Upholding the human rights of migrant workers and eliminating exploitation
On 2 October 2024 Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo hosted the webinar: Upholding the human rights of migrant workers and eliminating exploitation.
A sincere thanks also to our panellists:
Dennis Maga: founder of the Union Network of Migrants and General Secretary of First Union
Nassim Lalehzari: Chief Commercial officer at Working In, a licensed immigration advisor and expert in ethical migration practices
Dayle Takitimu: Rongomau Taketake Indigenous Rights Governance partner at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission
The webinar grew out of the Commission’s human rights review of the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme published in August 2024. The review found multiple examples of exploitation with workers and others telling the Commission about:
• being charged tens of thousands of dollars for fake jobs
• not receiving wages and/or wage records
• living in poverty and sliding into the informal economy where they are exploited with little or no pay and long hours
• living in crowded, unhealthy, unsafe housing or campgrounds
• being verbally and physically assaulted
• their concerns for potential human trafficking and coordinated profiting from these human rights breaches
The Commission has made several recommendations to the Government to reduce exploitation which can be found in the review lmentioned above.