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The Role of Social Security in Protecting
Migrant Workers ILOs Approach
ISSA Regional Conference for Asia and the
Pacific New Delhi, India, November 2006

• Ursula Kulke, Co-ordinator for Standards and
  Legislation
• Social Security Department, ILO Geneva

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Not new, but critical and urgent issue...

• The expansion of globalization and the greater
  flow
• of people across national boundaries

• Lead to new forms of relations that require
  corresponding economic and social policies

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Widely accepted definition ofsocial security

• ILO defines social security as
• the protection which society provides for its
  members, through a series of public measures,
  against the economic and social distress that
  would otherwise be caused by the stoppage or
  substantial reduction of earnings resulting from
  sickness, maternity, employment injury,
  unemployment, invalidity, old-age and death and
  the provision of medical care and subsidies to
  families with children.

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Nine branches of social security benefits

• Medical care
• Sickness benefit
• Unemployment benefit
• Old-age benefit
• Employment injury benefit
• Family benefit (for children)
• Maternity benefit
• Invalidity benefit
• Death (for survivors) benefit

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Social Security A Human Right

• Declaration of Philadelphia (1944)
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
• Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention,
  1952 (No. 102)
• International Covenant on Economic, Social
  Cultural Rights (1966)
• International Labour Conference (2001) highest
  priority are policies and initiatives which can
  bring social security to those who are not
  covered by existing systems

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Overall policy objectives

• Ensuring equality of treatment in social security
  for migrant workers and ensuring that migrant
  workers can enjoy their entitlements to benefit
  in practice
• Thus, extending social security coverage to
  currently unprotected population

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Restrictions faced by migrant workers under
national legislation

• Principle of Nationality, which leads to
  exclusion of migrant workers from coverage or
  entitlement to benefits
• Principle of Territoriality, which limits scope
  of application of social security legislation to
  territory of a country
• Lack of bilateral or multilateral social security
  agreements through which social security rights,
  acquired in one country, are maintained and which
  provide for the export of benefits

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Policy options and instruments

• Coordination of social security rights of migrant
  workers by
• Multilateral agreements
• Bilateral agreements
• Ratification of ILO Social Security Conventions
• Protection of social security rights by
  unilateral measures
• Protection by individuals (e.g. private
  insurance)

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ILO standards for the protection of migrant
workers social security rights

• Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation)
  Convention, 1925 (No. 19) 120 Ratifications
• Asian Countries Bangladesh, China, Korea, India,
  Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon,
  Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines,
  Singapur, Syria, Thailand and Yemen
• The Equality of Treatment (Social Security)
  Convention, 1962 (No. 118) 38 Ratifications
• Asian Countries Bangladesh, India, Iraq, Jordan,
  Pakistan and Philippines
• The Maintenance of Social Security Rights
  Convention, 1982 (No. 157) 3 Ratifications
• Asian Countries Philippines
• The Maintenance of Social Security Rights
  Recommendation, 1982 (No. 157)

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Social security rights of irregular migrant
workers

• Relevant ILO social security standards are silent
  regarding the protection of irregular migrant
  workers
• Exception
• Article 9(1) of the ILO Migrant Workers
  (Suplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No.
  143), which stipulates that irregular migrant
  workers shall have the same rights as regular
  migrant workers concerning social security rights
  arising out of past employment
• Ratifications 18 (non of them belongs to Asian
  Countries)

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Basic principles of ILO standards and bilateral
and multilateral instruments

• Equality of treatment between nationals and
  non-nationals
• Non-national workers should have same treatment
  as national workers re. coverage and entitlement
  to benefits
• Determination of applicable legislation
• Social protection of migrant workers has to be
  governed by single law to avoid double benefits
  or double obligation to pay social security
  contributions
• Maintenance of acquired rights
• The right acquired in other countries should be
  guaranteed to the migrant worker

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Basic principles of ILO standards and bilateral
and multilateral instruments

• Maintenance of rights in course of acquisition
• The contribution period served in other countries
  should be taken into account when considering the
  qualifying period (principle of aggregation)
• Provision of benefits abroad
• There should be no restriction on the payment of
  benefits irrespective of the place of residence
  of the beneficiary
• Mutual administrative assistance
• Facilitation of administrative arrangements
  through liaison bodies to ensure smooth
  coordination
• Reciprocity
• Protection of migrant workers is based on
  reciprocity

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Protection through multilateral social security
agreements- Examples -

• European Union
• Regulation 1408/71/EEC (1971)
• Regulation 859/2003/EC (2003)
• European-Mediterranean Agreements (most
  remarkably, The Barcelona Declaration of 1995)
• Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)
• Agreement on Social Security (1997)

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Protection through multilateral social security
agreements- Examples -

• Africa
• Economic Community of West African States
  (ECOWAS)
• General Convention on Social Security (1993),
• Economic Community of the Countries of the Great
  Lakes (CEPGL)General Social Security Convention
  (1978)
• Southern African Development Community (SADC)
  Convention under Preparation
• East African Community (EAC) Convention under
  Discussion
• Asia
• In the context of regional integration, ASEAN is
  interested in establishing social safety nets and
  reinforcing social security for member countries

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Reasons for the lack of social security
coordination

• Administrative complexity and costs for
  coordination
• Social security systems of migrant sending
  countries are insufficiently developed
• Impediment for conclusion of bilateral/multilatera
  l agreements on  reciprocal  basis
• Social security systems of migrant sending
  countries are different to those of migrant
  receiving countries
• e.g. widespread use of provident fund systems
• Administrative capacity is insufficient
• to ascertain whether all required conditions are
  satisfied
• to distribute periodically for several years
  social security benefits
• Lack of willingness to coordinate, as social
  security is not given a high priority

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Protecting social security rights through
unilateral measures

• Coverage of social security for migrant workers
  in the host countries
• Provision of group insurance for overseas workers
• Liability on recruitment agencies for (voluntary)
  social security coverage (e.g. Indonesia and
  Philippines)
• Provision of voluntary social security coverage
  for nationals working abroad (e.g. Jordan,
  Philippines)
• Provision of health care coverage for family
  members in the home country
• Possibility of covering retroactively missing
  insurance periods

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Some best practices regarding protection of
irregular migrant workers social security rights

• Provision of emergency health care
• e.g. Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France,
  Mexico, Norway and Spain
• Treatment by medical doctor in case of urgent
  care
• e.g. Mexico, Sweden and Turkey

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ILOs Approach for the Way Forward

• International Migration is important part of
  ILOs Decent Work Agenda
• ILO Tripartite Meeting of Experts adopted in 2005
  The ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour
  Migration Non-binding principles and guidelines
  for a rights-based approach to labour migration,
  which lays down
• (9.9.) entering into bilateral, regional or
  multilateral agreements to provide social
  security coverage and benefits, as well as
  portability of SS entitlements, to regular
  migrant workers and, as appropriate, to migrant
  workers in irregular situation
• (9.10.) adopting measures to ensure that migrant
  workers and accompanying family members are
  provided with health care and, at a minimum, with
  access to emergency medical care, and that
  regular migrant workers and accompanying family
  members receive the same treatment as nationals
  witht regard to the provision of medical care

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ILOs Approach for the ASEAN Countries...

• Extending social protection for migrant workers
  constitutes one of key pillars of ILO Plan of
  Action on Labour Migration in Asia Pacific. It
  states
• The Asian Regional Meeting in 2001 asked the ILO
  to help design a social security treaty for
  migrant workers, especially for coverage of
  old-age benefits and payment of pensions in
  countries where migrants retire. Possibilities
  for harmonizing benefits that can be availed of
  by each others nationals when employed in
  another member country will be studied, including
  the requirements and qualifications for
  membership and for entitlements to various
  benefits. There may be a need in some cases to
  amend existing social security legislation to
  allow for pension rights to be given to
  non-nationals........
• Both ISSA and SEC/SOC (ILO) will be asked to
  provide technical expertise on social security
  issues under the Plan of Action

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ILOs Approach for the ASEAN Countries...

• ILO is well prepared to provide ASEAN countries
  technical assistance regarding
• Providing social security coverage for migrant
  workers under national legislation
• Harmonizing national social security legislation
  and, if needed, amending existing social security
  legislation
• Negotiating and drafting of bilateral social
  security agreements
• Drafting of regional social security treaty for
  ASEAN countries
• Strengthening administrative capacities for the
  implemention of social security agreements/social
  security treaty.

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THANK YOU