18.12.2024Dr. Gulnaz Isabekova-Landau, a postdoctoral researcher in the Collaborative Research Centre project B06, which explores social policies in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia, is on her secondment with the Centre for Women's Research (CENWOR) in Sri Lanka.
International migration is a complex phenomenon, driven by social, economic, political, and climatic issues, and it affects the lives of persons who decide to migrate as well as their families. Acknowledging broader roots and implications of migration, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the “International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families” in 1990. The date of its adoption, December 18, later became International Migrants Day.
Sri Lanka has a long-term history of labor migration, particularly in terms of migrant domestic workers (MDWs), the majority of whom are female. MDWs account for about one-quarter of foreign employment on average (Henderson, 2024, p. 259). Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) remain the top-five destinations for MDWs (Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment of Sri Lanka, 2023). The work of MDWs in these countries is characterized by multiple challenges, including limited access to social protection and a number of cases of human rights violations.
CENWOR has a long-term history of conducting research on labor migration and migrant domestic workers, returnee migrant women and their health status, and more recently – the COVID-19 repercussions on labor migration in Sri Lanka. Building on this expertise, Dr. Isabekova-Landau is researching the access of returnee migrant domestic workers from Sri Lanka to health and social protection services. Her secondment is supported by a Marie Curie Staff Exchange within the Horizon Europe Programme (PRELAB, grant agreement no: 101129940). The study has only commenced, and more results will be reported at later stages.
Sources:
Henderson, S. (2024). The realities of return migration: Reintegrating women migrant domestic workers in Sri Lanka. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 33(2), 258–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/01171968241263363
Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment of Sri Lanka. (2023). National Policy and National Action Plan on Migration for Employment Sri Lanka 2023-2027. https://labourmin.gov.lk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/National-Policy-and-National-Action-Plan-on-Migration-for-Employment-Sri-Lanka-2023-2027-English-Ver._compressed.pdf
Kontakt:Dr. Gulnaz Isabekova-LandauSFB 1342: Globale Entwicklungsdynamiken von Sozialpolitik, Forschungsstelle Osteuropa
Klagenfurter Straße 8
28359 Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218-57073
E-Mail:
gulnaz@uni-bremen.de