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The impact
of migration in women that stay and women that leave: ¿myth
or reality?
Marcela Ballara REPEM-ICAE-GEO Also, migrant women have to face a disadvantaged situation in relation to the nationals of the country where they have established. Migrant women, because of their gender, etnicity and race conditions, face specific problems related with the inequality in the access to basic public services (health, education, housing, welfare); access to information on their rights and services; difficulties to access and develop in the job market; discrimination and disadvantaged conditions, instability in relation with their labor rights (salaries lower than local ones, unhealthy workplaces, long hours, violence and sexual harassing); deteriorated living conditions; human rights abuses as migrants and women; loss of cultural identity, difficulties to organize themselves and to exercise leadership. This situation is so common in the countries that receive migrants, that we should start working on actions to enforce the International Convention on Protection of the Rights of all Migratory Workers and their Families. These actions should include the protection of their human rights, to provide educational alternatives, either formal or informal, without forgetting that the people living in the receptor countries should also be trained not to discriminate or exclude. In this regard, Sofia's thoughts are right on target.
Convention on Protection of the Rights of all
Migratory Workers and their Families
MIGRATION
THE CASE OF KENYA
Migration continues to be a menace
across Africa, especially now in Kenya.The Post-Election
violence of December 2007 spanning to 2008 has led to massive
migration. With over 250,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs)
in Kenya and over 3000 as refugees in Uganda and Tanzania.Jack Shaka / Nairobi-Kenya It is believed that over 50 percent of the world's IDP's live in Africa. The case is worse in our neighbour -Sudan and not forgetting Somalia either. We weep for all our mothers fathers-sisters-brothers and children every time such atrocities knock on our door steps-cripple us to an extent that we become displaced. In the past-many refuges have come to Kenya- over 270,000 Somalis in Kenya. More from Sudan-more from Uganda-more from Congo-more from Rwanda-More from Burundi-but now her(Kenya) children are refugees in Uganda and Tanzania respectively. This does not even mention the ones who over the years have sought asylum in Europe and the America over the years. Kenya is now hoping that it shall have return movements as it happened in Burundi and Rwanda-that many that left-can now return home and help to rebuild it on one way or another *LABOUR MIGRATION IN KENYA* Kenya's professionals and technicians are nowadays emigrating to other countries-It has seen Kenya go through a brain drain in the last ten years as never seen before. A good proportion of Kenyan labour has migrated to Britain, America, Middle East and South Africa. Others have sought opportunities in Canada and other European Countries. The recent years in Kenya has seen a lot of migrations to the Middle East especially U.A.E. The recent years have also seen Kenya lose a lot of athletes to countries like Qatar who offer them nationalities and better pay packages. This is a loss of talent. Its hard to stem emigration of Kenyans but some measures can be put in place to ensure that the brain drain is not let to go to alarming proportions. The case of 'foreign degrees are good' has led to a lot of Kenyans leaving the country to pursue further education in US, Australia, Canada or the UK and more recently Singapore and Malaysia. The US and the UK are still the hot spots for Kenyans-They go there for better educational facilities and once they complete studies, hardly come back to Kenya. More incentives should be put in place to entice them to return home. The same should be done to the athletes who are hardly recognized here. "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei-
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