Policies for protection of international labor migrants in host countries: a case study of Indian migrant workers in Lebanon

Seema Gaur, Government of India
Prem C. Saxena, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai-400088, India

Foreign migrant workers are mostly employed in low paid, marginal, inadequately regulated sectors of economic activity involving generally dangerous and menial jobs. They are highly vulnerable to exploitation during recruitment, travel and employment abroad. The protection of migrants is, therefore, becoming a dominant policy issue in International labor migration. The present paper attempts to contribute to understanding of policies needed for protection of migrant labourers in host countries. Findings are based on first-hand data collected from low skilled Indian migrants working in host country Lebanon, unlike most of studies based on data collected from return migrants. We found that exploitation of migrants occurs, largely due to collusion between recruiting agents, middlemen and employers. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for protection of migrants in host countries including compulsory insurance by employer, free legal aid, responsible immigration in receiving nations, strengthening of labour attaches of sending nations and bilateral labor agreements.