A Rights Based Approach to MigrationThe Building and Wood Workers' International's Global Migration Program

Percentage of migrant workers in the construction sector:

• 90 - 99 % in Qatar and U.A.E

• 69-80 % in Malaysia

• 90 % in Costa Rica

• 69 % in Switzerland

• 40 % of all migrant workers in Russia work in construction

• 45 % of the workers on the three biggest on-going public infrastructure projects in Sweden are migrants.

Without migrant workers there is no construction

BWI CONNECT Global Migration Program

• Goal: Organizing migrant workers in trade unions to promote their rights

• Strategies: Organizing, advocacy, service provision and awareness raising

• Awareness training before departure Pre-departure awareness trainings by unions in countries of

origin. Provision of education materials in different languages.

• Organizing in countries of destination Posting organizers from unions in countries of origin in countries

of destination in cooperation with local trade unions.

• Empower migrant workers Awareness campaigns to empower migrant workers for

collective action

• Building networks Create networks with migrant associations, faith-based

organisations and advocates to mobilize service provisions and to compliment trade unions’ core organising campaign

Global Organizing Campaign

• Debt bondage: Unregulated recruitment process forces migrants to pay large recruitment fees

• Strict immigration policies

• Lack of trade union rights

• Dependence upon the employer: Work permits tied to one employer opens up for exploitation and forced labour.

• Inadequate channels for redress

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Challenges

Migrant workers unable to claim their formal rights

Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD)

• Initiative by the UN member states. First forum held in 2007

• Goal: ”To maximize the development effects of migration and promote synergies between migration and development”

• Informal, non-binding, voluntary and government-led process outside of the UN

• Civil Society Days before each forum. The last meeting was held in Mauritius in November 2012

• Policy Coherence Mainstreaming migration in national development plans as well

as development perspective in migration policies.

• Migration for inclusive economic development Promote circular migration, labour market matching and reduce

the costs of financial remittances

• Migration for inclusive social development Transfer of ”social remittances” such as human rights values,

gender equality etc. Labour law protection and social insurance systems.

• Strengthen state ownership of international migration dialogue

Continue to promote the GFMD as an informal, non-binding dialogue between states. Engage private sector and civil society but ensure that the GFMD remains a forum for states.

Priorities of the Swedish Chairmanship 2013-2014

• Focus on remittances rather than rights

• Narrow focus on circular and temporary migration

• Labour migration agreements included in trade deals between countries of origin and destination

• The GFMD marginalizes voices of migrant workers themselves: Civil Society, trade unions and migrants' rights organizations have no real chance to influence

• Migrant workers seen as a commodity or ”resource for economic development”

Critique from civil society against the GFMD (Expressed at World Social Forum on Migrations in Manila 2012)

Statement by Global Unions

• Call for a rights based approach What is needed is an approach which both recognizes the

positive contributions by migrants and places their welfare and rights at the center of policies and agreements.

• Bring the GFMD back to the UN Return of the global migration policy process to the United

Nations as the best way of achieving policy coherence, and comprehensive, sustainable migration policies.

• Ensure genuine participation of civil society Consultative frameworks should be set up to allow real

participation of trade unions, migrants' rights organizations and other parts of civil society.