This report is issue no. 71 of LCHR's Economic and Social Rights series. The report discusses the cases of unorganized migration to Europe and Egyptian workers in some Arab countries through the analysis of what has been published in the Egyptian newspapers between 1/1/2009 and 30/6/2009.
The introductory section of the report presents a historic background about migration in the world, stating that about 60 million people from America, Europe and South Africa, 10 million people from Russia, 12 million from China and 6 million from Japan have been migrating between 1815 and 1914, noting that the world population back then was about 900 million people. Most of these migrations took place because of poverty and insecurity.
This section reviews the phenomenon of violations of the rights of migrants, where the organizers suffer from discrimination and exploitation of employers and the difficulty of establishing their rights and fall prey to trafficking and smuggling networks, and in spite of agreements to confirm the rights of migrants and the International Labor Organization on the rights of migrants, however, regulators in the freedom of movement and the right to life, physical integrity and a fair trial and the non-refoulement or expulsion without legal grounds and not exploited by force, coercion and kidnapping.
As the equal rights with citizens of the country of immigration as education, health care and food, in addition to the various safeguards to ensure the right to decent work, expression, belief, association and trade unions.
Although the contents of agreements including the rights of migrants from the need to respect and ensure their rights are still the majority of EU governments, which is double in respect of human rights especially the right to move after the arbitrary practices against migrants and the abuse of their dignity and their rights during the past years, in Germany, Italy, France and Greece over the past year, governments have to impose sanctions on illegal immigrants and their regulators without trial and abuse have become the rights of migrants in Europe in an unprecedented deterioration rather than progress and to protect further the rights of migrants, the governments of the countries of reneging on its obligations and the steps the former pledged to protect the rights of migrants.
The first section deals with "the current situation of migrants, however, the organizers and Egyptian workers in Arab countries and Israel" as it shows the development stages of the migration phenomenon since the beginning of the seventies up to 85 "where the focus of the migration of Egyptians to the Gulf States and the State of Iraq, Libya and the second phase from 1985 to 1995, where employment in the Gulf and Azdat immigration to European countries, with the closure of coal mines in France and Belgium. The third phase started from 1995 until now, security has taken a tough character after the conclusion of agreements with the countries of the South to deport irregular migrants. The incidents of this irregular migration during the first half of 2009 in Egypt to 46 incidents resulted in 23 people drowned and 12 were missing and the kidnapping of 38 and 60 and nearly 413 people to the shrine by the transfer of youth gangs. In Egypt in violation of many of the rights of migrants, where the organizers were arrested and ill-treatment and arbitrary arrest and that they are subject to the practices of security where it is illegal to arrest relatives of the migrant in a random and unlawful confinement and detention in accordance with the emergency law tried by special courts and contribute to policies and programs of the government in liberalization of the economy and trade in the deterioration of the conditions of Egyptian society and thus to escape the growing phenomenon of home and the despair of the future security.
The second section reviews the problems of migration of Egyptian youth, which resulted in the following: irregular migration resulted into the drowning of 23 people, 12 were lost and the disappearance of 60 and 38 kidnapped. The incidents highlighted the migration of 1500 children during the past period and that those cases were cases of forced displacement as cheap labor or sexual exploitation of children. And so many other cases.
The third section reviews the problems of the Egyptians working in Arab countries and Israel that showed the following: that the recent economic crisis has affected workers abroad, as the UAE has fired 150 thousand workers, while Qatar fired 32 thousand others and Libya deported 25 thousand workers. The report showed that the system fails to work in Gulf countries and called the system can lead to the deterioration of the conditions of the right to decent work as the Egyptians working in those countries without safeguards for the protection of their rights and stop the application of minimum standards of decent work on the degree of ethics and the guarantor Ansayth!! The penalty of imprisonment of Egyptian who demanded their rights and the fabrication of drug charges and harassment of women and the most ironic of the Bedouins, which fabricated the charges to the sponsors of Egyptian workers to take their rights and the penalties ranging from imprisonment to the skin and non-payment of salaries and deportation. Egyptian authorities also refused to reciprocity with the Libyan government, which estimated the surcharges for the Egyptians to leave their country. Saudi Arabia was the highest international violator against the rights of Egyptians workers, as its workers complained 16 times, 6 complaints in Libya, 3 in Kuwait, twice in the UAE, Qatar, Yemen, Jordan and Israel once.
The forth section reviews the final recommendations of the report which assert that the causes must be addressed by experienced organizers and migrant workers in Arab countries and the international level. Governments should be required to the application of the rights of migrants and workers, and has received international covenants of human rights and the International Labor Organization, The United Nations and the ILO will play a positive role in this domain must be working as the regional organizations such as the League of Arab States to abolish the system in the country will improve the conditions of the Gulf and the right to work in the States and compel the government of the European Union and the application of the provisions of conventions to ensure the migrant workers movement and the right to life and security to ensure that irregular migrants and irregular. At the local level human, civil, economic, social and cultural rights must be improved and the abolition of the emergency law to allow circulation of the Authority and to ensure the right to strike, demonstration, organization and assembly and to live decent and dignified employment opportunities and secure tenure of land, housing, health and social care and education and to ensure that public services for citizens in local communities. The members of the People's Assembly and Shura Council action to ratify the conventions and protocols of the ILO and the United Nations concerning the protection of the rights of migrants and the control of the government to bind the application of the terms of the agreements signed. The Ministry of Information and all the state media and independent work to stop the production of false consciousness on the issues of immigration status, where regretted statements by some officials, which stated "that the immigrant is a person who is selfish and rapacious as it left his family and flees to achieve his dream of wealth"
The LCHR demands the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration to develop mechanisms for the protection of migrant workers and foreigners and Egyptians working abroad and must work the Egyptian government to compensate victims of the economic crisis who have been deported from the Gulf states, as we believe that the effects of the economic crisis for the Egyptian workers in the Gulf are not different from the effects of war on citizens Gulf governments should be required to compensate the workers who were fired or end of their service, particularly those who have died in these countries several years to be able to re-open Ibdw projects absorbed them as human.
The message of the report hopes for a better world, where all forms of oppression, exploitation and profiteering in human beings are stopped. It hopes for a more humane future that can not be achieved without the respect for the rights of all human beings to life, security, freedom and movement. It is the duty of non-governmental organizations to work together to contribute in making this world.
You can obtain a copy of the report from the Center or on our website