Globally, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 195 million jobs will be wiped out as a result of the pandemic. In the Middle East region alone, an estimated 5 million jobs will be lost, with many of those jobs held by migrant workers. Consequently, millions of migrant workers in destination countries have experience job loss, or non-payment of wages, been forced by employers to take unpaid leave, and confined to poor living conditions. In this Voices conversation, William Gois, Project Coordinator at Migrant Forum in Asia, speaks to IHRB’s Neill Wilkins about the need for an urgent justice mechanism for migrant workers – a call to action for governments, UN agencies, and business to come together to address the plight of millions of migrant workers experiencing wage theft and repatriation as a result of pandemic-related job loss.
Find out more about the urgent justice mechanism on: justiceforwagetheft.org