GCM Objectives
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Summary
Although evidence shows that migrant workers contribute significantly to the economic development of the ASEAN region, they continue to suffer exploitation and abuse, with women facing specific risks and challenges due to their gender, their sectors of occupation and lack of access to information and decent work opportunities. Women and men migrant workers often have limited information about safe migration and rights at work and where to access support. In countries of destination, migrants face language barriers and discrimination when attempting to access services to which they are entitled.
To increase positive migration experiences that protect the human and labour rights of migrant workers, ILO support Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) across the region. These MRCs are managed in partnership with a variety of partner institutions, including job centres within provincial labour departments, trade unions and civil society organizations (CSOs). MRCs provide a space for workers to find information on migrating for work, ask questions, and lodge complaints. Counselling is provided at the MRCs through outreach activities, meetings, online and over the phone or various online platforms. Information is also disseminated through broadcasts on local radio and television, job fairs, and seminars on safe migration in schools, vocational training centres and in the community. Before migration, migrant workers can get a better understanding of the risks as well as the potential benefits to be considered, allowing potential migrant workers to make informed decisions. In destination countries, MRCs offer legal aid when migrant workers’ rights are abused, support worker organizing and networking, serve as an accessible link to the local authorities, and deliver training (including financial literacy). Upon return, MRCs provide migrant workers with information, opportunities for skills training and other services to support their sustainable reintegration. Some MRCs have particular provision for migrant women to receive immediate support and be referred to violence against women (VAW) specialized service providers, including health, police/justice, and social services.
Collaborators
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Benefit and Impact
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is critical to ensuring the effectiveness and impact of the MRCs. A dedicated M&E training manual for ILO MRCs has been developed and is used to train MRC staff on results-based management. The long-term benefits of supporting capacity building on M&E are clear, allowing the MRCs to obtain a detailed understanding of how their activities have protected migrant workers and nurturing their ability to make evidence-based adjustments to their interventions.
Client cards are the main tool that has been developed for collecting data on support services provided by MRCs. The cards serve a number of important functions, including providing a demographic profile of beneficiaries, recording family contact information in case of an emergency, documenting expected migration plans in case of disappearance, establishing a case file to record a service history and record contact details necessary to do follow-up interviews with migrants.
“Outcome harvesting” is applied through conducting tracing interviews with migrants who have previously been provided with MRC services. The goal is to obtain stories about how their circumstances have changed since receiving services and in what way the services provided to them by MRCs contributed. These stories provide MRCs with an opportunity to learn how their activities affected migrants’ lives in the long term and apply adaptive management to better serve their needs.
Key Lessons
- Although the model of embedding MRC services with government providers has significant advantages in terms of sustainability and the capacity to enforce sanctions for labour rights violations against migrant workers, it can limit accessibility to services for migrant workers. Many migrants are unsure about approaching government agencies for information and assistance, particularly if they are planning to migrate through irregular channels. Building of partnerships whereby government agencies focus on coordination and legal matters and CSOs and trade unions deliver community-level services has proven to be a more successful approach. This enables the MRCs to become more effective and trusted vehicles for delivery of services to protect and empower migrant workers.
- Outreach activities and community-based initiatives are critically important – and are in some cases more effective – than centre-based activities in reaching migrant workers, potential migrants and their family members. This is particularly the case for women migrant workers who may have less time available than men to visit MRCs locations due to household and family caregiving responsibilities. The use of social media and other information and communications technologies has proven particularly useful for MRCs in reaching a larger number of migrants, especially during COVID-19 lockdown periods.
- Establishing cross-border cooperation between MRCs in countries of origin and destination enables the delivery of end-to-end assistance to migrant workers. This can help with addressing key challenges faced by migrant workers after return, including limitations in access to justice for labour rights violations and inability to make social protection benefits claims. It also equips potential migrants with very practical information about where to access assistance prior to departure, especially in cases of violence and exploitation.
Recommendations(if the practice is to be replicated)
- In most cases, the MRCs primarily reach beneficiaries through direct outreach to communities. To more broadly publicise the drop-in services available at the MRCs, stronger relationships must be built with local authorities, community leaders, civil society actors and others to promote the services available in migrant communities.
- To effectively respond to the service needs of women migrant workers facing violence and abuse, ensure that MRCs employ female staff counsellors that have received training in addressing gender-based violence.
- Build the capacity of MRCs to provide return and reintegration support during COVID-19, including vocational training opportunities and job matching services for return migrant workers.
- Leverage digital and online social media platforms to expand outreach to migrant workers. As more migrant workers are becoming active on social media – especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing requirements – MRCs should develop targeted and evidence-based communication strategies to disseminate information, in addition to traditional offline strategies.
GCM Guiding Principles*
Innovation
Many of the MRCs now benefit from institutionalization and increased counterpart funding to ensure their sustainability. For example, all MRCs that are operated by government counterparts are integrated into existing government structures and are fully staffed by government officials.
The MRCs have proven to be a major innovation in expanding access to justice for labour rights abuses against migrant workers. A key rationale for their establishment was to increase the opportunities for migrant workers to lodge grievances and obtain remedies for a wider range of abuses rather than limiting legal assistance to extreme cases of forced labour and human trafficking. This has enabled many migrant workers to obtain practical resolutions for their complaints, such as compensation for wage-related abuses, deployment to destination countries and return of identification documents.
Migrant workers continue to be among the most affected by the pandemic, bearing a disproportionate burden of the health, livelihood and human rights impacts. Research has showed that during the COVID-19 crisis, migrant workers have been at higher risk of losing their employment, deteriorations in working conditions and violations of their labour rights. In addition, women migrant workers have faced an increased incidence of violence and harassment. Given the strategic location of the MRCs and their capability for outreach, the MRCs have become critically important vehicles for delivery of emergency assistance to migrant workers, such as food, cash transfers, personal protective equipment (PPEs), hygiene items and COVID-19 related information.
In 2021, the ILO-supported MRC in Cirebon district was awarded the Indonesian Migrant Worker award for providing excellent labour migration services to migrant workers by the Ministry of Manpower.
Additional Resources
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Disclaimer: The content of this practice reflects the views of the implementers and does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations, the United Nations Network on Migration, and its members.