Human Rights of Immigrants, Essay Example

Immigrants – once their legal status is finalized – are supposed to be provided with basic rights and legal representation by the host country. However, in many cases, this is not present. While one of the most visible issues is racist attacks against immigrant minority groups, there are many other aspects of human rights violations that need to be addressed by both host countries and the international community.

As Castles and Miller (32) state that “the failure of policy-makers and analysts to see international migration as a dynamic social process is the root of many political and social problems”. When countries do not have adequate laws to provide the basic citizen rights of those who settled in the country, several conflicts occur.

Castles and Davidson (105) lists the civil rights that should be provided for new citizens of the country as: freedom and inviolability of the person, freedom of expression, freedom of religion.  The state should protect all citizens from unlawful acts, provide equality before the law, and prohibit discrimination.

Failure to act upon racist violence, or institutional discrimination can violate new citizens’ basic human rights. Despite there is a law that prohibits forced labor, it still happens, and several illegal and legal immigrants become victims. Offering lower than minimum wages is against the law, hut it still happens in the geographic West. Taking advantage of vulnerable minority groups should be acted upon, and national monitoring programs should be carried out. In America, there is a Hate Crimes Statistics Act that prohibits discrimination based on race.

In order to prevent labor inequalities, the first step to take is to provide all citizens a freedom for information. New immigrants are often disadvantaged, as they have no existing knowledge about legislation regarding working hours, conditions, and wages. This means that – unless the government provides them with basic information about their rights – they will become vulnerable.

While legislation is already in place to provide all citizens equal opportunities, reality and statistics show that the chances of new immigrants on the labor market are lower than those who were born in the host country. As Castles and Davidson states: “Minority women share with minority men the disadvantages brought about by partial exclusion from the civil, political and social rights that make up citizenship. This means that while legislation and human rights initiatives are in place, people would still suffer institutional and work discrimination. According to Castles and Davidson (123), ·there is a sexual and racial division of labour in the fashion industry in Britain and other European countries”.

Based on The International Convention on Migrant Workers and its Committee’s recommendations, the main areas the legislators should focus on is trafficking in persons for labor, and “impose effective sanctions on persons, groups or entities that use violence, threats or intimidation against migrant workers or members of their families in an irregular situation” (Office Of The United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights 9).

There is a need for international collaboration between sender and receiving countries, in order to fully understand the vulnerabilities of the persons who are looking to work in the new country. As an example: if a Latin American government has a knowledge about a gang operating across the border to recruit persons from the country to work in America, this activity might remain unknown to the American Government, unless they share information. However, if the information is passed on to the U.S. government, officials can investigate whether or not the group of naturalized or native individuals have real job offers, or are engaged in human trafficking and illegal work, drug dealing, maybe are planning to force women recruited into prostitution.

Institutional and industry gender or racial discrimination, however, should be addressed by national governments in collaboration with the companies. In recent years, many authors have concluded that prevention and change of organizational behavior can result in better outcomes for ethnic minorities. Making qualifications easier to get accredited in the new country, for example, would benefit the country (more trained professionals who are needed would be available), and the person, who would not have to engage in a low-paid, skilled job, even though they acquired a diploma in their home country. Of course, this issue also needs to be discussed by the labor and education state departments of the sending and receiving counties, in order to ensure that new legislation is clear and discrepancies are avoided.

A good example of stepping up against violence towards migrant workers is the 2014 Human Rights Watch Report related to the situation of immigrants taking on jobs in the UK. Some employers were taking advantage of the limited knowledge of immigrant workers about labor legislation, and one interviewee said: “They [the employers] told me you can’t work for someone else. I saw it in the passport but I can’t read English” (Human Rights Watch 14). This person could clearly not find out on her own where to turn for advice. This is why a national and international support and advice system, available in the migrants’ native language would help create fairer conditions and increased equality for those who seek employment in a new country.

Works Cited

Castles, Stephen and Miller, Mark “The Migratory Process and the Formation of Ethnic Minorities” In: The Age of Migration. 2003. Print.

Castles, Stephen, and Alastair Davidson, eds. Citizenship and migration: Globalization and the politics of belonging. Psychology Press, 2000.

Human Rights Watch. “Hidden Away. Abuses against Migrant Domestic Workers in the UK” 2014. Web.

Office Of The United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights. “The International Convention on Migrant Workers and its Committee.” 2005. Web.