Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers: ILO
Recently, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has released the report ‘Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers (IMW)’.
Key findings:
- The number of international migrant workers grew by five million, or 3 percent, in two years to 169 million in 2019, from 164 million in 2017.
- International migrant workers make up 4.9 percent of the global labor force.
- More than two out of three migrant workers are concentrated in high-income countries.
- Many migrant workers face uncertainty at work. Also, the pandemic has made the situation worse.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda- 2030 recognizes migration as an important aspect of development policy, and urges governments to:
- Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration, and mobility of people, including the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies (Goal 10.7).
- Protect worker rights and promote a safe and secure work environment for all workers, including migrant workers, especially female migrants and those in precarious employment (Goal 8.8).
- With the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration by the United Nations General Assembly in 2019, countries have committed to better migration governance, and cooperation to facilitate systematic migration.
- International migrant workers are defined as migrants of working age who were included in the labor force of their country of normal residence during a specified reference period, regardless of whether they were engaged in employment, or were unemployed.
- Working-age migrants include people aged 15 years and above.
- The Emigration Act, 1983 deals with the emigration of Indian workers for employment abroad on contract basis and seeks to protect their interests and ensure their welfare.
Source – The Hindu
