Q: Are countries of destination taking any action or any coordination with countries where these migrant
workers come from?
Some countries of destinations such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Thailand, Singapore and Australia
have taken various degrees of actions, from setting up a multi-ministry task force and relevant laws, to
courts ordering unpaid wages to be compensated to migrant workers.
However, there were not any significant coordination plans between countries of origin and countries of
destination. Both also do not have the necessary procedures to ensure the monitoring and
documentation of abuses experienced by migrant workers before they are repatriated, therefore the
workers return home without any means to express their grievances, including issues of wage theft.
Q: What is Justice for Wage Theft? What has the campaign achieved so far?
Justice for Wage Theft is a campaign launched by a large coalition of civil society organizations and trade
unions on June 1, 2020, appealing to governments to establish an “Urgent Justice Mechanism” that
addresses the plight of millions of migrant workers whose wages have been unjustly withheld by their
employers.
Subsequently, four more appeals were issued focusing on actions to be taken by UN bodies, governments
and businesses to take concerted action in engaging with existing cases of wage theft and lack of justice
as well as the creation and maintenance of effective mechanisms for continued progress.
Achievements:
•
Endorsed by over 30 organizations and networks of civil society and trade unions and 1
prominent individual (Shahidul Haque, former foreign secretary of Bangladesh)
•
Supported by NHRCs in Nepal and the Philippines
•
Active wage theft-related case documentation in India, Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh,
and Indonesia using Uwazi (through independent case documentation system established on
JFWT website)