Options for countries of origin

Countries of origin can do a great deal to ensure that their workers are prepared for migration — to take full advantage of the opportunities available, and protect themselves from potential abuses.

Even before they leave home, migrant workers are at risk of exploitation. Those who are traveling for the first time may lack accurate information about the jobs available and the working and living conditions they are likely to encounter overseas. And they will be faced with many complex administrative processes that are hard to understand.

In principle they should be able to turn for help to reputable recruitment agencies. Unfortunately, they may also encounter unscrupulous or fraudulent agencies or those controlled by organized crime. As a result migrants are frequently overcharged, whether for administration or for job placements. In the most serious cases they may find themselves confined to ‘recruitment centres’. At greatest danger are vulnerable women and children who risk being trafficked.

To address these and other problems Asian countries of origin have been taking steps to protect their migrant workers. These include: applying exit controls, curbing abuses in recruitment, setting standards for employment contracts, providing welfare services for migrants, posting labour attachés abroad and cooperating with countries of destination.

The first line of defence for labour-sending countries is exit controls. Generally the restrictions concern the emigration of young women. Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and the Philippines all have minimum age limits for women workers going abroad for employment. And in the past some countries have prohibited workers from going to specific destinations where migrants have previously experienced abuses.