Dear friends,
The December issue of Our Work, Our Lives focuses on Return, Reintegration and Socio-economic Inclusion of women migrant workers. We chose to focus on these themes because they resonate with the work of many GAATW members and partners. Some of our colleagues in South and Southeast Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America are currently doing Feminist Participatory Action Research on these topics.
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in its objective 21 places an obligation on states to ‘cooperate in facilitating safe and dignified return and readmission, as well as sustainable reintegration’. Given the fact that many states overtly or covertly violate international human rights laws while ‘returning’ and ‘readmitting’ migrants, objective 21 aims to address an important lacuna. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Migrants’ study on return had pointed out that the so-called ‘voluntary return’ is not genuinely voluntary, preferable as it may be to forced return or expulsion.
Unlike return and reintegration, socio-economic inclusion often does not feature in international documents. At a time when most countries prefer to have temporary migration schemes, perhaps it is assumed that migrants would return to their home countries and reintegrate socially and economically. Yet, ideally, measures for socio-economic inclusion in countries of destination should be put in place, even for temporary migrants.
The lived experiences of millions of migrants, especially those in low-wage jobs, challenge the simplistic narrative of return and reintegration. The entire process of labour migration is fraught with challenges for them and rights protection at workplaces are minimal or non-existent. Most of them start with very little social or economic capital. Labour migration policies in many countries of origin are strategies to relieve unemployment pressure. They may have contributed to their families (and indirectly to the country’s economy) but upon return they face the same labour market that does not offer any employment to them. Returnee migrant women face added social challenges such as stigma, rejection, and discrimination. In the absence of employment, social support and social security, reintegration measures are merely short-term services offered by non-state actors.
This issue features thirty-three stories from seventeen countries – Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Nepal, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, and the United Kingdom. Most of our authors have experience of working as migrant workers. Their years of work range from 6 months to 38 years. Some are currently working in countries of destination while others have returned to their home countries. All of them have organised themselves in formal or informal groups. Many have experienced human rights violations by agents or employers. While several are still struggling socially and economically, some have been able overcome challenges and achieve their migration goals. A few are community leaders and human rights activists now. While most of the stories are from Asia and Africa, in this issue we also have contributions from Canada, Colombia, Germany, and the UK. Some stories from India focus on labour migration within the country.
Many colleagues have supported the process of ‘writing’ by doing in-person or online interviews and focus group discussions and transcribed and translated into English the spoken or written words of women workers in their local languages. The stories highlight the need for employment guarantee and state support for health and education, change in patriarchal attitudes towards women workers and value of formal and informal organising among the women.
We hope these stories will trigger further discussion and concrete action. You can write to us with your comments, suggestions, or stories for upcoming issues at
We wish you a good year-end break and a happy new year.
Warmly,
GAATW-IS team
