Migrant Mineworkers Advocating for Decent Work
Channel: IOM - UN Migration
Date: 2020-03-25

What is the migration link with employment, and how does this impact the achievement of our #GlobalGoals?
 
Over half of international migrants are migrant workers. Despite the wealth of potential benefits of safe and regular labour migration for migrants and employers, migrant workers continue to face vulnerabilities in the workplace including difficulties accessing social protection.
 
Moises is a former migrant mineworker from Mozambique. After working for many years in the mines in South Africa, he realized that his earned employment benefits did not transfer when he returned home. He and some colleagues founded the Association of Mozambican Mineworkers (AMIMO) to advocate for a change in the benefits system for migrant mineworkers, and to inform others of their rights and the services available to them.  
  
Target 8.8 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls on governments and employers to protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers and those in precarious employment. As we enter the “Decade of Action”, it is essential that the rights of migrant workers are upheld in order to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
 
The “Voices from the Underground” project focused on protecting migrant mineworkers’ rights by strengthening the knowledge, organizational and technical capacities of human rights defenders, such as AMIMO. It was implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and funded by the European Union (EU).
 
Through the “Mainstreaming Migration into International Cooperation and Development” (#MMICD) project funded by the European Union, IOM produced a series of videos to show the #MigrationConnection between different sectors and capture what this means in practice for people and communities. For more information, please visit https://eea.iom.int/mmicd.