28/07/2020 Human Rights Groups to Governments: Ensure Justice for Migrant Workers Sent Home Due to COVID-19 A justice mechanism for migrant workers The transitional justice mechanism the human rights groups suggest includes four key objectives to prevent the mistreatment of repatriated migrant workers. Most importantly, countries must nd accessible and affordable ways to address grievances, claims and labor disputes of repatriated workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic — and it should "be a priority" that all workers with legitimate claims are able to access compensation.  While the groups say it's crucial that workers' grievances are heard and resolved as soon as possible, they advised governments to enact safeguards that allow workers to continue to pursue their claims even after they've returned home. Finally, they call on states to require businesses to keep all employment records, including payroll, employee lists and hours worked, and allow workers to take copies of their records with them. For most workers, being able to access basic records and receive fair compensation for hours logged is the absolute bare minimum, but this was hardly the case for many migrant workers even before the pandemic. And if labor rights abuses posed by repatriation schemes are allowed to stand, COVID-19 could represent a tipping point that catalyzes even more widespread mistreatment of these men and women, the groups warn.  "If we are to ‘Build Back Better,' we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the issue of wage theft that has been persistent across migration corridors for years, and will be unprecedented in the case of repatriated migrant workers in the COVID-19 pandemic," the letter reads, referring to calls to Build Back Better after the pandemic by embedding social and environmental justice into response plans. "If unaddressed at this time, we run the risk of forever delinking the patterns that connect https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2020/migrant-workers-covid-19/120571 4/7