'Foreign workers should be treated at par with locals'

IANS Friday 3rd August, 2007

Countries where foreign workers are mistreated would soon lose out to countries that deal with migrant workers favourably, according to the chief of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

'The day is not far away when any country which abuses or exploits foreign workers will find itself at a big disadvantage,' IOM Director General Brunson McKinley, who was here to sign a memorandum of understanding between IOM and the ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA), told IANS in an interview.

'You see, there are a number of countries across the world which are facing increasing labour shortage and looking to import labour from other countries. So, if a worker is mistreated in one country, he can always opt to work in another country with a better reputation of treating foreign workers,' he said. [Read more]