Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97) - Barbados (Ratification: 1967)

Article 1 of the Convention. Information on migration policy. The Committee notes that the emigration and immigration policy is determined by the Immigration Department. The Committee understands that steps have been taken in the past to draft a migration policy based on the guidelines and principles contained in the ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration. The Committee would be grateful if the Government could provide further information on the current status and contents of this migration policy, including a copy of the policy, if adopted.

Article 2. Free services to migrant workers. The Committee notes the statistics on Barbadians migrating under the Canadian Farm Labour Programme, and the US and Canadian Hotel Programmes in 2006 and 2007. The Committee notes that very few women are employed under the Farm Labour Programme which primarily attracts male migrants and that female migrants, whose numbers are increasing, are mainly leaving Barbados under the Hotel Programme. The Committee notes that the National Employment Bureau provides free services to assist migrants for employment. In addition, liaison officers in Canada and the United States are responsible for the welfare of the workers participating in the programme. The Committee asks the Government to provide further details on the following:

(i)    the reasons for the low female participation in the Canadian Farm Labour Programme;

(ii)   the type of assistance and information provided by the National Employment Bureau to men and women from Barbados willing to migrate for employment; and

(iii) the type of services provided by the liaison officers in Canada and the United States to migrants leaving under the Farm Labour Programme and the Hotel Programme. Please also indicate whether the liaison officers can receive or address complaints from workers under the programmes and, if so, provide information on the follow-up given to such complaints.

Article 6. Equality of treatment. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that immigrants lawfully residing in Barbados have the same rights and privileges as Barbadian nationals, including the right to join a union, to take holidays with pay and receive social security benefits. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the practical measures taken to ensure that the relevant national provisions covering the matters enumerated in Article 6(1)(a)–(d) of the Convention are effectively applied in respect of all migrant workers lawfully residing in the country.