According to a report on the plight of Pakistanis in the Gulf States, low-wage foreign workers were at the mercy of their employers, faced with unjust and harsh working conditions, and had insufficient consular support from their diplomatic missions.
Titled, “The cost of living: migrant workers’ access to health in the Gulf”, the report was launched at an event in Islamabad on Thursday. It was a collaborative effort of civil society organizations in South and Southeast Asia.
The report’s results relevant to Pakistan were delivered during the launch event, which then featured a moderated conversation between attendees on the topic of migrant workers’ access to healthcare in the Gulf and what could be done to better their position.
Representatives from the International Labor Organization, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistani and Human Resource Development, the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, and the International Organization of Migration were among the government officials, migrant workers, and multilateral organizations represented at the event.
According to the report, the harsh conditions endured by destitute Pakistanis were caused on by their lack of knowledge of and assistance with the labor recruitment process, exploitative labor regulations, and a lack of protections established on their behalf by their home nation. The fact that migrant workers in Gulf states had a very difficult time finding inexpensive healthcare further exacerbated these problems.
Chaudhry Shafique from the Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights said: “Exploitation of migrant workers is not just an individual issue, it affects their families, the community and, most importantly, the economy.”
It is the first report of its type to make an effort to systematically examine and explore the problem of migrant workers’ access to healthcare in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, where roughly 30 million migrant workers made up more than 50% of the total population.
In a video brief, Senator Dr. Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur stated that she had introduced legislation in the Senate that would give the labour attache responsibility for Pakistani migrants’ employees around the world.
The new rule clearly sets out severe penalties for agents who trick people into believing they would land a lucrative job, she continued.
Due to the numerous harmful health issues that might arise from their labour, the research stated that low-paid migrant workers in the Gulf needed easy access to healthcare in particular. The healthcare services provided by the GCC governments were typically not adapted to the unique requirements of this population. Lack of documentation and cost were the two biggest barriers to healthcare for foreign workers, and there was clear evidence of prejudice.
The country’s gradual shift to mandatory private health insurance is more likely to further impede access to care than to increase it for low-wage migrant workers.
The report recommended eliminating any laws or rules that mandated or explicitly forbade medical practitioners from reporting pregnant or undocumented migrant workers to the police.
It also recommended establishing laws to impose serious penalties on employers and sponsors who, through their acts or inactions (such as seizing or failing to renew identity documents), hinder migrant workers from receiving healthcare.
The report recommended the bilateral inclusion of unambiguous and clear healthcare provisions in all bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding with the GCC governments, with the advice of public health specialists. Develop and implement thorough, ongoing evaluation procedures for these, it continued.
In multilateral settings like the Colombo Process, the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, and the Global Forum for Migration and Development, collaborate with other origin nations and lay out a thorough perspective targeted at enhancing migrant workers’ access to healthcare.
Sarah Belal, the executive director of Justice Project, said: “While many of these issues stem from the systems set up in the GCC countries, there are numerous steps that both the government and civil society of Pakistan can take to ensure that migrant workers from Pakistan are being provided their fundamental right to health. Engagement with the governments of these countries is the most important step that must be taken,” she added.
