Editorial: Ghana needs a policy on our migrant workers,

On September 7, 2000, Ghana signed up to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, which was adopted by Resolution 45/158 of 18 December 1990 at the forty-fifth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The Convention, which came into force on 1 July, 2003, has 27 signatories and 34 parties.

The convention was partly in recognition of the impact of the flows of migrant workers on States and people concerned, with the aim to establish norms which may contribute to the harmonisation of the attitudes of States through the acceptance of basic principles concerning the treatment of migrant workers and members of their families,

It considered the situation of vulnerability in which migrant workers and members of their families frequently find themselves owing, among other things, to their absence from their State of origin and to the difficulties they encounter arising from their presence in the State of employment,

It is only three years-old in implementation, a whole 16 years after enactment. Yet the rights of migrant workers and members of their families are far from being sufficiently recognised, most disturbingly in several of the countries that are big on migrant workers, especially within the Persian Gulf. In fact, our checks indicate that countries such as Qatar, United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France and the Netherlands are not signatories to this convention.

Admittedly, some of the non-signatory countries have adequate domestic laws ostensibly to take care of the issues of discriminatory practices which migrant workers face. However, what the current case of Ghanaian migrant workers in Qatar are facing, regarding alleged broken promises from the recruitment agency, including reduced pay and non-payment of wages, has brought to the fore is that it is time the Executive and Parliament of the Republic of Ghana take a policy look at the growing phenomenon of migrant workers.

As Qanawu Gabby argues in his column, Pulling No Punches, today, migrant labour has provided better incomes for several developing countries, including Ghana. Yet, it has also brought many hardships.

Though, our brothers and sisters abroad may not be telling us the story, the majority of them are treated as low status employees at the mercy of discriminatory regimes in the employment states.

Our migrants, several of them graduates, are frequently pushed into menial, low-paying and physically demanding jobs where, as has been noted by several studies, human rights are not respected and working conditions are dangerous. Ghanaian overseas workers are crucial to Ghana's economy. It is therefore appropriate for our lawmakers to recognise this. We can at least attempt to offer them protection, especially when they are being recruited here by placement agencies and through our missions abroad, and at the same time give them incentives to encourage them to be more active and direct participants in our country"s development.

We are hereby calling on Government to take a cue from what is happening in the Philippines and see how that model can be made to fit here. For example in 1979, the Asian country which benefits from at least $12 billion annually from money transfers from their citizens working abroad, set up the Commission for Filipino Migrant Workers.

Its website cfmw.org reads: "CFMW was established as a foundation in 1979 to develop appropriate programmes and services in response to the various needs of the overseas Filipino community," by building a "partnership of development." The commission "aims to develop an empowered migrant community where Filipinos and Filipinas are confident in representing their realities and struggles are able to rally the organised strength of their community and capable of harnessing support from the international community."

CFMW works for the recognition and protection of the rights and welfare of overseas Filipinos among the international community. It also promotes linkages and solidarity with other migrant nationalities in a spirit of co-operation and partnership. It goes as far as to lay down strict guidelines for international recruitment agencies.

In our view the apparently negative Qatar experience does not call for blame apportioning. Let us see it as rather an opportunity to take a more informed policy approach to this growing source of income for our country.