Concerns as agencies take over training

Employment agencies could be facing a conflict of interest in taking over the training of Myanmar citizens preparing to work overseas, a migrant workers’ advocate has warned.

Reiko Harima, managing director of the Asian Migrant Centre, said the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agency Federation (MOEAF) increased their members’ profits by sending more workers overseas, and so was “unlikely” to provide information that might deter them from going.

Pre-departure training, which is conducted in Yankin township, Yangon, is meant to inform migrants of the labour laws and cultural norms of the countries they are being sent to. Previously run by the Ministry of Labour, the MOEAF began conducting the courses on August 31.

“Employment agencies are unlikely to provide information that might put migrants off going overseas,” such as details of low pay and long hours, Ms Harima said.

She said the decision to allow employment agencies to regulate much of the migration process in Indonesia and Cambodia, which send thousands of workers abroad each year, had negatively affected prospective workers.

“These include recruitment when not enough jobs are actually secured by agencies, resulting in a long waiting period for workers” and insufficient information about workers’ rights, she said.

“Employment agencies might decide to not recruit migrants who are confident about demanding their rights,” she said.

MOEAF vice chair U Soe Myint Aung said controlling training would lead to better supervision of migrants. He also said that because the agency negotiates labour agreements with its foreign counterparts it was best suited to train the migrants.

But Ms Harima said protecting the migrants was a job for governments. “It’s rather unrealistic to expect agencies to play a front-line role in protecting domestic workers’ rights. It is the responsibility of governments to protect their citizens and workers, and it should be the government’s responsibility to strictly monitor the operation of recruitment agencies.”

By: Bill O’Toole, Myanmar Times