Whether it is an individual or a security agency, it must treat a migrant worker and his family with respect. "All forms of discrimination against the migrant worker must be brought to an end," said Ali Semaikh Al Marri, NHRC’s Secretary-General.
In his opening address at a two-day a seminar on the condition of migrant workers in the Gulf and the rest of the Middle East, Al Marri said the current system of detaining a worker for deportation must be done away with.
"We have to end practices which infringe upon the basic freedom of a migrant worker," he said.
Harassing a worker in any way, abusing him even verbally or treating him in a way which erodes his basic freedom should be made a punishable offence, said Al Marri.
A number of delegates from the region as well as other countries are participating in the seminar.
Al Marri said that the migration of workers has become an internationally important issue and it is time their condition in the region, which has a large number of foreign workers, is improved. Countries in the region are actively coordinating to improve their lot, he stated.
The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) is the main organiser of the seminar. Its vice-president, Cynthia Gabriel, said in her address that the FIDH is convinced that new platforms and networks at national, regional and global levels would be the key to address the main challenges of today, one of them being the migration phenomenon in the context of globalisation.
She particularly mentioned women domestic workers and said they find themselves more exposed to violence and discrimination.
FIDH has 141 member organisations worldwide and its motto is ‘All human rights for all’.
