KIGALI – Last week, I attended a training on ‘Labour Migration Management in Rwanda’ organised by International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

It was in line with the implementation kick-start of the recently approved National Labour Mobility Policy, by Cabinet, in a bid to mitigate, among others, the unemployment challenge.

This policy was designed to put in place implementation systems to ensure the social protection and safety of Rwandan migrants who go abroad in search of skilled jobs.

Its implementation plan underlines specific activities to be undertaken to uphold the rights of Rwandan migrants, as a country of origin, while in destination countries.

The implementation plan requires relevant authorities; inter alia, MIFOTRA, MINAFFET, RDB to name but a few, to work closely together to protect nationals, who would go abroad for a better life.

It’s interesting to note, however, that the policy caters for only Rwandans who go to work in formal sector as opposed to informal sector. The aim is to promote employment opportunities to graduates who are not absorbed at local labour market.

The policy recommends, first off, to analyse the labour market situation of the destination country to match up the desirable skills. While the policy is designed to promote employment opportunities for Rwandan migrants, it expresses a need to work in decent and productive employment in the light of human rights standards, most notably the security and human dignity.

Why does the policy preclude informal sector?  In many countries, existing policy and legal frameworks guarantee the rights of skilled-workers, including migrant workers, but no clear protection of, for example, domestic workers.

It would be virtually impossible for Rwanda to ensure the protection of migrants who would work in households. And in many instances the migrants who go and work in informal sector are more vulnerable to trafficking due to lack of information, inability to speak language of destination country, lack of legal information of judicial authorities as well as the whole systematic approach. 

The overall objective of the aforesaid policy is to improve opportunities for regulated labour mobility and decent work in destination countries through the development of models of intervention, in the broader context of free movement of persons and labour migration where there’re job opportunities.

Ratifying and domesticating relevant ILO conventions and regional instruments is crucially important.

The implementation plan, understandably, seeks to enable the Rwandan migrants to enjoy access, among others, to: information on their rights and obligations; effective enforcement mechanism for the protection; ensure social security protection; assist and protect victims of trafficking; enforce and ensure migrants are paid their wages; plan and prepare for labour migration; prohibit retention of migrant workers’ documents.

By contrast, migrant workers face challenges that are not present to native workers, and these problems vary from a country to another. Many of them do not have the required paperwork to stay in the country legally, so they’re vulnerably exposed to trafficking.

First, undocumented migrant workers may not be willing to report a workplace injury or ill-treatment because they are afraid of being reported to immigration authorities or losing their jobs and not being able to find another employer willing to take them on.

Second, migrant workers may be housed in unsanitary conditions, which are especially dangerous for their health. Sometimes the employer provides them unhygienic food or of low quality.

Besides, at times migrant workers are subject to harsh conditions on the job, such as working in extreme weather for long hours with no breaks.

If the present policy is successfully implemented, by key stakeholders, it will effectively regulate migration in such a way as to maximise its positive effects and mitigate the negative effects.

Through remittances, return of migrants, skill and technology transfer and contributions, can have a positive impact to the development of their country.

Despite possible exploitation of migrant workers in destination countries, once the country of origin and destination country sign a Bilateral Labour Agreement (BLA) or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), would protect the migrant workers’ rights.

Private Employment Agencies, who play an intermediary role from both countries, are duty-bound to adopt processes that favour safe, informed migration.

Prior to signing Bilateral Labour Agreement, the country of origin must be satisfied that policy and legal frameworks of destination country uphold human rights, including migrant workers’ rights, and that ratified relevant Conventions on labour rights.

Furthermore, the country of origin must do due diligence of private employment agencies in destination countries whether are bonafide.

Equally, the country of origin has the duty to expedite registration and licensing of local private employment agencies, which play intermediary role. In this regard, there must be control mechanisms of these local private employment agencies for accountability purposes.

A proactive role of the lead authorities—such as MIFOTRA, MINAFFET, RDB and other agencies—must be vastly manifested. Of course, there’s a need to establish negotiation team, of technicians, to drive the process of the agreement negotiation between the country of origin and destination country.

Lastly but not least, the country of origin can apply best practices from other countries, especially in the region, about successes and challenges in the negotiations process of Bilateral Labour Agreements.

The writer is a law expert

The views expressed in this article are of the author.