Forum: The General Assembly 2 Issue: Student Officer: Position: The issue of remittance economies and protecting foreign worker rights Lyndsey Kong Assistant President Definition of Key Terms Remittance The term remittance denotes the transfer of money by foreign workers to an individual or individuals in their home country. Remittances nowadays play an increasingly significant role in the economies of numerous countries, especially by promoting economic growth and the livelihoods of people in developing countries. Foreign worker The term foreign worker differs slightly from its commonly used close synonym migrant worker. A foreign worker works in a country other than where he or she originates from, more precisely a country other than the one of which he or she is a citizen. On the contrary migrant workers may pursue work either within their country of origin or between various countries. Foreign workers may be present in a foreign country temporarily or permanently, legally or illegally, commonly due to more favorable career prospects in comparison to their country of origin. Often the majority of wages earned by foreign workers in the country they work in is sent back to their country of origin, which positively impacts the economy of these countries. Background Introduction With the growing integration of the world s economies and cultures, foreign workers are now playing an increasingly crucial role in the development of all aspects around the world. Many of these foreign workers originate from Less Economically Developed Countries and seek for more ideal career prospects in More Economically Developed Chair Report Page 1 of 5
Countries. The remittances they send back to their home countries positively promote economic development and standard of living in their countries of origin, benefiting these less prosperous countries significantly, but also creating unique but vulnerable economies relying heavily on external remittances as economical support. On the other hand, issues with regards to the rights and treatment of foreign workers have caused numerous tensions between countries and regions. The most important subject at hand is to seek the delicate balance between remittances for development and the prevention of the creation of vulnerable and reliant economies, and protect the rights of foreign workers around the world from exploitation and mistreatment. Global collaboration and communication is critical in solving this international and multilateral issue. Figure 1: A graphic representation of the world's economy Figure 2: International Collaboration Overview of Relevant Organizations, Countries (Regions), Treaties, and Events -International Labor Organization (ILO) ILO is the first specialized agency of the United Nations founded in 1919 working for the promotion of rights at work, the encouragement of employment opportunities, the enhancement of social protection and reinforcement of dialogue on work related issues, which are all closely related to the issue of foreign worker rights. Below is an example of an ILO Convention. -Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189): This convention gives national and foreign migrant workers in the domestic sector equal rights. -United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) UN Women is a United Nations organization that works to empower the female gender, eliminate gender inequality, and ensure gender equality regarding all aspects of human rights, humanitarian action, security, peace, and lastly, developmental benefits, which includes employment and foreign employment. UN Women has a long history of advocacy and engagement in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, and Africa and Arab States. For example UN Women has provided Chair Report Page 2 of 5
protection for 2.7 million of Nepal s migrant workers by 2013 by advocating legislation and regulations such as Nepal s Foreign Employment Act. -Domestic Political Governments of countries The domestic governments of many countries have implemented legislations and regulations regarding employment rights of foreign workers within each of these countries. Examples of these legislations and regulations include Singapore s Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA), and Canada s Saskatchewan State s Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act (FWRIS). -Latin America and Caribbean (region overview) Remittances play a significant role in Latin America and the Caribbean s economy, with a total of 66.5 billion US Dollars received in 2007, with more than ¾ originating from the United States. Mexico alone received 24 billion US Dollars worth of remittance in the year of 2007, with 95% of which from the United States. -Argentina On the 16th of December 2014, with continuous support and collaboration with the ILO, Argentina has passed a new migration policy with regards to the regularization and formalization of all domestic workers, giving national and migrant foreign workers equal rights. -Canada Foreign workers are accepted into Canada for work temporarily with Student Visas, Refugee Claims, or special permits. Employers can also bring foreign workers into Canada under a Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). -United States The United States is one of the largest receiver countries of foreign workers in the world. The amount of foreign workers residing in the United States is estimated to be 14 million, including undocumented workers of approximately 4 to 5 million. The largest source country of the foreign workers in the United States is Mexico. -Germany Germany (West) had a history of welcoming foreign workers. In fact, Germany has sat up a special program and invited foreign guest workers from 1955 to 1973. Through this period of time over one million guest workers arrived, with a majority from Italy, Spain and Turkey. -Northwestern Europe Chair Report Page 3 of 5
Approximately 5 million foreign workers reside in Northwestern Europe. -Persian Gulf Region The Persian Gulf region includes the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain. The oil boom in 1973 in this region has created an unparalleled demand for labor in all sectors, which was met by foreign workers mostly from the Arab states initially and later from Asia. Today foreign workers are a large percentage of the population in the Persian Gulf Region, for example Saudi Arabia alone has around 5 million foreign workers in the country (the largest source of remittance payments in the world is Saudi Arabia). However, due to complaints and treatment issues regarding foreign workers, there is rising tension between the national and foreign populations in the Persian Gulf Region countries. -Asia (continent overview) The majority of foreign workers in Asia come from Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Philippines. Some of these foreign worker s popular destinations (receiver countries) include Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. A large percentage of remittances from the United States is sent to Asian countries such as India, China, Philippines and Bangladesh. -Japan In Japan there is an estimate of half a million foreign workers, mostly from Pakistan. -India India is the top recipient country of remittances in the world from 2009 to 2013. The average value of remittances that India received in the period of 5 years from 2009 to 2013 is 60.794 billion US Dollars per year. -Africa (continent overview) Remittances definitely play a key role in the national economies of African countries. An estimate of a total of 40 billion US Dollars is sent back to Africa from around African Diaspora around the world. Nigeria is the top remittance recipient country in Africa, 17.5 million Nigerians lived and worked in foreign countries in 2014. Bibliography http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/tfw-rights.asp http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/9/ilo-convention-189-enters-into-force http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/lang--en/index.htm Chair Report Page 4 of 5
http://www.mom.gov.sg/foreign-manpower/working-in-singapore/pages/foreign-workers-rights2.aspx https://www.sba.gov/content/foreign-workers-immigration-and-employee-eligibility http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/wcms_329135/lang--en/index.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/remittance Chair Report Page 5 of 5