Activists call for 3rd-party oversight in refugee employment programme

Labour rights activists are urging the incorporation of third-party oversight in the refugee employment process under the Refugee Registration Document programme. Tenaganita's Glorene Das emphasized the importance of the government collaborating with civil society organisations to guarantee refugees receive the same labour protections as other workers.

These protections include written contracts in comprehensible languages, fair wages, freedom to retain personal documents, healthcare, social support, complaint mechanisms, labour inspections, and protection from retaliation when reporting abuse. Das also suggested that participating employers undergo due diligence and demonstrate compliance with labour laws before being matched with refugee workers.

Adrian Pereira of the North-South Initiative echoed the call for civil society involvement, citing a lack of transparency in the DPP programme's labour protection laws. The National Security Council's previous directive provided refugees with rights to work, but the process remained unclear, and SOPs were not publicly available.

With the DPP programme, this information must be made accessible to the public and refugees to prevent exploitation by employers. Activist Andy Hall also stressed the need to clarify selection criteria for refugee workers, warning that certain workers may be favoured due to extortion risks in detention centres. FMM president Jacob Lee cautioned that without a specific legal employment framework, the programme could expose manufacturers to immigration offences, forced labour, trafficking, and customer and export-market consequences.

He recommended a controlled pilot developed jointly by the home ministry, human resources ministry, UNHCR, employers, trade unions, and civil society organisations before wider implementation.