The number of international migrants is estimated to be almost 272 million, with nearly two-thirds being labour migrants. Migration today is highly linked to work conditions and decent work opportunities.
In the past few years, the multiple crises around the globe have shed light on the pre-existing heightened inequality and the long-standing structural challenges in the world of work. The decent work crisis has been further deepened with the devastating impact on employment, livelihoods, social security, welfare, and the health system.
Women migrant workers continue to suffer from significant violations of their human rights, including fundamental rights at work and other labour rights violations. In many cases, women migrant workers are being excluded from the existing national law protection due to their gender, sectors, and migrants’ status. Some countries in the region pass regressive legislation to protect the benefit of business which has further deepened the decent work crisis.
These briefers were produced through research conducted in nine countries in Asia and the Pacific to review the national labour laws using international decent work principles and framework, identify the gaps and deficiencies in protecting women migrant workers and analyse the impact on workers’ rights fulfilment and right to decent work. The briefers also share the impact of COVID-19 restriction policies on women migrant workers and provide policy recommendations to governments of the sending and receiving countries to achieve the agenda of decent work.
