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Begin New Search Topic Migrant Workers Publication Year within 10 Years

31. Human Rights of Non-Status Migrants in Japan

Author:
Kazue Takamura and Erik Martinez Kuhonta
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University (ISID)
Abstract:
Japan employs a mandatory detention policy toward non-status migrants, including asylum-seekers. This practice triggers a set of human rights concerns that are in conflict with international human rights law. The number of asylumseekers has increased sharply from 1,202 in 2010 to 10,901 in 2016. Yet, the country’s refugee acceptance rate was a record low of 0.25 percent. Migrant detainees often experience fundamental human rights violations, including the lack of access to legal representation, prolonged periods of detention, inadequate health care, and unexplained deaths in detention facilities. Japan’s immigration authorities normalize their closed-door policies toward asylum-seekers by questioning the “refugeeness” of asylumseekers and labeling them as “fake asylum-seekers.” It is necessary to facilitate active and sustainable multi-stake holders’ collaboration among NGOs, municipal governments, health professionals, lawyers, and scholars in order to challenge the state’s human rights violations toward migrants.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Immigration, Asylum, and Migrant Workers
Political Geography:
Japan and Asia

32. Qatar Labor Law Change: Archaic ‘Kafala’ system abolished, but is life better for Qatari migrant workers?

Author:
Kushagra Pokhrel
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
Facing international criticism, in 2015, Qatar promulgated a new law regulating treatment of migrant workers – replacing the old Kafala (Sponsorship) system which tied the employment, as well as the immigration status, of a migrant worker to his or her employer. The Kafala system, which allowed the sponsor (often the worker’s employer) full control over a worker’s entrance and exit from Qatar, as well as their ability to transfer employment while in the country, was routinely accused of generating conditions of extreme worker abuse, including that of Forced Labor. Having been in effect since December 2016, the new Public Law No. 21 of 2015 does not, however, protect workers from the most serious abuses that came to typify Qatar’s construction industry as well as other low paying labor sectors. While the language has been altered – using the word Recruiter, instead of Sponsor as done previously – and there are modest alterations on job transfer and exit requirements, the new law, nonetheless, keeps the most exploitative features of old system largely intact. Under Article 8, it is still incumbent upon the Recruiter to acquire Residency Permit for its employees, with no consequences for the Recruiter for a failure to do so. Many laborers previously living under risk of deportation due to lack of Residency Permits find their situation unchanged under the new law.
Topic:
Human Rights, Migration, Labor Issues, and Migrant Workers
Political Geography:
Qatar and Persian Gulf

33. The Recruitment of Migrant Workers By London Science and Technology Firms

Author:
Oxford Economics
Publication Date:
08-2016
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Oxford Economics
Abstract:
Access to talent is central to London’s competitiveness. It is important that all companies can recruit the skills and experience they need to innovate and grow. Tier 2 of the UK’s visa system is the main economic route for skilled immigration from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), where the position cannot be filled by a UK/EEA national or is on the Shortage Occupation List. This report assesses the extent to which start-ups and SMEs, particularly those in the science and technology sectors, have difficulties in recruiting from outside the EEA through Tier 2. It finds that while some firms are undoubtedly facing challenges, the problem is not especially widespread across the science and technology sector as a whole. However, at least some employers are encountering difficulties with Tier 2 and a faster, better-supported, and simpler process would make a real difference to employers.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Labor Issues, Employment, and Migrant Workers
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

34. How do urban migrants access land and services in African cities?

Author:
Luke Fuller
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Africa is on the move. Cities across the continent are continuing to grow, shrink, and transform in response to the demographic and economic pressures that drive urban migration. By conservative estimates, every hour Dar es Salaam, Tanzania is growing by 47 people; Kinshasa, DR Congo by 53 people; and Lagos, Nigeria by 58. Today about 40 percent of Africans are city dwellers, and that number will rise to nearly 60 percent by 2050 as sub-Saharan cities swell with 800 million new residents. This tremendous shift in where people live represents a major opportunity to guide development, but it also raises important questions. In places where land is scarce and expensive, how do urban migrants find a foothold? What opportunities or anchors do people use to establish themselves in the city? How do they buy or rent land for their own use and welfare? And what does this mean for governments?
Topic:
Demographics, Urban, Cities, and Migrant Workers
Political Geography:
Africa