Summary
A large
number of migrant workers, especially from the Adivasi
(tribal) communities which represent a very large section
of marginalized and poor in the country, are taken across
the country for employment. They are recruited by
middle-men and are taken to different places without any
documentation. This is a form of human trafficking
without any accountability mechanism.
The displaced worker is at the mercy of the employer or
the middle-men. In most cases the family members of the
workers do not have any information regarding the
whereabouts of the migrant laborers. The migrant laborers
are denied of proper facilities, due wage, proper shelter
and are very often sexually and physically abused. In the
state of Kerala alone, human rights organizations in the
district of Wayanad observed that in the last five years,
more than a hundred Adivasis from Wayanad district were
killed or are found missing from the neighbouring state
of Karnataka where they went to work in the ginger
fields. No suitable legal remedy is possible as local
NGOs never get sufficient evidences to produce in the
courts or before the State authorities, regarding their
place of work or about the person who has taken them to
work.
Without clear laws from the Central government, local
groups found it hard to tackle the inter-state problem.
Despite petitions made to different government
machineries, including the National Human Rights
Commission and National Tribal Commission, there is no
concrete result so far. Local groups suggest that the
next session of Parliament, which will begin in late
February, is an opportunity to urge the government to
take steps to enact laws or make amendments to the
existing Labour Act, in order to ensure registration of
the migrant workers and the person who employs them. It
will make recruiters of these migrant workers responsible
for the life and safety of the workers.
|
Action Requested
Please write polite letters to express
your concern over the plight of Adivasi migrant workers,
requesting the Indian government to enact national laws
to register the names of migrant workers and their
employers in every police station, which should be
applicable at inter-state level.
| Send
letters to: |
|
|
Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh
South Block, Raisana Hill
New Delhi
INDIA
|
Fax:
Email: |
+91-11-2301-6857
pmosb@pmo.nic.in |
| Send
copies to: |
|
|
Sri. Kyndaiah
Minister for Tribal Affairs
Room No. 751/A Wing, Shastri Bhawan
New Delhi - 110 001
INDIA
|
Fax: |
+91-11-2307-0577 |
Honourable Justice Shri S. Rajendra Babu
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi
INDIA |
Fax:
Email: |
+91-11-2338-4863
chairnhrc@nic.in |
Smt. Urmila Singh
Chairperson
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
6th Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan, Khan Market,
New Delhi-110003
INDIA |
|
|
| Diplomatic representatives of India in your
country |
|
|
|
Sample
Letter
| We are concerned about the plight of
Adivasi migrant laborers in your country. It is
observed that a large number of poor and
marginalized people move from their area of
residence to other parts of the country, to seek
employment. They are recruited by all sorts of
people without any form of documentation. As a
result, migrant workers are vulnerable to all
forms of abuses. Cases of death and disappearnace
among these Adivasi migrant workers are reported.
As a member of the United Nations, your
government pledges to observe “everyone has
the right to life, liberty and security of
person” (Article 3, Universal Declaration of
Human Rights), thus bears an obligation to
prevent such human rights violations against
Adivasi and to intervene and protect them from
any type of mistreatment.
We urge your government to alleviate the hardship
faced by the vulnerable Adivasi migrant workers
by enacting national laws to register the names
of migrant workers and their employers in every
police station, which should be applicable at
inter-state level.
We hope you could take the opportunity of the
Parliamentary session in February 2008 to address
the issue.
|
|
Background
Adivasis
are the most vulnerable people in India. They are the
indigenous peoples of the land. Most of them do not
possess land as ownership of land was not part of their
culture which considers earth as Mother from whom they
can respectfully take whatever they needed. The modern
culture and concept of land ownership, with boundaries
and registration deeds, was alien to them. The
ill-effects of state forest laws and the wide-spread
settlement and colonization, made vast majority of
Adivasis landless. The ultimate result is losing their
means for livelihood, making them migrate to cities and
other districts or states to search for work. Thousands
of Adivasi girls and young men are working as domestic
servants in the major cities of India. Large numbers of
agricultural workers and domestic workers are moving out
of the states of Jharkand, Bihar and Bengal to big cities
and other places. Laborers from Tamil Nadu go to Kerala
as plantation workers and construction workers.
The life of Adivasis in Wayanad is a clear example to
illustrate the problems faced by the Adivasi migrant
laborers. Wayanad is described as the most backward
district of Kerala state in South India. Almost one third
of the whole Adivasi population of the Kerala is in
Wayanad district. Because of the migration from the
Southern districts in the 1940s and 1950s to Wayanad and
the stipulations of the forest laws, most of the Adivasis
of this district have either no land or very little land.
Most of them were agricultural laborers. Due to the
recent heavy debt of farmers leading to widespread
suicides in Wayanad, farmers are unable to employ
laborers in the farms. It has detrimentally affected the
Adivasis’ employment opportunity. Rich people and
planters thus took the available Adivasis to Coorgu,
Shimoga and other districts of Karnataka, a neighboring
state of Kerala to work in ginger and banana plantations.
The assurance of work for a number of days, coupled with
the availability of cheap illicit liquor, prompted the
Adivasis to leave their house and to go with the agents
of these planters at distant places without knowing where
they are being taken. The family members often do not
know anything about their work place either. The workers
are reportedly given a lot of liquor which make them toil
hard from morning to evening. After working for some
months continuously, they only get very little amount to
take back home. As their names do not appear in any
official labor records, they are denied access to labor
laws and Minimum Wages Act, as well as recognized trade
unions in those areas.
The media and voluntary organizations of Wayanad could
only take the situation seriously recently, through the
news of several unnatural deaths of the Adivasis of
Wayanad who went to Coorgu district. From various studies
made by voluntary organizations in the district it is
known that during the last five years, more than one
hundred Adivasis from Wayanad, who went to Coorgu
district to work at plantations are killed or found
missing. The reason stated often is that they drank too
much liquor and died on the spot. Very often their bodies
were not brought back to the families, or if the body is
brought home, it would be buried immediately without
proper investigation. The police forces of Karnataka
state are apparently not interested to conduct serious
enquiries. The police of Kerala state also avoid enquiry,
stating that the incident took place in a place beyond
their territorial jurisdiction. As they do not get
support from their original state or from where they
work, poor Adivasis who have no money to conduct the case
are forced to accept their fate.
Large number of women, young girls and boys are also
being taken to other districts or states and suffer from
other forms of violations. There is widespread complaint
that the supervisors and agents of plantation owners
exploit the women and girls sexually. Apart from the
children being denied of their fundamental right for
education, Adivasi girls and women, who do not know their
way home nor have money with them, are forced to undergo
sexual exploitation.
Local NGOs have approached the government authorities
several times to request for formal documentation rules
and procedures. The Wayanad District Police
Superintendent has made an executive order demanding
registration of all Adivasis who go outside of the
district for work but it is applicable only in the
district. No judicial action could be taken against the
violators as there are no clear state or central laws on
the problem. Local NGOs believe that only a central law
can solve the problem as the migrant laborers go outside
the home state. They suggest the Central government to
bring a new Act or include proper amendments in the
existing Labor Act. If the government decides on
amendment, it could be done in the coming session of
Parliament.
Source:
Local Newspapers:
Madhyamam,
Mathrubhoomi,
Malayala Manorama,
Malayalam Weekly,
Madhyamam Weekly
Local TV:
Malanadu,
Manorama news,
Amrita TV
|