By Samsideen Ceesay
The Directorate of Employment at the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment in collaboration with International Organization for Migration has recently convened a meeting for the Thematic Working Group (TWG) on Labour Migration to review a strategy meant to facilitate ethical recruitment guidelines for migration, pre-departure training manual, and safeguard conditions that ensure decent work.
The objective of the Labour Migration Strategy is to enhance consular protection, assistance and cooperation throughout the migration cycle, as well as invest in skills development and facilitate mutual recognition of skills, qualifications and competences.
The Principal Labour Economist at the MOTIE, Mr Basiru Secka said the strategy will require states to create conditions for migrants and Diaspora to fully contribute to sustainable development in all countries, and that that it will promote faster, safer and cheaper transfer of remittances and foster financial inclusion of migrants.
He went on: “In 2018, The Gambia also ratified the International Covenant on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. This Covenant requires states to respect and ensure the right of migrant workers and members of their families to leave any state, including their state of origin, as well as the right to enter and remain in their state of origin. It also compels states to respect and ensure the right of migrant workers to receive a fair and equal treatment (migrant workers and their families should not be held in slavery, should not be required to perform forced labour, should not be subject to coercion that would impair their freedom, should not be subject to arbitrary or unlawful interference with their privacy, family, home).”
Mr Secka further explained that the Covenant requires states to ensure each child of a migrant worker has the basic right of access to education, to vocational training, housing, and to co-operate as appropriate in the adoption of measures regarding the orderly return of migrant workers and members of their families to the state of origin. It prevents and eliminates illegal or clandestine movements and employment of migrant workers.
“According to the AU Joint Labour Migration for Development and Regional Integration, The Gambia should increase domestication of key international standards on labour migration; adopt and implement a coherent national migration policy; support decent work for migrants with effective application of labour standards; extend social security to migrants through access and portability regimes compatible with international standards and good practice; and enhance collection, exchange and utilization of gender and age disaggregated data on migrants’ economic activity, employment, skills, education, working conditions, and social protection,” Mr Secka stated.
Steven Matete from IOM, said since migration is cross-cutting, there is need for stakeholders to coordinate; hence the reason the National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) was constituted to ensure that the various actors coordinate migration properly.
The NCM consists of eight thematic working groups with various institutions leading the coordination of the various thematic working groups.