and are able to
enjoy their rights to privacy, information and access to appropriate
health care, it is not possible to protect the societies they belong
to from the AIDS pandemic.
Health and HIV vulnerability of female migrants
The increasing number of women migrant workers engaged in the informal labor sector (as domestic help and sex workers) raises health issues. Their isolation and poor working conditions cause their vulnerability to health problems, and decrease their protection against abuse. Their lack of capacity to negotiate for safe sex and denial of right to make a free choice regarding their body as women exacerbate the risk of contracting HIV.
Government policy and employers' practice in receiving countries of prohibiting women migrant workers from getting pregnant during their employment institutionalize the suppression of the women migrant workers' right to control their bodies.
Likewise, the ban on migration of women workers (such as in Nepal, India and Bangladesh) leads to the use of irregular migration channels that expose them to health risks. This policy obviously restricts their freedom of movement.
Given the regional scenario of increasing number of women infected
with HIV, lack of protection for migrant women workers will lead to
increased vulnerability of women to HIV/AIDS.
Awareness of health rights
Minimal recognition of the health rights of migrant workers causes
many of the problems they face. Failure to appreciate the link
between the rights violations in HIV-infection prevention measures
and the consequent increase in HIV infection of migrant workers, the
focus on "welfare approach" to infection prevention (supply of
condoms and information materials for example) without developing an
enabling environment for health rights protection, and the inadequate
recognition of the link between health rights and the economic rights
of migrant workers, among others, will not lead to a holistic
approach to fighting HIV/AIDS infection.
The significance of HIV testing as an epidemiological tool or as a necessary medical intervention for treatment is not challenged. However, the focus on migrant workers and the notification and deportation process related to HIV testing is discriminatory. The infringement of the human rights of migrant workers in relation to mandatory testing-deportation process is shown as follows:
A false sense of security occurs among the local population of
receiving countries by thinking that they are free from HIV infection
because mandatory testing and deportation of migrant workers are
undertaken. Granting that employers of receiving countries have the
right to hire healthy workers, what is their responsibility in
keeping the workers healthy and giving them access to health care
during the course of their employment?
The protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers effectively reduce not only their vulnerability to HIV but also that of the societies they live in. The crucial elements of this approach are:
CARAM-Asia is a regional network of organizations committed to action-research on Mobility and HIV/AIDS in Asia. It has 11 partner-organizations in South, Southeast and the Middle East.
For further information, please contact: Coordination of Action
Research on Aids and Mobility in Asia (CARAM-Asia), 8th floor, Wisma
MLS, 31 Jln Tuanku,Abdul Rahman 50100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ph
(603) 2697-0708, fax (603) 2697-0282, e-mail: caramasia@hotmail.com;
website: caramasia.gn.apc.org