SUMMARY PROPOSAL ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A OVERSEAS WORKERS RESOURCE CENTRE IN THE GULF STATES 1.

Background Labour migration has emerged as one of the significant aspects of human movements. In the Gulf in particular, the rapid economic growth in the region created an increased demand for overseas contract workers given the labour shortages in certain sectors. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States are a major destination for Asian workers. Many Asian workers in the Gulf are employed in lower-level skill jobs, some in poor working and living conditions; a number are women working in the house-hold; and are temporary workers given their fixed contracts. Living in one of the GCC countries as a contract worker is both an opportunity in terms of employment and remittances, and a challenge. Problems arise in both sending and receiving countries and can be attributed to a number of factors. In general, issues facing Asian workers occur during three stages: at pre-deployment, post-deployment, and in the reintegration phase. The GCC countries have made a number of efforts to develop and improve the working conditions and welfare of expatriate contract labour and these efforts, relative openness to employing foreign workers and benefits accruing have often been under recognized by the international community. In addition, these efforts, although sustainable ones, still need further enhancement to provide adequate solutions to the different challenges facing the host countrys commitment to resolve the existing problems. At the post-deployment or employment stage despite the efforts by the sending and receiving countries, workers face problems such as: (1) contract substitution (in Arabic which they usually do not know); (2) difficulty in changing jobs; (3) withholding of passports and other documents by employers; (4) withholding and delay of wages and entitlements by employers and difficult working conditions; (5) limited practical access to courts; and the (6) special concerns regarding domestic workers given their vulnerability. Workers who have become irregular face additional problems related to access to health care, detention and removal. In order to enhance the provision of support services to migrants, at the first Labour Migration Ministerial Consultations for Countries of Origin in Asia organized by IOM in April 2003 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Ministers recommended the establishment of a common Overseas Workers Resource Center with the support of the labour receiving and sending countries, employers and international organizations. As the first step in this regard, IOM undertook a study to assess the feasibility of establishing a joint Resource Centre with a view to present it to one of the six countries of the GCC for consideration and approval.

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2. Current On-site Overseas Workers Information and Support Services There are some models of support services for overseas workers, including the (1) Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) which has programs for overseas Filipino workers; (2) Saudi Social Welfare Administration which house female domestic helpers who ran away; (3) the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Jordan where it has established a NGO to promote rights of women migrant workers; and the (6) Human Rights Care Department of the Dubai Police to uphold human rights principles. Outside the region, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also has the Migrant Information and Liaison Service (MILS) in Rome, Italy and the Information and Resource Centre (IRC) in Lisbon, Portugal. MILS is a forum in which government officials, experts and other interested parties can meet and exchange information on migration issues. The IRC provides sustained and effective integration policies for immigrant communities and ethnic minorities in Portugal. 3. Proposed Overseas Workers Resource Center in the GCC The proposed Resource Centre (RC) will focus on the requirements for a successful temporary sojourn to work for Asian contractual labour. 3.1. Aim and Concept The purpose of the Centre is to provide protection and support services to vulnerable categories of contract workers, particularly women. In doing so the Centre will take into account the initiatives of the host government and Embassies of the Asian sending countries so as to add value to current efforts and pool common resources wherever possible. The Resource Centre is not a substitute for the respective embassies of contract workers. 3.2. Activities Research, documentation and information provision to contract workers: To collect data and information on various laws, regulations and official directives pertaining to labour, health, residency issues, rights of the workers, and other issues of relevance and make them available to the contractual workers. Pamphlets on these issues will be made in the different languages of the Asian sending countries. Training and orientation: Training for workers on language, cultural issues, workers rights, and skills improvement to workers can be included. Also to provide the personnel of diplomatic missions newly arriving in any of the GCC countries with training and orientation on the laws and regulations by conducting seminars and workshops. Joint Consultations and seminars: The Centre will hold seminars organized jointly by officials from various ministries in the GCC countries and concerned members of diplomatic missions with the view to identify key issues of concern and methods to jointly address such concerns. The Centre can also sponsor regular meetings among the labour attaches to share information, discuss common concerns and brainstorm possible solutions. The Centre can possibly hold an annual round-table meeting between the administrative bodies responsible for overseas employment in the GCC states and countries of origin in Asia and monitor

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the follow-up. The RC can be a focal point for coordination and consultation among labour sending countries on the one hand, and between labour sending and receiving countries in the GCC on the other hand. Information Campaigns: To undertake sensitization and awareness campaigns targeting employers and officials in close coordination with the GCC governments to highlight the issues pertaining to expatriate workers. This may be achieved by means of public broadcasting (radio and television) and a newspaper column. Direct support to contract workers: The Centre would provide support, and not a replacement, to embassies in assisting their nationals and to follow up on the status of cases. Contract workers can be referred to the RC for assistance or in the case of Asian countries without an embassy can get in touch directly. In such cases the RC will: Retain legal services to provide legal advice either through the embassies or directly to the distressed workers; Provide psycho-social counseling and advice to workers in distress to strengthen their personal ability to cope with their problems; and Retain the services of a medical professional to provide either direct medical care (for simple cases) or proper medical referrals.

3.3. Host Country One of the potential locations for the Centre on a pilot basis is Kuwait, which has the highest estimated number of domestic helpers from Asia, at 500,000 against the 300,000 domestic helpers in the United Arab Emirates, and 40,000 in Bahrain. IOM is also present in Kuwait and can provide administrative support in the operation of the proposed Centre. The role of the host government in the establishment of the Centre is obviously very important. An agreement between IOM and Kuwait on the establishment of the RC is currently under consideration by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. IOM also sent a Terms of Reference (TOR) of the RC in Kuwait to the countries of origin. Relying on the close coordination with diplomatic missions and the cooperation of the Government of Kuwait, the Centre aims at establishing its regional operation in the State of Kuwait and initiating its functions, as a pilot project, in the State of Kuwait, and bearing an impact on the whole of the GCC territory. Resource Centres can also potentially be established in any of the other GCC states where the host and countries of origin have an interest. 3.4. Proposed Personnel and Management To attain its objectives, the Centre would require employing a small core team with various technical skills and experience. The key positions are: Director of the Centre Seconded representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour to liaise with the host government. Labour Desk Officers (2) Information Officer

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Legal and Health Advisors (part-time, 2) Support staff (3) In the set-up outline above, the presence of a representative of the host government is deemed important to promote transparency and build trust and confidence. The representative could serve as a coordinator and liaison officer between the RC and the relevant host government bodies. In the case of Kuwait since the RCs personality is attached to the IOM Kuwait Mission, the latter could provide administrative support as well as official representation with the host countries. The office of the Head of Labour Migration Service Area, IOM Geneva, will provide technical support. The RC will have an Advisory Board consisting of senior officials from the host country, embassies of the concerned labour sending countries, IOM and civil society representatives. 3.5. Budget and Funding Sources Contributions will be sought from the labour sending countries, host country and donor organizations. The Department for International Development of the U.K. made available USD 180,000 for the RC in 2005. The host countrys contribution can be in the form of providing and maintaining suitable premises for the Center and a seconded officer. The estimated budget for the RC (not including in-kind contribution of the host country) for 2006 is USD 500,000. IOM has proposed that labour sending countries contribute twenty five percent of this amount, with non-LDC States contributing USD 15,000 each and LDC States USD 6700. The balance will be sought from donors. This proposal and the TOR have already been received favorably by some countries and under consideration in others.