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Migrant workers and expatriates: what’s the difference?

21 mars 2019, 10:17

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Strictly speaking the answer should be: there is none. They are synonymous. Both are foreign workers, regulated by the same legal framework. But then, why in practice, are they treated differently? Why are they referred to by the different appellations, socially constructed, casting them in distinct categories? One category is called “travailleurs immigrés”, with an almost pejorative undertone, grouping low paid and wrongfully qualified as low skilled workers, they run our textiles factories, build our smart cities, construct our brick and mortar urban landscape, tar our roads or bake our daily “pain-maison”. The other category holds the glorified title of “expats”: they work behind computers, not on out-dated overlocks, they are the engineers who read the plans, the accountants who fix the numbers and the other professionals who lead our services sector.

Both are governed by the same immigration laws, both were not born in Mauritius, both have come to build prosperous Mauritius to propel it hopefully to the club of the upper middle income group of countries. Both toil so that we can brandish our laurels and achieve our so-called miracles. But, above all, both are humans: a common denominator we choose not to consider, a tragic memory loss of our original Aapravasi Ghat days.

Both are not treated alike. Is that to do with our migration laws or with policy differentials, translated into guidelines and schemes, modus operandi concocted by the executive, and presented as justified strategies to resolve our skills and labour market shortages?

Foreign manpower contributes and will continue to be crucial to the future of our economy, and we are not refer- ring here only to the small group of professionals who provide Mauritius with the expertise it does not have. We are drawing attention to the fact that our production model is still labour intensive and pains to go to the next level in terms of technology and innovation, meaning we are largely dependent on the vast majority among the 42 000 foreign workers, those who supply us with what we term as “cheap labour”, but who also have skills which the country badly needs for its economic survival.

Further, we must not forget that our SME which we want to boost, are mostly low-technology based, with little or no automation or sophisticated machi- nery. Our low capital intensive SME rely mostly on physical human resource for their development and survival: they too will become more and more dependent on foreign labour as we move in time, with a gradually declining working age population.

The reasons of increased dependence on foreign workers is that they have aptitudes which go beyond university qualifications and perhaps beyond the definition of soft skills. Because of their precarious situation, they have a disposition to adapt to the dire conditions of work, almost mandatory overtime, no “lundi-cordonier” mania, no casual leaves or what in our local work culture we call “permissions” to attend funerals and “chowtaris”, no refunded sick leave, vacation, no maternity leave. They have the “invisible skills” to work without complaining, they have the capacities that enable them to take jobs that Mauritians, opting rather to remain unemployed, would not do.

The problem is that our legal and po- licy framework does not respond to the context: it cannot address adequately the issue of discriminatory practices. This is because of the poor recognition of the importance of the migrant worker, given the circumstances that prevail in the world of work in Mauritius.

The legal and policy framework needs to face the facts: our active population is decreasing, our economy rests on labour intensive modes of production, skills mismatch across many sectors accounts for labour market shortages could-existing with unemployment, while young people are leaving on student visas to settle abroad.

A charter for the rights of migrant workers is becoming a necessity as well as a revision of our migration laws, including the Citizenship Act.

Mauritians are wary about granting citizenship to migrant workers because they are not convinced of the effects of demographic transformations this country is going through. And also, they brush aside the idea the Mauritius may not necessarily remain the destination of choice for migrant workers… for ever!