New moves to help migrants in North

A major initiative to help the tens of thousands of migrant workers in the North secure their rights – including government benefits and housing - was launched today.

The drive is being made by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) amid reports of exploitation, discrimination and racism.

A comprehensive range of rights based guides, compiled with the help of government, human rights groups and advice agencies, have been designed to help migrant workers understand their entitlements.

The guides have been produced by the NIHRC, the Law Centre of Northern Ireland and the Dungannon-based Animate Project – a migrant worker equality initiative set up in Co Tyrone where there are a large number of migrant workers, especially from eastern Europe.

Human Rights Chief Commissioner, Professor Monica McWilliams, said many of the estimated 30,000 migrant workers were vulnerable to human rights abuses simply because they, and the agencies that are supposed to provide for them, simply did not know what the rights and entitlements of migrant workers were.

She urged the government to help stamp out discrimination by ratifying a new UN treaty which has not been adopted by either the UK or Irish governments.

She said: “In Northern Ireland the escalation in racist attacks highlights the need for us all to promote and protect the rights of migrants whether in the home or at work.

“One major way of tackling racism would be for the UK government to ratify a recent UN human rights treaty known as the Migrant Workers Convention.

“It is important that we all recognise that migrants have the same right as everyone else to having their fundamental rights respected and protected. Human rights are universal.”

Guides have been produced in a range of languages including Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Slovak, Portuguese and Tetum – the language of East Timor.

A special one for commercial and business work permit employees has been produced online in Chinese and Russian.

Les Allamby, director of the Law Centre, said the provision of the comprehensive guides would alert migrant workers to their rights and, most importantly, show the important section of the community how they can use entitlements in practice.

“This is the most extensive range of advice materials ever produced in Northern Ireland for migrant workers and we hope that as a result of this unique inter-agency partnership we can help them realise their rights and also assist those involved in providing services to migrant workers.”

Daniel Holder, project manager at Animate, insisted migrant workers must be seen as an asset not a urden.

“Migrant workers coming to Tyrone and beyond has been one of the good news stories of recent years for the major social and economic benefits it brings everyone.

“The downside has been the poor treatment some migrant workers have been subject to including varying degrees of exploitation, discrimination and racism.

“Migrant workers can be more vulnerable to such abuses, because existing rights can be unclear. These guides are one very important piece in the jigsaw in plugging the information gap on existing rights in relation to employment, housing, migrant law and other areas.”

He said they would be regularly updated and also provide information on how to access public services.